Strengthening the research-practice nexus in teacher education for multilingual children through translanguaging pedagogy

Abstract

This ethnographic case study examines the experiences of three pre-service world language teachers who co-designed and co-taught an after-school program that introduced Spanish and Chinese to multilingual children as part of a year-long methods course. Specifically, this study explores how these teachers applied the course lessons on translanguaging pedagogy and teaching multilingual children in their teaching practices, as well as how their teaching experiences shaped their understanding and enactment of translanguaging pedagogy. Qualitative data, including classroom recordings, artifacts, questionnaires, and interviews, were collected. The findings revealed that over the course of a year, the pre-service teachers increasingly recognized multilingual children's linguistic assets and embraced translanguaging pedagogy. The teachers bridged theory and practice in the program as they recognized that multilingual children engaged more and responded positively to translanguaging pedagogy. This study calls for increased attention to the research-practice nexus in teacher education and an explicit focus on educating pre-service teachers about translanguaging pedagogy and multilingual children.