Multilingual Authors 'Standing Taller' in Arts-Rich Translanguaging Spaces

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Multilingual Authors 'Standing Taller' in Arts-Rich Translanguaging Spaces
Language: English
Authors: Julie Choi (ORCID 0000-0003-3047-092X), Rafaela Cleeve Gerkens (ORCID 0000-0001-7351-4713), Shu Ohki (ORCID 0000-0003-2418-621X)
Source: Language and Education. 2025 39(3):586-613.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 28
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Grade 4
Intermediate Grades
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Multilingualism, Code Switching (Language), English Learners, Writing (Composition), Self Concept, Elementary School Students, Grade 4, Environmental Influences, Art Expression, Bilingual Students
Geographic Terms: Australia
DOI: 10.1080/09500782.2024.2348599
ISSN: 0950-0782
1747-7581
Abstract: Viewed through the monolingual English-only lens characteristic of many Australian schools, plurilingual students are often positioned as being in deficit as language and literacy learners and struggle to find their way into a writer's identity. The importance of creating a translanguaging space to support plurilingual learners is well established in the literature. In the current case study involving a class of Year 4 students from a Melbourne school who took part in a six-week arts-rich book making experience, we addressed a gap in the literature by making visible how elements of the 'translanguaging space' interact to support students to come to see themselves as resourceful multilingual writers. Using Activity Theory, we found that the elements that supported the development of students' multilingual writers' identities consisted of the creation of a translanguaging space, the use of arts experiences to lead language interactions, the explicit introduction of translanguaging in a multimodal arts-rich space, and opportunities to apply translanguaging as multilingual writers. We argue that the playful multimodal opportunities for meaning making facilitated by arts experiences can support students to build identities as multilingual writers by providing a variety of multimodal entry points to that identity.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1497512
Database: ERIC
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