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From the classrooms to the offices, from students to teachers, translanguaging involves embarking on a mindset where every culture is valued and respected (Morell & Lopez,  2021; Seltzer, Ascenzi-Moreno & Aponte, 2020). A safe space for the students to explore and learn languages feeling proud of their identity (Kabuto, 2011). Like with every change, translanguaging can feel scary to implement at the first sight, but with the right goals set in place, perseverance, and a mentor that could provide a step-by-step guide, it can bring joy and love to our institutions.

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Since the last century, the early childhood education field has been influenced by the scientific shift where reason is more valued than any other thing in the classrooms (Aislain, 2015). There is a tendency to focus more on what students can produce from a monolingual perspective (Morell & Lopez,  2021; Seltzer, Ascenzi-Moreno & Aponte, 2020).  Usually, children are expected to accomplish a 'native speaker' level of proficiency as if languages were a goal to achieve, rather than a process to communicate and understand their environment (Li, 2018). The problem with this mindset is that instead of focusing on the creative ways in which children are making meaning of their world, there is a tendency to emphasize their struggles in regards to the acquisition of a named language. (For more info about how to overcome this challenge, you can visit the challenges section).

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So, if you have decided to implement translanguaging at schools, where to start? As translanguaging is a flexible approach, there is not a universal way in which educators can implement it, but in this section, I am sharing with you several ideas to have a clear vision on how to give the first steps...

 

1. Preparing the environment

By the environment, I refer to everything and everyone that will surround multilingual children, it involves the people, values, perspective, materials, and resources in our schools. If we take into consideration that all the input that multilingual children receive will impact directly the output they produce (Wang, 2011), the scaffold and feedback that they receive can become like the training wheels to learn languages (Kabuto, 2011 p. 36). Everything that young children see, observe and experience leaves a footprint in their souls. (Montessori, 1995). Therefore schools should foster a climate of inclusion and respect where all cultures and languages are valued, recognized, and fostered.  

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2. Building a sense of community

Translanguaging promotes socialization, it embraces the perspective that children learn through interactions with others (Cummins, 2006), therefore, building a sense of community is essential to succeed. Parents should feel comfortable working as a team with teachers and school administrators and should be invited to participate in activities where they can bring their cultural and linguistic knowledge to life in the classrooms. While maintaining congruence between home and school practices, children will be able to feel more confident about revealing their multilingual identities (Kabuto, 2011; Morell & Lopez,  2021). 

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3. Teacher training

Taking into consideration that teachers are a crucial piece in the implementation of translanguaging at schools, it is necessary to offer them opportunities to get familiarized with this pedagogy. Teacher training, guidance, and constant support should be placed into consideration. Translanguaging is a process, and as it adapts to the student's needs, teachers need to reflect on their own practices and plan to readapt their approach for the benefit of the students. More information about the ways in which teachers can be supported can be found in the section: The role of the teacher section.

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4. Bringing translanguaging to life in schools

 

I have already shared with you the essential aspects of translanguaging, but I am sure you are still wondering how does it look inside the early childhood classrooms. Please don't panic, here is a list of 10 basic suggestions that you can include at schools to get started:

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- Know more about the families you receive at school. When registering, invite them to complete a questionnaire describing their cultural and linguistic practices at home. This can serve you as the starting point. (In the section of resources, you can find a simple template that I created).

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- Invite students to share identity texts (stories) of their lives recorded in their home language or other languages they feel comfortable with. (Cummins, 2006)  (If they can, invite them to make a presention in the classroom, if not invite a family member to record it for them).

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- Schedule hours in the classrooms where children can receive "language showers" (Mehisto, Marsh & Frigols, 2008) (exposing children between 30 mins to 1 hour per day to a target language, to familiarize students with a multilingual society).  Also, they can be exposed to "language sprinkles" (Ortega, 2017) a shorter version (around 10 mins.) of exposure to promote familiarity with the ways languages are built. These can come in several formats, of songs, stories, drawings, videos, etc.

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- Display "Welcome signs" in the home languages of children. if you are not familiarized with the languages parents can be invited to co-create them. "Labeling ... in multiple languages is a small but meaningful way to help build a multilingual ecology. It is important to note that languages should be written side by side to convey the message that all languages are equally as valued and important in the classroom" (Morell & Lopez,  2021, p. 159).

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- Fill the reading corner with multilingual texts. Taking advantage of technology, if printed versions are not available in the place where you live, you can download e-books or even create your own resources! You can even boost this corner by providing recordings or videos of these texts so students can listen to the languages while manipulating the books (Morell & Lopez,  2021).

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- Invite parents to bring to share their cultural traditions in the classroom. They can share stories, books, traditional toys, or even do a hands-on activity preparing a traditional meal.

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- Try to learn the words to greet your students in their native language when they arrive at school. This might help to bridge home-school transition, lowering levels of separation anxiety in children. 

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- Promote opportunities for freedom of expression through the arts. Let children express themselves in multimodal ways: gestures, images, dance, sculptures, etc. Especially, visual arts (posters, collages, free drawings, etc) have the power to support children in comparing, contrasting, and understanding different languages. (Golubeva & Csillik 2019; Suzannie, & Leung, 2019).

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- Instead of giving direct translations, try to embody the concepts and through non-verbal language (gestures and corporal movements) convey messages you want to transmit. (Kirsch & Seele 2020; Lindquist & Garmann, 2019; Suzannie, & Leung, 2019)

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- Finally, the most important advice,  accept, respect, and love your students while having fun in this translanguaging journey!

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References

 

Cummins, J. (2006). Identity texts. The imaginative construction of self through multiliteracies pedagogy. In O. García, T. Skutnabb Kangas & E. Torres-Guzman (Eds.), Imagining multilingual schools: Languages in education and glocalization, pp. 51-68. Multilingual Matters.

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Golubeva, I., & Csillik, E. (2019). Translanguaging Practices in a Hungarian-English Early  Childhood Classroom. In   C. A. Huertas-Abril & M.E Gomez-Parra (Eds.) Early  Childhood Education from an Intercultural and Bilingual Perspective. (pp. 96-116).  IGI Global Kirsch C., & Seele C. (2020) Translanguaging in Early Childhood Education in Luxembourg:  From Practice to Pedagogy. In Panagiotopoulou J., Rosen L., Strzykala J. (Eds.) Inclusion, Education and Translanguaging. Inklusion und Bildung in Migrationsgesellschaften. (pp. 63-81) Springer VS, Wiesbaden.

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Kabuto, B. (2011). Becoming biliterate: Identity, ideology, and learning to read and write in two languages. New York, NY: Routledge.

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Li, W. (2018) Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics, 39(1), 9–30.

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Lindquist, H., & Garmann, N. G. (2019). Toddlers and their translingual practicing homes.  International Journal of Multilingualism,  1-14.

 

Mehisto, P., Marsh, D., & Frigols, M. J. (2008). Uncovering CLIL content and language integrated learning in bilingual and multilingual education. Oxford, UK: MacMillan Education Ltd.

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Ortega, Y. (2017, July). Valuing plurilingualism in the early years: Shifting the paradigms in early language education. Paper presented at the AILA (International association of applied linguistics) world congress, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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Seltzer K., Ascenzi-Moreno L., Aponte G.Y. (2020) Translanguaging and Early Childhood  Education in the USA: Insights from the CUNY-NYSIEB Project. In: Panagiotopoulou J., Rosen L., Strzykala J. (eds) Inclusion, Education and Translanguaging. Inklusion und Bildung in Migrationsgesellschaften. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. 

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Suzannie, K., & Leung (2019). Translanguaging through Visual Arts in Early Childhood: A Case Study in a Hong Kong Kindergarten. Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhood education, 13, 47-67.

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