Translanguaging and Vulnerability

Anahi Lopez-Peralta, Anaheim High School

Anahi is a French language teacher at Anaheim High School. After being a part of Project LEARN, Anahi found that her pedagogical practices were amplified as a result of her growing more comfortable when students translanguaged in the classroom. Rather than forcing students to only complete assignments in Spanish, she empowered them to use their full linguistic repertoires to make sense of their learning and turn in work that reflected their full understanding of the content.

Unit: La Familia

In this unit on La Familia, students had numerous opportunities to build comunidad and confianza as they shared about their families. Throughout, Anahi and students critically examine their [trans]languaging choices. Being vulnerable, opening up and sharing about her own family with her students fostered a space of confianza. Consequently, students felt empowered to stretch themselves linguistically, and their work reflects their intentional languaging. Below, you will find some of the scaffolds and activities Anahi used throughout this unit leading up to the final Mi Familia project.

La Familia: Unit Introduction

To build students' interest in the unit, Anahi began by asking students to respond to the question, "¿Qué significa crecer en una familia hispana?" ("What does it mean to grow up in a Hispanic family?"). Students individually wrote down their responses before sharing out with a partner and, eventually, the whole class. After this discussion, Anahi played a short video to further engage students in a discussion about their cultures and families.

Discussion: En Nuestras Familias

Another unit activity Anahi engaged students in was a Padlet discussion where students answered a variety of questions about their families. Questions included, "¿Qué tienes que hacer para quedarte en la casa de amigos a dormir?" ("What do you have to do to go our with friends? What time do you have to get home?") and "¿Quales tareas del hogar tienes?" (What household chores do you have?"). Students were encouraged to respond in any language of their choosing. As can be seen in this screenshot, many students offered responses in Spanish, while some responded in English. It is clear throughout their responses that they understand each question and offered authentic responses.

Final Project: La Familia

The culminating assessment for this unit was the La Familia Project. To introduce this project, Anahi built upon the activities and assignments students completed throughout the unit, and showed them another video to generate further discussion about their own families. At this point in the unit, students had an understanding that "family" can mean many different things to different people.

For this project, students created a Google Slide about a family member or someone significant to them using the correct present and preterite tenses in their slide. Students were to describe their chosen family member and explain what they contribute to the family. Though students could write in whatever languages they wished, they were asked to include 10 present tense verbs and 5 adjectives in Spanish. Below, you will find Anahi's slides detailing the expectations for this project, as well as her own example, which she used as a model to the class. You will also find numerous student examples. Each example includes detailed descriptions in both Spanish and English of multiple family members, revealing students' vulnerability and eagerness to share about important people in their families. Their choice to write in multiple languages also showcases their purposeful use of language to successfully create their projects.

Mi Familia- Instructions and teacher example

Mi Familia- Student samples.pdf

Finding Validation and Growth

“Being part of Project LEARN and being in spaces with like-minded individuals has helped me to feel validated in my ways of thinking. I began to feel value in my ideas, opinions, and personal experiences from learning from other members of Project LEARN and contributing in conversations related to student learning and student experiences. I see students who were afraid to speak due to fear of mispronouncing a word or saying something that 'Didn’t make sense' finding their voice through the use of translanguaging. I see students who were afraid to ask questions speaking freely and confidently asking clarifying questions. Overall, I feel empowered in my diverse use of languaging in my classroom thanks to my experience in Project LEARN.”

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