Translanguaging for biliteracy: Book reading practices in a Chinese bilingual family

Date

2021-04-20

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Yang, Shuling, Lydiah Kananu Kiramba, and Stephanie Wessels. “Translanguaging for Biliteracy: Book Reading Practices in a Chinese Bilingual Family.” Bilingual Research Journal 44, no. 1 (January 2, 2021): 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2021.1907486.

Rights

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in The Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education on 20th April 2021, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15235882.2021.1907486.

Subjects

Abstract

This is a qualitative case study that explores conversational interactions during book-reading practices in a Mandarin-speaking Chinese American family between the mother and her two young children. The study employs a sociocultural lens and the concept of translanguaging to describe the characteristics of interactional practices during book readings in a bilingual family with young children. Through discourse analysis of the book reading interactions, we found that translanguaging acted as a bridge to comprehension and served as a window to mental imagery that allowed participants to refine their understanding of the texts. We draw implications for teachers working with emergent bilingual children, particularly on the role of heritage languages in promoting biliteracy development in young emerging bilingual children.