Bridging the Gap: The Use of Translanguaging in Shared Readings

Introduction

“They thought it was cool that we were connecting with their culture, and tapping into that part of their lives that we don’t get to see as much since we’re always in English mode in class” (Kathleen, Interview Transcript).

In this quote, Kathleen, a preservice teacher, is discussing the reactions of her Spanish-English bilingual students to the use of translanguaging within a shared reading event. Translanguaging is both a natural and common practice amongst bilinguals, and it can be defined as the flexible use of an entire linguistic repertoire (García, 2009). As a monolingual English speaker, Kathleen was nervous to read in Spanish, but later realized that her use of translanguaging ignited a new excitement within the students. She also discovered hidden depths in some otherwise quiet students who could only comfortably express themselves in Spanish. She came to realize that, regardless of her proficiency level in Spanish, she could use translanguaging to facilitate a connection between herself and her students, to motivate them to engage in reading, and to scaffold their acquisition of literacy (Creese & Blackledge, 2015; Hornberger, 2003).

Kathleen’s experience aligns with research on culturally responsive teaching practices and second language acquisition, which contend that children learn better from teachers and activities that value their home languages and cultures (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 2014). Teachers should carefully and critically select high-quality books in which children can see themselves reflected in the characters, setting, or language, so they understand themselves as part of a larger human experience (Bishop, 1990; Johnson, Koss, & Martinez, 2018; see also Curtin and Aguilera, Greenstein, & Shannon in this volume). Teachers should also seek to understand and appreciate students’ home literacy practices, which includes the frequency of reading and writing activities in the home, the number of books available at home, library visits, parent-child interactions around print, and shared readings (e.g., Farver, Xu, Lonigan, & Epp, 2013; Mol & Bus, 2011). Research has consistently indicated that alignment between home and school leads to higher literacy achievement (Pellegrini, 2001; Pianta, LaParo, Payne, Cox, & Bradley, 2002). For bilingual students, this can be accomplished in many ways, such as through reading bilingual books, and/or integrating translanguaging into shared reading events (Davis et al., 2016; García, Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017; Wessels, 2014).

The purpose of this chapter is threefold. First, we discuss the theoretical background and literature on school and home literacy, translanguaging, and bilingual books. Second, we provide recommendations that will enable teachers to align their practices with those found in the home. Finally, we make suggestions for how all teachers, monolingual and bilingual alike, can incorporate translanguaging and bilingual books into their classrooms.