ERIC Number: EJ1363687
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1367-0050
EISSN: EISSN-1747-7522
Unilateral Translanguaging: Teachers' Language Use, Perceptions, and Experience in a Portuguese-English Two-Way Immersion Program
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, v25 n8 p3068-3083 2022
This study documents the notion of unilateral translanguaging--the configuration of translanguaging spaces to disproportionately privilege a dominant language or its speakers. We analyze four teachers' translanguaging practices in a Portuguese-English two-way immersion (TWI) program in the United States. Rather than focusing on whether and how translanguaging occurs, we highlight temporality and purpose to explore when and why participants engaged in translingual practices. Data stem from a three-year ethnographic project and include semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. We found that translanguaging mainly occurred during Portuguese lessons, during which teachers used English to give directions, discipline students, and give important announcements, linking English use to moments of high authority. English-dominant students' translanguaging practices also tended to be more readily accepted than those of Portuguese-dominant students. Furthermore, in contrast to prior research on language status as unconscious bias, our findings demonstrate teachers' keen awareness of practices and policies that disproportionately benefit English-dominant students. Still, structural conditions, parental power dynamics, and pressure to maintain the program left the focal teachers feeling unequipped to interrupt these practices. This research highlights how educators' practices and perceptions of translanguaging interact with structural features of bilingual education programming as factors that may disrupt or reproduce inequities.
Descriptors: Portuguese, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Native Language, English, Language Usage, Immersion Programs, Code Switching (Language), Language Dominance, Ethnography, Longitudinal Studies, Classroom Techniques, Teacher Student Relationship, Knowledge Level, Educational Policy, Educational Practices, Social Bias, Teacher Attitudes, Elementary School Students, Immigrants, Foreign Countries, Language Teachers, Elementary School Teachers, Bilingual Education Programs
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts; Brazil
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A