Biliteracy of African American and Latinx Kindergarten Students in a Dual-Language Program: Understanding Students’ Translanguaging Practices Across Informal Assessments

Abstract

This article uses a translanguaging framework, together with critical case sampling and qualitative analysis, to explore how six students approached literacy in an integrated dual-language (DL) program in a low-income, working-class, predominantly African American school. Students’ translanguaging practices encompassed a broad repertoire of features that included home language, academic language, metalinguistic awareness, and lived experiences across home, school, and community contexts—many of which likely to go unexamined with traditional standardized testing. Educators working with minoritized DL students are encouraged to adopt a translanguaging lens when assessing students’ bilingualism and biliteracy to more fully capture students’ linguistic repertoire.