Journal Article

A Transraciolinguistic Approach for Literacy Classrooms

Smith, Patriann

2022

Overview

Across the globe, students increasingly use literacies to cross boundaries, locally and globally, virtually and geographically, willingly and involuntarily. They cross these boundaries with versatile linguistic backgrounds that allow them to effectively navigate new school and life worlds. Many students who cross boundaries are students of color who wrestle with what it means to critically read the word and the world even as they grapple with racialization. At the intersection of students’ border-crossing, languaging, and racialization are opportunities for understanding how teachers can center race by identifying and leveraging literate assets that immigrant and transnational students of color use to make meaning in and beyond classrooms. In this article, I present a transraciolinguistic approach as an intersectional and critical tool for centering race and racialized language while also addressing border-crossing in students’ literacy practice. Recommendations for teachers who wish to foster a transraciolinguistic approach to support critical literacy practice for all students are discussed.

• Publisher: Wiley,Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subject: 2‐Childhood / 3‐Early adolescence / 4‐Adolescence / Classrooms / Code switching / Code Switching (Language) / Critical Literacy / Critical pedagogy / Critical theory / Critical theory, Linguistics / Dialects / English as a second language / English for speakers of other languages / English language learners / English learners / Home language / Home language practices / Home‐school connections / Immigrants / Immigration / In‐service / Language / Language Attitudes / Language Usage / Language Variation / Linguistics / Literacy / Metacognition / Migrants / Minority Group Students / Multilingualism / Native Language / Pedagogy / Race / Second Language Learning / Sociocultural / Sociolinguistic / Students / Teacher Student Relationship / TEACHING AND LEARNING IN ACTION / Teaching Methods / Translanguaging / Transraciolinguistics / Writing