Translanguaging During Shared Read Alouds: A Case Study

ABSTRACT Translanguaging has recently been promoted as a socially just and academically beneficial way to teach English language learners, however, there is an absence of research on the compelling ways bilingual families in the United States flexibly apply their entire linguistic repertoire when reading, particularly within shared readings. The present study involves one Spanish-English bilingual parent named Blanca, who was observed during five shared reading events with her early elementary-aged children, after which her translanguaging was coded for its book talk function. Interview and survey data about Blanca’s linguistic background and ideologies were also collected and coded using the constant comparative approach. Findings showed that Blanca engaged in translanguaging during four out of five book readings for the purpose of responding to her children, asking recall and summarization questions, directing children to pictures, and pointing out new vocabulary. Interview and survey data showed that Blanca highly valued bilingualism and privileged the use of “Spanglish”, or a hybrid Spanish-English mixture. While Blanca cannot represent all bilingual parents, her translanguaging can be used by educators and researchers as an introductory guide for translanguaging within classroom read-alouds and to lessen the disconnect between bilingual families and school.