Linguistic artistry and flexibility in dual-language bilingual classrooms: young Black children’s language and literacy practices

ABSTRACT Drawing on translanguaging and raciolinguistics frameworks in an ethnographic case study, this article contextualizes how young Black American children engage in rich literacy practices to validate their cultural and linguistic identities in an elementary, two-way immersion bilingual program. Findings demonstrated that despite teachers’ perceived flexible linguistic spaces, Black American students mediated their verbal dexterities while resisting hegemonic whiteness norms in bilingual programs to create space for linguistic flexibility. The authors share implications for bilingual teachers who teach African American children and call for bilingual educators to reimagine a transformative space that moves from translanguaging policies to explicitly valuing the unique linguistic repertoires of Black children.