Translanguaging in action: a single case study of pedagogical acts in a newcomer classroom
Jinhua Wang
Topeka High School/Kansas State University, USA; https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9414-3927
Socorro Herrera
Kansas State University, USA; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8142-7668
Kendra Herrera
Kansas State University, USA; https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3941-7501
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36534/erlj.2026.04.06
Bibliographic citation: (ISSN 2657-9774) Educational Role of Language Journal. Special Volume 2026-2(3). DECOLONIAL AND SITUATED APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING, pp. 60-74.
Abstract
In response to the growing need for equity in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms, this single-case study investigates how a middle school ESL teacher in a rural Midwestern setting enacted decolonial and situated language approaches — specifically pedagogical translanguaging and Biography-Driven Instruction (BDI) — to support newcomer students in diverse classrooms, fostering equity, inclusiveness, engagement and intercultural competence. Centering students’ biopsychosocial histories, the teacher integrated dynamic, contextual translanguaging and BDI strategies to challenge monolingual, deficit-based paradigms, legitimize students’ cultural backgrounds and full linguistic repertoires, and cultivate equitable, inclusive learning spaces where language, identity, and academic content converge. Three central themes emerge: (1) navigating ideological tensions between prescribed curricular structures and asset-based, humanizing education; (2) reimagining instructional patterns through intentional and strategic translanguaging as decolonial and identity-affirming praxis; and (3) transforming BDI-informed translanguaging practices to empower student voices and choices while promoting engagement, academic rigor, and learner agency. Findings demonstrate how strategic, intentional translanguaging affirms learner identities, fosters engagement and academic rigor, enhances linguistic development, and promotes social-emotional wellbeing. The study also highlights tensions between curriculum expectations and culturally responsive teaching, and the complexities of implementing translanguaging and BDI within monolingual ideologies and limited institutional support. This study offers practical insights into culturally responsive instruction and curriculum design that weave language, content and social-emotional learning, positioning translanguaging as both a curricular stance and a transformative tool for reimagining newcomer education through decolonial, asset-oriented, biography-informed, and humanizing practices.
Keywords: translanguaging, Biography-Driven Instruction, pedagogical translanguaging, strategic translanguaging, newcomers, cultural responsiveness, relevance of instruction
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