Sismo Pedagógico Oaxaqueño: Translanguaging in classroom language assessments

The integration of translanguaging pedagogies has served as powerful tools in multicultural and multilingual contexts. Yet connecting translanguaging pedagogies with classroom assessment introduces additional, often... [ view full abstract ]

The integration of translanguaging pedagogies has served as powerful tools in multicultural and multilingual contexts. Yet connecting translanguaging pedagogies with classroom assessment introduces additional, often unaddressed, challenges. In the English language programs for pre-service teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico, a growing awareness and acceptance of individual and community translanguaging practices inclusive of the use of Spanish and Indigenous languages has been applied to diversify both teaching and assessment approaches. Working under the assumption that students are capable of understanding and performing better during activities developed in classes using bi-/multilingual practices, our project aims to demonstrate how translanguaging can be integrated in assessment and instruction in a university classroom for pre-service English teachers. Our study centers on the practices of one instructor and 32 pre-service teachers during the 2017-2018 academic year at the Facultad de Idiomas at the Universidad Autónoma "Benito Juárez" de Oaxaca in Mexico. We have worked together to purposefully leverage translanguaging practices in this English language class and present interviews, instructor reflections, and assessment responses from an ongoing participatory action research project. We highlight the assessments used in this classroom, which incorporated translanguaging design tools such as bi-/multilingual reading and listening materials and support of bi-/multilingual responses in classroom interactions and in the assessment. Importantly, these bi-/multilingual materials focused on the September 2017 earthquakes and other events that were contextually relevant for the students during the period of the research. The findings point to some of the advantages and reservations in viewing linguistic practices more holistically through translanguaging in instruction and assessment that are purposefully connected with learners’ lived experiences. We conclude with implications of how our research project on translanguaging in assessment opens new pathways for teaching and learning Oaxaca, México and other linguistically diverse settings that are responsive to the multicultural and multilingual context.