[Edling] & "translanguaging": trying to understand it

Wed Apr 20 14:38:08 UTC 2016

*Anne Marie,*
* *
*thank you for your post.  i know that "translanguaging" wasn't Mim's
original reason for this thread, but i do love such access to minds in
cyberspace and the tangents that can bring understanding and maybe, wisdom.
since "translanguaging" is a current important topic, i think it is the
duty of all us, especially if we apply the concept, to really try hard to
understand what we are applying.  ok, sermon over.*

*i would like to parse your post so i can understand what you are
saying:> current concepts of additive and subtractive bilingualism in
education AND enforced monolingualism > translanguaging - an element of
which can be  pedagogical code switching i'm not sure i understand your use
of the term "pedagogical code switching". do you mean switching in class
from one language to another, as opposed to the traditional use of the term
code switching, which refers to mixing languages in a principle way?i see
how the discussion can be liberating for you, getting away from an imposed
dogma, but does all of this mean for you that the concept of
translanguaging (and i would surely like to know what YOU mean by it) is
totally tied to education and, specifically bilingual education?*
*btw, i find the most recent Grosjean's Q&A w/ Garcia very enlightening in
this regard, worth a serious read:* What is Translanguaging?
An interview with Ofelia García
Posted Mar 02, 2016
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-bilingual/201603/what-is-translanguaging

*ps: when you do get back to your desk, could you please post on this
thread the full references you've used in your posting.Best, Larry
Selinker*
*ls110 at nyu.edu <ls110 at nyu.edu>*
*http://www.researchproductionassociates.com/
<http://www.researchproductionassociates.com/>*

On Tue, Apr 19, 2016 at 5:49 PM, anne marie devlin <
anne_mariedevlin at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Apologies for not getting back earlier but as I said I'm away from my desk
> and am answering from my phone.
> There is an excellent 2013 publication by li wei and orfelia Garcia
> entitled something like 'Education, multilingualism and translanguaging.'
> They look at current concepts of additive and subtractive bilingualism in
> education from a foucauldian perspective of regulation  commenting that
> both approaches eventually lead to monolingual education. They also point
> to other studies (Gago, 2007 and Serra, 2007) which indicate that
> translanguaging - an element of which can be  pedagogical code switching -
> enhances cognitive skills in other subjects such as maths.
> I'm by no means an expert in this, but find it liberating after years of
> enforced monolingualism esp with regards English language learning.
> I can't add much more at the moment, but I hope it adds something to the
> debate.
>
> Best
>
> Anne Marie
>
>
> ------------------------------
> From: larry.selinker at nyu.edu
> Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 20:23:13 -0400
> To: edling at bunner.geol.lu.se
> Subject: [Edling] & 'translanguaging": Urgent question from bilingual
> teacher
>
>
> *sorry, i have no knowledge on this problem and fail to see how
> translanguaging can help, but something peter mentioned did intrigue me:  *
> *> *Anne Marie mentions the concept is being used in many ways recently,
>
> *i did see a message from Anne Marie but did not see mention of these
> "many ways".  i must confess i have had trouble getting a clear idea of
> this concept from the vast and growing literature. **i would really like
> to know what are the many ways that the concept is being used, either from
> Peter or *Anne Marie.
>
> *ps: here is what the **symposium*
> *"Translanguaging and repertoires across signed and spoken languages:
> Insights from linguistic ethnographies in (super)diverse contexts*
> *PLACE of symposium: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Ethnic and
> Religious Diversity*
> *DATE: 20-21 June 2016*
>
> *understands by this concept:*
> *"*we mean the linguistic practices in which people with diverse and
> multilingual backgrounds engage in order to make themselves understood by
> others. When doing so, they do not make use of separated languages but use
> elements/lexicon/grammar of (what might be regarded as) two or more
> different languages, hence the term ‘translanguaging’*"*.
>
> *ok, i get that, but **they also include "multimodality" in the concept,
> including gestures.*
>
> *so, what are these "many ways"?*
>
>
> *http://www.mmg.mpg.de/events/workshops-conferences/2016/translanguaging-and-repertoires-across-signed-and-spoken-languages-insights-from-linguistic-ethnographies-in-superdiverse-contexts/
> <http://www.mmg.mpg.de/events/workshops-conferences/2016/translanguaging-and-repertoires-across-signed-and-spoken-languages-insights-from-linguistic-ethnographies-in-superdiverse-contexts/>*
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *Best, Cheers, LarryLarry Selinker*
> *ls110 at nyu.edu <ls110 at nyu.edu>*
> *http://www.researchproductionassociates.com/
> <http://www.researchproductionassociates.com/>*
>
> On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 5:25 PM, Miriam E Ebsworth <mee1 at nyu.edu> wrote:
>
> Dear Peter,
>
> Thank you for your thoughts and for taking the time and trouble to share
> them.
>
> I'll forward them to the teacher.
>
> Sincerely,
> Miriam
>
> Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, PhD
> Dir. of PhD & Post-MA Programs in Multilingual Multicultural Studies
> NYU Steinhardt,
> 316 East Building
> New York, NY 10003
>
> Research Editor: Journal of Writing and Pedagogy
> Chair, NABE Research SIG Advisory Board
> Co-chair, ELL Think Tank
>
> office phone: (212) 998-5195
> office fax: (212) 995-3636
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 3:15 PM, Peter Sayer <peter.sayer at utsa.edu> wrote:
>
> Ofelia Garcia’s (2009) *Bilingual Education in the 21 Century* is a good
> comprehensive text and has a clear explanation of translanguaging, though
> as Anne Marie mentions the concept is being used in many ways recently, and
> also harkens back to earlier bilingual approaches to bilingual ed such as
> Jacobson’s (1980s) “New Concurrent” approach which advocated the teacher’s
> use of purposeful and strategic language mixing.
>
> About the positioning of above-below vs. side-to-side: I’m not aware of
> any work on this specific aspect of language positioning, but would say
> from a (1) linguistic perspective, it makes good sense to put a particular
> sentence in one language above another so that students can more clearly
> see how syntactic and lexical elements line up.  However, from a (2)
> language valorization perspective, the problem the observer may have had
> was not above-below per se, but rather that English was positioned ABOVE
> Spanish, which may be seen as implicitly reinforcing the subordinate
> position of the minoritized language.  In that case, positioning the
> languages side by side represents them on more equal footing (or even use
> above/below, but put Spanish on top).  Or maybe the observer was just being
> cranky… but kudos to the teacher for taking the critique seriously and
> following up.
>
> - peter.-
>
> From: <edling-bounces at bunner.geol.lu.se> on behalf of anne marie devlin <
> anne_mariedevlin at hotmail.com>
> Reply-To: The Educational Linguistics List <edling at bunner.geol.lu.se>
> Date: Monday, April 18, 2016 at 9:04 AM
> To: The Educational Linguistics List <edling at bunner.geol.lu.se>
> Subject: Re: [Edling] Urgent question from bilingual teacher
>
> Miriam
>
> Current research is coming out strongly in favour of 'translanguaging'
> where code switching is seen as a benefit to learners rather than a sign of
> lack of acquisition.
> I'm not at my desk and don't have access to references at the moment, but
> a google search should bring up some interesting findings to support your
> colleagues approach.
>
> Hope that helps
>
> Anne Marie
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 07:29:35 -0500
> From: mee1 at nyu.edu
> To: francis.hult at englund.lu.se; edling at bunner.geol.lu.se
> Subject: [Edling] Urgent question from bilingual teacher
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> A grad of one of our programs is a bilingual (Spanish) social studies
> teacher in New York City, with 11 years of teaching experience.
>
> The teacher received a super-critical review of a class observation from
> somebody outside the school who observed a single lesson. The observer knew
> nothing in advance about the teacher's curriculum or approach; there had
> been no communication with the teacher in advance of the observation.
> After having written a scathing observation report, the observer refused to
> have a conversation with the teacher, who sought politely to explain their
> perspective and try to understand better the nature of the critique.
>
> The teacher has requested input on one issue in particular:
> At the top of the lesson, the teacher had written a guiding question in
> English with the Spanish version directly underneath.
>
> The teacher, as I understand it, sought to have the students first try to
> understand the text in English, then read it in Spanish, and using all
> linguistic resources make meaning out of the question. (And ultimately, the
> students will be tested in English.)
>
> One of the many criticisms in the observation report was that the English
> and Spanish versions should have appeared side by side rather than one
> above the other. The teacher is perplexed.
>
> While the teacher's explanation makes sense to me, I have been asked
> whether there is any objective guidance available from the research on best
> practices to advocate for EITHER of the 2 approaches (2 languages side by
> side versus one above the other).
>
> Thank you in advance for sharing your perspective. I'll pass it on.
>
> Sincerely,
> Miriam
>
> Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, PhD
> Dir. of PhD & Post-MA Programs in Multilingual Multicultural Studies
> NYU Steinhardt,
> 316 East Building
> New York, NY 10003
>
> Research Editor: Journal of Writing and Pedagogy
> Chair, NABE Research SIG Advisory Board
> Co-chair, ELL Think Tank
>
> office phone: (212) 998-5195
> office fax: (212) 995-3636
>
>
>
>
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