How TRANSLATE Works 

 

Collaborative Translations: Designing Bilingual Instructional Tools

Perhaps because of widespread globalization and transnationalism, literacy in the 21st century is increasingly recognized as multicultural, multilingual, and multimodal (p. 17). Disconfirming our conjecture about writing, small groups were always able to construct written translations with very little instruction. Confirming our conjectures about participation, during translation, students typically leaned forward, spoke more frequently and quickly, and argued about the “right” or “best” translation (p. 20).

 

… although we conjectured that writing in the heritage language would be an obstacle, this was not (nor was it ever) the case. While there are always subtle negotiations about who writes for the group, we have yet to find a small group of students who cannot construct a written translation (in Spanish, Kurdish, and Somali) (p. 19). 

​

we realized that metaphorical language yielded richer discussion and debate. For example, the following excerpt stirred tremendous debate: “They clocked me solid a few times, and I started growling like this angry dog Huero found one day” (Langan & Alirez, 2004, p. 14). Students wondered and argued about the right translation for “clocked me solid,” struggling with writing a translation that included words such as clocked and times, with their multiple meaning (p. 21). 

​

When students think deeply about the language that individual characters would utter, it demonstrates a keen understanding of this textual universe and the kind of reasoning that supports better comprehension (p. 22). 

​

…we continue to view collaborative translation as a strategic activity that supports engagement, values heritage language, and increases comprehension of academic concepts (p. 22). 

​

Claborative Translations: Designing Bilingual Instructional Tools CHRISTOPHER S. KEYES, SHIPPENSBURG UNIVERSITY, KELLY PUZIO, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY, AND ROBERT T. JIMENEZ, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

 

​

CONTESTING LANGUAGE ORIENTATIONS

Language is an integral aspect of multicultural education, as well as a fundamental human right and instructional resource (p. 129). 

​

Teacher: It’s like we have to teach with one hand and one foot tied behind our backs…. We have to teach with half the resources [one language] when what we really need are twice the resources (pp. 136-137). 

​

In summary, multicultural educators at all levels can and should exert agency and challenge inequities; however, a nuanced understanding of local contexts and complexities needs to be considered (p. 141). 

 

CONTESTING LANGUAGE ORIENTATIONS A Critical Multicultural Perspective on Local Language Policy in Two Middle Schools, (2012) Middle Grades Research Journal

SUPPORTING TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LEARNERS BY LEVERAGING STUDENTS’ LINGUISTIC STRENGTHS, (2015). The Reading Teacher

Successful teachers of ELs need to have specific understandings gained through formal study and extended contact with native speakers of other languages(p. 407). 

We recommend that all teachers working with ELs complete at least two years of foreign language study of at least one other language (p. 408). 

Translation makes use of students’ native language, facilitates transfer of native language skills, and allows students to make mental connections to what they already know (p. 409). 

Translating has the potential to improve the English reading comprehension of ELs (p. 409). 

[This instructor] explicitly recognized the students’ linguistic knowledge and told them they were the experts (p. 411). 

It Sounds More Like a Gangbanger: Using Collaborative Translation to Understand Literary Concepts (2016). Language Arts

…we have developed an instructional strategy that builds upon the cultural and literacy strengths that many bilingual students bring to school—one that monolingual teachers can also use in the classroom (p 444).

For this reason, we developed TRANSLATE (Teaching Reading And New Strategic Language Approaches To English learners). The goal of TRANSLATE is to support the strategic use of students’ heritage language in the classroom for understanding important textual concepts (p. 445). 

translation is a complex language and literacy practice in which many bilingual students regularly participate out- side of school. TRANSLATE seeks to recognize students’ linguistic resources to create transformative social spaces (p. 446). 

Along with supporting textual concepts, the best translation excerpts were moderately challeng- ing and linguistically rich (p. 448). 

David, S., Pacheco, M.B., Jiménez, R.T. (manuscript accepted for publication). Designing translingual pedagogies: exploring collaborative translation through a classroom teaching experiment. Cognition and Instruction.

Puzio, K., Keyes, C., & Jiménez, R. T. (2016). It Sounds More Like a Gangbanger: Using Collaborative Translation to Understand Literary Concepts. Language Arts, 93 (6), 430-443.

Cole, M.; David, S. & Jiménez, R. T. (2016). Negotiating investment in culturally responsive instruction. Language Arts, 93 (6), 444-456. 

Jiménez, R. T.; David, S.; Pacheco, M.; Risko, V. J.; Pray, L.; Fagan, K.; & Gonzales, M. (2015). Supporting Teachers of English Language Learners by Leveraging Students’ Linguistic Strengths. The Reading Teacher, 68 (6), 406-412. 

Pacheco, M. B., David, S. S., & Jiménez, R. T. (2015). Translating pedagogies: Leveraging students’ heritage languages in the literacy classroom. Middle Grades Research Journal, 10 (1), 49-63.

Jiménez, R. T., David, S., Fagan, K., Risko, V. Pacheco, M., Pray, L., Gonzales, M. (2015). Using Translation to Drive Conceptual Development for Students Becoming Literate in English as an Additional Language. Research in the Teaching of English, 49(3), 248-271.

Keyes, C., Puzio, K., & Jiménez, R. T. (2014). Collaborative translations: Designing bilingual instructional tools. Journal of Education, 194(2), 17-24.

Puzio, K., Keyes, C. S., Cole, M. W., & Jiménez, R. T. (2013). Language differentiation: Collaborative translation to support bilingual reading Bilingual Research Journal, 36(3), 329-349.

Cole, M. W., Puzio, K., Keyes, C. S., Jiménez, R. T., Pray, L. & David, S. (2012). Contesting Language Orientations: A Critical Multicultural Perspective on Local Language Policy in Two Middle Schools. Middle Grades Research Journal, 7(2), 129-143.