Transformative Translanguaging Espacios: Latinx Students and Their Teachers Rompiendo Fronteras sin Miedo

Abstract

Transformative Translanguaging Espacios: Latinx Students and Their Teachers Rompiendo Fronteras sin Miedo is a book edited by Maite T. Sánchez and Ofelia García. Due to the extreme social-political hardships faced in the United States, critical social issues such as the 2020 global pandemic, the attack on media through political malice, and increased gun violence have created more barriers for our racialized and linguistically minoritized students across the country. These inequities faced in, and outside school contexts have created a need for a transformational socio-cultural shift for our Latinx Bilingual Students. This collaborative piece invites various scholars, educators, and school administrators to inspire and create social change through the reinvigoration of translanguaging theory and pedagogy for Latinx Bilingual Students. Divided into six parts, this book provides first-hand accounts of how translanguaging can go beyond language development. When strategically implemented as a sociopolitical act, these pedagogical frameworks can transform the lives of our linguistically minoritized students. Nelson Flores begins this book’s foreword by discussing his personal experience with his bilingual identity throughout his lifetime. Flores describes how Translanguaging Theory became an influential tenant in developing the groundbreaking work on raciolinguistic ideologies with his colleague, Jonathan Rosas (2015). This conceptualization becomes a solid theme throughout the book to establish how languages are polarized, politicized, and hegemonized in public school settings. Ofelia García and Maite T. Sánchez begin their Introducción and Chapter 1 by vocalizing their reasoning to hyperfocus on Latinx Bilingual Students in the United States. As one of the fastestgrowing populations, Latinx Bilingual Students born in the U.S. are directly affected by language policies that purposely treat their bilingualism as two separate entities (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018). The authors argue that the sociocultural upholding of a monoglossic view of language and identity in the United States can be traced to the remnants of colonization. The authors focus on the language structures of Spanish in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Not only was Spanish a remnant of Spain’s colonial legacy, but it also created a pivotal shift where the speaker of a register was subject to the power relations between racialized groups. Therefore, an attempt to alter beliefs in language ideologies becomes necessary when conceptualizing bilingual education programs in the United States. García and Sánchez strengthen their argument by stating that translanguaging as a political act emancipates linguistically marginalized students from the oppressive views of hegemony and racialized forms of linguistic injustices. Part 2, “Good and agency ¿Para quién?” houses Chapters 2 and 3, which thematically center on the effects of gentrification in bilingual programs across the country. Heiman, Cervantes-Soon & Hurie’s chapter “‘Well good para quién?’: Disrupting two-way bilingual education gentrification and reclaiming space through a critical translanguaging pedagogy,” zooms in on a fifth-grade two-way bilingual education program in a small town in Texas. Utilizing a Critical Translanguaging Language Pedagogy, a bilingual teacher, Michelle, allows her students to engage in critical discourse that problematizes the pros and cons of gentrification in their local community. Conversations about their lived experiences unveil the power relations in their community. In addition to the discussion of gentrification, the authors pose thought-provoking questions that make us think about who truly benefits from two-way models of bilingual education. In a conversation with her students, Michelle discusses her reasoning