Dear GlobalEd Readers,
We are excited to bring you the second and final blog from Drs. Sarina Chugani Molina and Maya Kalyanpur, who explore culturally sustainable approaches to language instruction. In this post, they dive into actionable strategies for teacher educators and teachers, offering three transformative language-inclusive pedagogies. These approaches empower teachers to recognize and validate the diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds of multilingual students, fostering inclusive and equitable learning environments.
Enjoy reading!
Paula Cordeiro
Sarina Chugani Maya Kalyanpur
Research on raciolinguistics in the field of English language education indicates that racial and linguistic marginalization consciously or unconsciously transmitted through pedagogies, practices, policies, and curricular material in English language classrooms contributes to the perpetuation of harm (Flores & Rosa, 2015; Molina, 2022) (see our earlier blog). Teachers bring their own unconscious subjectivities and biases into the classroom, which can influence their pedagogical practices. This blog introduces readers to three interrelated language-inclusive pedagogies that validate and leverage the diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds of multilingual students as a form of decolonial resistance towards counteracting this harm (Bale, et al., 2023). Translingual approaches recognize the fluidity of language practices among multilingual students and encourage using multiple languages as resources rather than obstacles to learning (Canagarajah, 2013). Multimodal approaches integrate various modes of instruction, expression, and assessments that leverage the genius in each student (Kress, 2010). Culturally sustaining approaches affirm and sustain students’ identities through centering their lived experiences thereby making learning more relevant and engaging (Hollie, 2018; Paris & Alim, 2017).
Translingual Approaches
Translingual approaches, also referred to as translanguaging practice, is an approach that has been suggested for truly bilingual speakers (Garcia & Wei, 2014; Rajendram, 2022), has potential for classroom applications by tapping into the multilingual assets of both teachers and students. Translanguaging is particularly suited for such multilingual contexts, even if the teacher does not speak the same language as their students (Anderson & Lightfoot, 2018; Bhattacharya, 2013; Mukhopadhyay, 2020). Here, teachers and students move fluidly between the languages they speak, developing linguistic and academic foundations for both the mother tongue and the medium of instruction (MOI) language. In Mukhopadhyay’s study (2020) in a primary classroom in India, multilingual teachers introduced the English alphabet, phonic sounds, and vocabulary by using students’ primary languages to ensure students’ comprehension. When schools move away from English only policies and allow teachers to leverage the existing multilingualism in the classroom, students learn through whichever language they are more fluent in and gradually acquire the vocabulary of the MOI (Adamson, Milligan & Desai, 2024). The translingual approach provides opportunities for students to express themselves in the language in which they are most fluent and comfortable so that the medium does not become a barrier to their expression; learning the vocabulary in English for the words that they have a context for and have just expressed themselves in becomes more meaningful than the decontextualized vocabulary in a textbook. Additionally, acknowledging the languages that students bring honors their linguistic diversity and reduces some of the inequities in the hierarchies of language that currently occur in classrooms.
Multimodal Approaches
Multimodal approaches include a wide range of strategies and content for teaching and learning beyond the traditional print-based text (Kress, 2000; 2010). Studies have shown that the inclusion of various modes of instruction, expression, and assessments such as “written and oral language, gesture, visual, sound, and movement” (Choi & Yi, 2015) aligns with the ways in which learners make meaning through their access to various semiotic and digital resources at their fingertips in their daily lives (Jewitt & Kress, 2003). For example, in Choi & Yi’s (2015) study, a social studies teacher utilized rich literacy practices such as creating booklets and newspapers with drawings and text-based facts, audio-recordings of paintings of historical events, and animations with their voice overs to describe a historical figure as though they were characters in this period. They found these processes made content knowledge more nuanced and accessible, while also meeting both the cognitive and affective needs of their English language learners.
Culturally Sustaining Approaches
With culturally responsive curriculum and classroom practices, students from minority cultures become more engaged and interested in school, experience improved relationships and an increased sense of belonging and confidence, make more connections to academic content, and experience enhanced academic achievement (Aronson & Laughter, 2016; Crooks et al., 2015; Molina, 2012, 2013; Munns et al., 2013). Many frameworks have developed around leveraging culture in teaching and learning processes for student success. Ladson-Billings (1994) first introduced the framework of culturally relevant teaching to better support the academic success of African American students, which extended to other marginalized groups. Gay (2000) extended Ladson-Billings’ work to include other identity markers such as race, ethnicity, language socio-economic status, dis/ability, in culturally responsive teaching to promote inclusion and equity for student success. Paris and Alim’s (2017) framework of culturally sustaining teaching not only recognizes the cultural backgrounds and experiences of students, but actively works to sustain and revitalize their cultural practices and traditions by engaging with communities and advocating for social justice and equity in schools and society. Muñiz (2020) shares a set of 8 competencies based on the extant literature in this area. It includes 1) reflecting on one’s own cultural lens, 2) recognizing and redressing bias in the system, 3) drawing on students’ cultures to inform curriculum and instruction, 4) bringing real-world issues into the classroom, 5) modeling high expectations for all students, 6) promoting respect for student differences, 7) collaborating with families and the local community, and 8) communicating in culturally and linguistically sensitive ways. Culturally responsive (Gay, 2018) and culturally sustaining approaches (Paris & Alim, 2014) to English language education empower learners and value their individual identities, linguistic repertoires, and cultural assets through the integration (not addition) of stories, histories, images, multilingual literature, and scientific discoveries from the various student backgrounds represented in the classroom.
All three language-inclusive pedagogies described here emphasize the importance of individualizing instruction to attend to student interests and prior knowledge. As Molina (2012) notes, “[w]hen children recognize the power of their voice and understand the wealth that their backgrounds and cultures bring to their classrooms, their communities, and the world, they will more likely begin to see themselves as valued members of the community” (p. 220).
Dr. Maya Kalyanpur is a Professor in the Department of Learning and Teaching at the University of San Diego. She explores the intersections of culture in education with a specific focus on international special education and comparative education.
Dr. Sarina Chugani Molina is an Associate Dean and Professor in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego with disciplinary expertise in critical language teacher education from a postcolonial lens.
References
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