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Identity Affirmation is an important purpose for translanguaging because it allows students' identities to be validated in the classroom. Supporting student's bilingual identities is one of the four major purposes for translanguaging, according to García et. al, (2017). The examples below align with identity affirmation because each of the activities emphasizes individuality for students.
Create an Ofrenda
This is a product created by the students after completing a unit on Día de los Muertos. Students will work individually on this assessment in which they will place images onto their ofrenda. An ofrenda usually contains items such as photographs of the person who passed (in this case themselves), items that were important to them (things they enjoyed), and foods that they liked. Additionally, students are asked to place traditional ofrenda items on their altars such as las calaveras (sugar skulls), papel picado, and flor de muerto (cempasúchil). Students will then share in small groups what is on their ofrenda and why it is important to them.
Language Portrait
A language portrait is designed for students to 'map' their bodies with the languages or vernacular that they use. The portrait is designed to represent all of the student's languages as a whole. Each language or accent is then given a color and mapped onto wherever the student feels that language is represented on them. The design of the portrait is an individual product. Then, students will provide a brief description of each of the languages included and describe where it is mapped and why. Finally, students will have a turn and talk activity where they share their portraits in pairs. This activity allows students to share their linguistic repertoire with other students in the class to make connections and comparisons of the languages used as well as affirm student's identities by displaying all of the languages they know.
References
García, O., Johnson, S. I., Seltzer, K., & Valdés, G. (2017). The translanguaging classroom: Leveraging student bilingualism for learning. Caslon.
Hamman-Ortiz, L. & Hesson, S. (2023) 10 Purposes for Pedagogical Translanguaging
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