How to use Translanguaging in the Classroom

I love having students research and write family stories in my translanguaging classroom. It caters to both the linguistic skills of emergent bilinguals and their funds of knowledge.

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Transcript:

Research suggests that there is a correlation between knowing one’s family history and psychological well-being (Duke, Lazarus, Fivush, 2008). For example, “knowledge of family history is significantly correlated with internal locus of control, higher self-esteem, better family functioning, greater cohesiveness, lower levels of anxiety, and lower incidence of behavior problems.” (p. 268) In fact, “research on family narratives suggests that adolescents’ personal narratives are at least partly shaped by intergenerational narratives about their parents’ childhoods” (p. 45). Thus, knowing our parents and their stories matter. In fact, family stories and their social nature are so encompassing, and have such an impact over who we become and how we see the world, that they “go beyond the lived experience of each individual member” (Kiser, Baumgardner, Dorado, 2010). Family stories encapsulate something way bigger than ourselves.

In my translanguaging classroom I have my students research family stories. The purpose of taking a translanguaging stance is to use the language practices of bilinguals--thus the skills and competencies they possess--as a tool. And the aim of researching family stories is to use translanguaging to probe, examine and celebrate students’ funds of knowledge--or elements of our students’ deep culture.

Many of my students--recent immigrants to the United States--make long-distance calls to their home countries to gather their stories. The mission is to interview a family member who played a role in their childhood, and have that member tell them a story from their own childhood--any story. The purpose of giving the family member the freedom to choose is because humans remember stories for a reason. And this reason is part of a broader familial and cultural narrative and perspective that we may or may not be aware of. Who we are as people, what we value and what we cherish--is hidden in our stories.

Many of my students’ family members select love stories and funny stories. It is up to students to translanguage the stories anyway they please. They are the linguistic orchestrators of how the stories are retold. They must use a combination of English and Spanish, of course. And I urge students to use their nuanced understanding of words in both English and Spanish to guide their writing. If a word in Spanish seems to fit in the story better, then they should use a Spanish word. If an English word seems to encapsulate an idea better, then they should use an English word. After the stories are written, students have to explain why they used the mixture of words that they did.

Duke, M., Lazarus, A., Fivush, R. (2008) Knowledge of Family History as a Clinically Useful Index of Psychological Well-Being and Prognosis: A Brief Report. Psychotherapy Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 45(2), 268-272.

Fivush, R., Bohanek, J. G., & Zaman, W. (2010). Personal and intergenerational narratives in relation to adolescents’ well-being. In T. Habermas (Ed.), The development of autobio-graphical reasoning in adolescence and beyond. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 131, 45–57.

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