Broadening the view: Taking up a translanguaging pedagogy with all language–minoritized students

Abstract

This chapter revisits a question posed by García (NYS TESOL J 1(1):2–10, 2014): what does a shift to translanguaging English mean for TESOL? To address this question, this chapter applies a translanguaging lens to the teaching of English, in the TESOL classroom and beyond. We first lay out the theoretical perspectives of a translanguaging approach, which include a series of paradigm shifts, ranging from a reimagining of English as a named language (Otheguy R, García O, Reid W, Applied Linguistics Review 6(3):281–307, 2015; Appl Linguist Rev. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2018-0020, 2018) to a “re-seeing” of language-minoritized students as speakers and writers who use their agency to shape “English” in creative and critical (Li Wei, J Pragmat 43:1222–1235, 2011) ways. Our chapter draws on examples from a high school English Language Arts classroom made up of bilingual students as well as those traditionally viewed as monolingual, namely African American students. We describe how one teacher enacted a translanguaging pedagogy (García O, Johnson S, Seltzer K, The translanguaging classroom. Leveraging student bilingualism for learning. Caslon, Philadelphia, 2017) by (1) embracing a translanguaging stance regarding the “acquisition” of English, (2) centering her translanguaging design around texts that challenge monoglossic “native speaker” and “standard language” expectations and engage students in critical discussions about English itself, and (3) making translanguaging shifts that destabilize the role of the English teacher as linguistic expert.