Convergences and alignments between translanguaging and critical literacies work in bilingual classrooms

Abstract

Abstract Translanguaging pedagogy, stemming from a dynamic view of bilingualism, aims to creatively mobilize students’ plural communicative repertoires for meaningful learning and destabilize hegemonic discourses about minoritized students and languages. It espouses in itself a criticality that raises awareness of the inequitable and arbitrary nature of language hierarchy, separation and marginalization for social justice purposes, a central tenet shared with critical literacy (CL) education. This paper explores the convergences and alignments between translanguaging pedagogy and CL and the affordances for critical bilingual learning when employed together. To examine the synergies between translanguaging and CL, I use Janks’ (2010) synthesis CL model to tease out their interconnections as well as their transformative potential when used jointly in bilingual classrooms. Elaborating on key literacy events from a CL project with emergent bilingual students, this paper illustrates how translanguaging opens up spaces for rigorous language and CL engagement.