Pedagogical Translanguaging in a Puerto Rican University Classroom: An Exploratory Case Study of Student Beliefs and Practices

Abstract

This article takes an in-depth look at the coursework and attitudes of four student cases within a single psychology classroom at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. The cases were chosen based on the students' distinctive use of Spanish and English in their academic work. It was found that students' stated views about translanguaging differed in significant ways from their practices of translanguaging in the classroom. Resumen Este manuscrito hace una revisión profunda de las clases y actitudes de cuatro casos de estudiantes en el salón de una clase de psicología en la Universidad de Puerto Rico en Mayagüez. Estos casos se eligieron con base al uso distintivo de español e inglés de dichos estudiantes en su trabajo académico. Se encontró que los puntos de vista expresados por los estudiantes con respecto a translanguaging difería en formas significativas de sus prácticas de translanguaging en el salón de clases.

“I think I am bilingual, but…”: Teachers’ practices of and student’ attitudes toward translanguaging in a Chinese intercultural communication class

“…When languages used in translanguaging have a greater similarity in morphology and a shorter linguistic distance, students may find it easier to navigate their linguistic repertoires as bilingual or multilingual individuals (Leonet et al, 2020), leading to a more positive stance toward translanguaging in the classroom. The linguistic distance between English and Chinese is greater than that between English and Spanish, which may explain the discrepancy in students' beliefs on translanguaging found in Fang and Liu's (2020) study compared to the findings of Rivera and Mazak (2019). Furthermore, language ideology may also influence students' positions on translanguaging in the classroom.…”

The Use of Translanguaging Pedagogy in Writing Classes of Turkish EFL Learners

“…Carroll and Morales (2016) highlight another gap of translanguaging research as the scarcity of the research conducted in higher education as well as the lack of studies with students who are mature and can read and write in their mother tongue. Rivera and Mazak (2017) point out a similar gap of research conducted with any ages other than elementary schools as most of the research on translanguaging took place at that level. It is also mentioned that despite the importance of English as the language of science and technology, the language of medium of instruction in numerous classes, the language of various publications and texts on different topics, and the great number of university students who both study at different countries and stay in their own countries continuing their higher education in English, "almost no literature exists on translanguaging in higher education" (p.7).…”

The use of L1 in L2 Learning in the Indonesian EFL Context

“…Iranian professor, Nazary (2008) reported the reason why students of all grade levels are averse to using L1 (Persian) in L2 classrooms due to less exposure to L2. However, increasing evidence from recent studies on the function of secondary education in secondary school supports the requirement for L1 instruction in secondary classes for pedagogical reasons (Fang & Liu, 2020;Graham et al, 2021;Hillman et al, 2019;Rivera, 2019). Wang and Curdt-Christiansen, 2019;Rivera, 2019) Teachers, in comparison, had a marginally different opinion, favoring a monolingual approach in their L2 instruction (50%).…”

“…However, increasing evidence from recent studies on the function of secondary education in secondary school supports the requirement for L1 instruction in secondary classes for pedagogical reasons (Fang & Liu, 2020;Graham et al, 2021;Hillman et al, 2019;Rivera, 2019). Wang and Curdt-Christiansen, 2019;Rivera, 2019) Teachers, in comparison, had a marginally different opinion, favoring a monolingual approach in their L2 instruction (50%). This finding is consistent with other research that demonstrates that L2 teachers are the only source of L2 knowledge for L2 pupils, and as a result, teachers are expected to be as proficient in English as possible (Gallagher, 2020;Wong, 2010).…”

“…Recent research demonstrates that many teachers employ translanguanging or bilingual practice to foster group discussion, improve knowledge, foster interpersonal ties, and develop multilingual identity (Fang & Liu, 2020;Jing & Kitis, 2023;Moody et al, 2019;Wang & Curdt-Christiansen, 2019). For instance, bilingual EMI has been found valuable for improving L2 learning in Chinese context (Moody et al, 2019;Jing & Kitis, 2023), Chinese language instruction at L2 learning in Puerto Rico (Rivera & Mazak, 2019;Wang and Curdt-Christiansen, 2019;Wang, 2019). In another context, teachers in Qatar used translation or use the L1 in an international class program (Hillman et al, 2019).…”