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Communication with diverse audiences invites others within the school community to be a part of the discussion. ‘Opening up space for students to language flexibly also means opening up space for a discussion of power relations among social groups at school and in society’ (García et al., 2017 p. 162). Creating that space for students and their families to communicate multilingually also allows for translanguaging corriente - how multilinguals use all their languages to learn and engage with content in school.
Bilingual Presentation
This is a sample of a student's Italian Region Project. To the left is the final project about Trentino-Alto Adige in italiano e inglese. Through the Italian Regions cultural project, students communicate bilingually about their respective region. Although the students do not have the capacity on their own to create these summaries in Italian without online resources, they are able to make cross linguistic connections through repetitive vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure. To reach diverse audiences and apply translanguaging pedagogy, parents, peers, and teachers can be invited to view presentations given by students in English and Italian.
Multicultural Night
Hosting a multicultural night is a great way to get the school community involved. It is a way to show off student learning and allows parents to see how students are broadening their concepts of culture and language. Students in a foreign language course can communicate an aspect of culture in multiple languages of their choosing. For example, students can greet parents and community members using Spanish, English, or the language spoken at home. Parents can also get involved and share aspects of their culture such as food, dance, art, fashion, traditions, and language with the community. Multicultural night can also extend to other disciplines to welcome bilingualism and culture in other subjects.
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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