Research in the Teaching of English May 2023

Collaborative Translanguaging and Transmodal Literacies: Learning the Language of Science in a Dual-Language Classroom

Lucia Cárdenas Curiel ; Deborah K. Palmer University of Colorado Boulder

Abstract

Research has shown the benefits of peer interaction to scaffold learning of disciplinary literacies. We extend knowledge in this area to examine peer interaction and the affordances it creates when emergent bilinguals engage with multimodal texts in disciplines to make meaning. Using discourse analysis of the interactions of a small group of third graders carrying out a project in science class, we explored how four emergent bilinguals collaborated to design, produce, and distribute traditional and alternative texts. We found that translanguaging and transmodal collaborative structures support learning processes and comprehension to make sense of and contextualize disciplinary knowledge. A dynamic and recursive translanguaging pattern emerges in which the introduction and contextualization of knowledge happens in Spanish, the interaction occurs mainly in English, and the creation is in both English and Spanish. We discuss the affordances of these collaborative structures for supporting students in science and promoting Spanish and student bilingualism.

Journal
Research in the Teaching of English
Published
2023-05-01
DOI
10.58680/rte202332472
Open Access
Closed
Topics
discourse analysis multimodality translingualism

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (4)

  1. Ríos et al. (2017)
    Translanguaging, Coloniality, and English Classrooms: An Exploration of Two Bic…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  2. Stewart et al. (2016)
    Sanctioning a Space for Translanguaging in the Secondary English Classroom: A C…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  3. Martínez (2010)
    Spanglish as Literacy Tool: Toward an Understanding of the Potential Role of Sp…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  4. Vasudevan et al. (2010)
    Rethinking Composing in a Digital Age: Authoring Literate Identities Through Mu…
    Written Communication
Also cites 33 works outside this index ↓
  1. Bauer (2012)
    Early biliteracy development: Exploring young learners’ use of their linguistic resources.
     ↗
  2. Bloome (2004)
    Discourse analysis and the study of classroom language and literacy events: A microethnog…
     ↗
  3. Bunch (2014)
    Complex text and new common standards in the United States: Pedagogical implications for …
    TESOL Quarterly  ↗
  4. Creese (2010)
    Towards a sociolinguistics of superdiversity
    Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft  ↗
  5. DePalma (2010)
    Language use in the two-way classroom: Lessons from a Spanish-English bilingual kindergarten.
     ↗
  6. Durán (2016)
    Revisiting family message journals: Audience and biliteracy development in a first-grade …
    Language Arts  ↗
  7. Fang (2013)
    Disciplinary literacy: What you want to know about it
    Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy  ↗
  8. Flores (2014)
    Dynamic bilingualism as the norm: Envisioning a heteroglossic approach to standards-based…
    TESOL Quarterly  ↗
  9. Fránquiz (2011)
    Newcomers to the US: Developing historical thinking among Latino immigrant students in a …
    Bilingual  ↗
  10. Fránquiz (2013)
    Knowing English is not enough! Cultivating academic literacies among high school newcomers
    The High School Journal  ↗
  11. García (2017)
    Translanguaging in schools: Subiendo y bajando, bajando y subiendo as afterword
    Journal of Language, Identity, and Education  ↗
  12. García (2011)
    Pedagogies and practices in multilingual classrooms: Singularities in pluralities
    The Modern Language Journal  ↗
  13. García (2014)
    Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education.
     ↗
  14. Ghiso (2013)
    Students using multimodal literacies to surface micronarratives of United States immigration
    Literacy  ↗
  15. Gort (2008)
    You give me idea!”: Collaborative strides toward bilingualism, biliteracy, and cross-cult…
    Multicultural Perspectives  ↗
  16. Gort (2015)
    Navigating hybridized language learning spaces through translanguaging pedagogy: Dual lan…
    International Multilingual Research  ↗
  17. Gutiérrez (1999)
    Building a culture of collaboration through hybrid language practices
    Theory Into Practice  ↗
  18. Gutiérrez (1999)
    Rethinking diversity: Hybridity and hybrid language practices in the third space
    Mind, Culture, and Activity  ↗
  19. Henderson (2015)
    Teacher scaffolding and pair work in a bilingual pre-kindergarten classroom
    Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education  ↗
  20. Jewitt (2008)
    Multimodality and literacy in school classrooms
    Review of Research in Education  ↗
  21. Kibler (2017)
    Peer interaction and learning in multilingual settings from a sociocultural perspective: …
    International Multilingual Research Journal  ↗
  22. López (2015)
    Cultural artifacts: Using Sylvia and Aki for opening up authoring spaces
    Bilingual Research Journal,  ↗
  23. Makoni (2006)
    Disinventing and reconstituting languages.
     ↗
  24. Martínez-Álvarez (2012)
    Creative literacies and learning with Latino emergent bilinguals
    LEARNing Landscapes  ↗
  25. Menken (2008)
    English learners left behind: Standardized testing as language policy.
     ↗
  26. Moje (2004)
    Working toward third space in content area literacy: An examination of everyday funds of …
    Reading Research Quarterly  ↗
  27. (1996)
    A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures
    Harvard Educational Review  ↗
  28. Nuñez (2016)
    Who will be bilingual? A critical discourse analysis of a Spanish-English bilingual pair
    Critical Inquiry in Language Studies  ↗
  29. Otheguy (2015)
    Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics
    Applied Linguistics Review  ↗
  30. Palmer (2014)
    Reframing the debate on language separation: Toward a vision for translanguaging pedagogi…
    The Modern Language Journal  ↗
  31. Paris (2012)
    Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology, and practice
    Educational Researcher  ↗
  32. Shanahan (2008)
    Teaching disciplinary literacy to adolescents: Rethinking content-area literacy
    Harvard Educational Review  ↗
  33. Wei (2017)
    Translanguaging as a practical theory of language
    Applied Linguistics  ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 7 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Oct 2025
    Exploring Design Strategies for Student Career Portfolios ↗
    Shyam Pandey
    discourse analysis multimodality professional writing
  2. Research in the Teaching of English Aug 2025
    Broadening the Construction of Personhood in Literacy Instruction with Multilingual Paraprofessional Teachers and Students ↗
    Faythe Beauchemin; Rebecca Carpenter de Cortina
    multimodality translingualism multilingual writers
  3. Written Communication Apr 2025
    Translanguaging Space Construction in Five Chinese EFL Learners’ Collaborative English-Language Culture-Introduction Videos: Patterns and Influential Factors ↗
    Xuehua Fu; Lawrence Jun Zhang
    multimodality social media translingualism multilingual writers
  4. Research in the Teaching of English Feb 2025
    Heteroglossia and Community Translanguaging in an English-Medium Classroom: Multilingual Elementary Students’ Use of Multiple Voices in Digital Texts ↗
    Lindsey W. Rowe
    multimodality translingualism multilingual writers voice and style
  5. Written Communication Jan 2025
    Decoding Metadiscourse Markers in Estonian Academic Texts: A Language-Specific Perspective ↗
    Helen Hint; Helena Lemendik; Christer Johansson; Djuddah A. J. Leijen
    discourse analysis quantitative research multimodality scientific writing