Education Division Scholarship
Document Type
Article
Streaming Media
Publication Date
8-21-2024
Keywords
Preschool, Mandarin immersion, early literacy, emergent literacy, dual language, translanguaging
Abstract
Rich oral language practices, including the opportunity and ability to participate in cognitively and linguistically challenging extended discourse, are foundational to early literacy development. To meet children’s needs in their first exposure to the languages of schooling, educators may engage students in extended discourse multilingually. The current study focuses on student-centered translanguaging conversations to examine strategies that preschool teachers employ to support young children’s emerging bilingual and biliteracy development in a Mandarin immersion preschool serving primarily nonheritage learners of Mandarin in the United States. Findings indicate that, despite the school’s Mandarin-only policy, teachers engaged in covert translanguaging practices to extend and deepen discourse. Specifically, teachers used 13 discourse strategies across two critical areas of schooling: translanguaging for (1) socializing students not just into the Mandarin language but into the norms of schooling; and (2) focusing not just on Mandarin language but also on content area learning. The study concludes with implications for schools and teachers.
Publication Title
Journal of Early Childhood Literacy--SAGE Publications
ISSN
1468-7984
E-ISSN
1741-2919
First Page
1
Last Page
29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984241276292
Recommended Citation
Wong, Kevin M. and Harvey, Robin E., "Promoting emergent literacy in preschool through extended discourse: Covert translanguaging in a Mandarin immersion environment" (2024). Pepperdine University, Education Division Scholarship. Paper 326.
https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/gsepedu/326
Included in
Applied Linguistics Commons, Asian American Studies Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons, Chinese Studies Commons, Cognitive Science Commons, Discourse and Text Linguistics Commons, Early Childhood Education Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, First and Second Language Acquisition Commons, Other Linguistics Commons, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons, Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons