Abstract
In this chapter, the author described classroom activities designed to aid multilingual first-year writing (FYW) students' reading comprehension of assigned course texts. The author referred to these activities as “translation” because students engaged in two types of translation—literal and pedagogical—to rephrase challenging texts into sentence constructions and concepts with which they felt familiar, thus enhancing their ability to comprehend and respond to those texts. The activities were helpful to multilingual writers, who used their home language to access the words, phrases, and concepts of the target language. Further, the activities enabled students' agency over their understandings of and reactions to their course readings, which provided authority and authenticity to their writing. The classroom activities were explained in detail and include teacher/student dialogue to provide detailed context of the activities in real-time. The author provided the scholarly underpinnings of the activities and discussed their pedagogical implications in FYW and across the curriculum.
TopThe Literature Of Translation And Translanguaging
Translation is used both literally and pedagogically in this chapter. Literal use of translation refers to the rendering of words from one language to another. The pedagogical use of translation refers to the conversion of unfamiliar or challenging vocabulary or concepts into words that are understandable and accessible to student readers; in some cases, translanguaging was used to access the English words and concepts. Both types of translation occurred in the activities described in this chapter. This literature review addresses relevant scholarship related to literal and pedagogical translation, as well as scholarship on translanguaging in the classroom.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Second Language Writing: A program of study for students who write in a second or non-dominant language for academic, personal, or professional purposes.
Academicspeak: The oral, written, auditory, and visual language proficiency required to learn effectively in schools and academic programs; and the language used in classroom lessons, books, tests, and assignments, that students are expected to learn and achieve fluency in.
Everydayspeak: The typical conversational or social language students use on a daily basis.
Multilingualism: The use of more than one language in speaking, writing, and other modes of communication.
First-Year Writing (FYW): A program of study that helps incoming students build on their skills and abilities to develop fundamental writing skills necessary in their university studies and in the wider world.
Challenging Texts: Assigned course readings that contain vocabulary and/or concepts that are unfamiliar to first-year students and therefore stretch their abilities to comprehend those readings
Translation: Literally, the rendering of words from one language to another; figuratively, the conversion of unfamiliar or challenging vocabulary or concepts into words that are understandable and accessible to student readers; in some cases, translanguaging is used to access the English words and concepts.
Translanguaging: The ability of multilingual students to shuttle between and among languages in their communication repertoires without regard for distinct language boundaries.