Encouraging Translanguaging for Meaning Making Through Multimodal Writing

Encouraging Translanguaging for Meaning Making Through Multimodal Writing

 

Twenty-first century suburban, urban, and rural classrooms are a diverse group of students from different backgrounds. This diverse group includes students who are emergent bilinguals. These are students whose home language is not English. Teachers in most classrooms will have a student or students who speak more than one language. It is important to understand the role of language of emergent bilinguals and how it impacts literacy development and meaning making in the classroom. Translanguaging by incorporating multimodal writing is one part of the literacy process to engage emergent bilinguals in meaning making.

Translanguaging is a process emergent bilinguals use to make meaning by combining their linguistic knowledge of multiple languages (Rowe, 2018). To support emergent bilinguals’ translanguaging, teachers should create a classroom atmosphere that values student languages and cultures by supporting their home languages. Using these multiple languages to include modes, registers, styles, and dialects represented in the classroom honors the ways emergent bilinguals communicate within their home and community (Duran, 2017). By modeling translanguaging in the classroom, teachers show students the value of all languages. Modeling could include speaking across languages (even if the teacher doesn't speak the language) or highlighting when students and authors do (Rowe, 2018).

Providing authentic opportunities for the use of translanguaging through multimodal writing can engage all students in the literacy process. This encourages risk taking in using both the home language and English (Rowe, 2018). By connecting what is happening in the classroom to students’ lives in meaningful ways, emergent bilinguals will use their translanguaging skills to communicate more effectively. Authentic multimodal opportunities include using photography, peer buddies, and writing experiences are ways to encourage translanguaging. 

Using photography is a way to combine culturally relevant practices and authentic opportunities for multimodal writing. Martinez-Alvarez (2017) investigated using digital photography and comic-making software with six- and seven-year-old emergent bilingual students. Students were given digital cameras to photograph their family life and community experiences. The students then chose photographs they took and created multimodal comics using their chosen pictures. They incorporated both English and Spanish sentences to explain their home and community experiences.  Students who were allowed translanguaging opportunities showed more sophisticated writing in their multimodal text development (Martinez-Alvarez, 2017). Although digital cameras might not be available for classroom teachers to send home, this activity could be easily adapted to document classroom experiences and activities. Tablets and iPads have picture-taking capabilities and could be used to expand upon what is occurring in the classroom or school community.

Writing for an authentic audience and using peer interaction during the writing process can increase the linguistic strategies students use to create meaning in multiple languages. Allowing for writing by using different audiences, such as pen pals, parents, members of the community, siblings, and peers encourages students to experiment with using different grammar, syntax, and semantics in writing and translanguaging (Duran, 2017). 

Another authentic opportunity for multimodal text development and translanguaging use in the classroom is to incorporate the use of peer buddies during the writing workshop process. Using peer buddies during the writing process is a way to encourage translanguaging and meaning making opportunities in a structured writing setting.  By interacting with peers, students develop their literacy skills by being both an expert and learner. They increase their linguistic understanding of language and support each other in their writing and discussions. When classrooms accept the translanguaging skills of students, the knowledge of writing in one language helps students develop writing in both languages (Bauer, 2017). 

It is important that classroom teachers recognize the role of translanguaging within their diverse classrooms. A monolingual view of language development might restrict emergent bilingual’s ability to make and express meaning in two languages (Gort, 2012). When teachers value and model ways languages spoken by their students, through the use of multimodal writing, it increases the engagement of their students. 

 

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Research Journal, 11(4), 255-276. https://doi.org/qp.1080/19313152.2017.131506

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