Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education
ORCID IDs
Lydiah Kananu Kiramba http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0231-4711
Date of this Version
9-2016
Citation
Published in International Multilingual Research Journal (2017). DOI: 10.1080/19313152.2016.1239457
Abstract
This article discusses the findings of an empirical study that investigated the writing practices in a multilingual, rural, fourth-grade classroom in Kenya. The study was undergirded by Bakhtin’s heteroglossia. Analysis of texts indicated that these emergent multilinguals used multiple semiotic resources to maximize the chances of meeting the communicative goals through translanguaging. However, the translanguaging process in writing was a tension-filled process in terms of language separation and correctness. The emergent multilingual writer went through tensions in the process of finding a balance between authorial intentions and the authoritarian single voicedness required by the school and the national curriculum. The author suggests that translanguaging in writing disrupts unequal voices and language hierarchies by transgressing standard ideologies in academic writing. It is recommended that educators consider multilingual resources as legitimate cognitive tools and resources for communication in school contexts to allow authentic voices and inclusive instruction.
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons, Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons
Comments
Copyright © 2016 Taylor & Francis. Used by permission.