Translanguaging Practices in a Hungarian-English Early Childhood Classroom

Abstract

After a brief overview of translanguaging research carried out in the past, this chapter introduces how Hungarian-English emergent bilingual children used translanguaging practices during play time in a Hungarian-English early childhood education classroom in the AraNY János Hungarian School in New York City (USA). The authors developed the concept of student-led translanguaging and observed it separately from teacher-led translanguaging practices. This chapter presents the data collected through classroom observations over a period of 6 months. The overarching aim of this research is to reveal how translanguaging is used by the students and by the teachers in a superdiverse community of Hungarian descendants living around New York City.

Translanguaging Practices in Early Childhood Classrooms From an Intercultural Perspective

“…This chapter aims to explore more profoundly the translanguaging practices used in two early childhood classrooms in the AraNY János Hungarian Kindergarten and School in New York City (USA) (see more about the structure and context of this early childhood heritage language school in Golubeva & Csillik (2018) and Csillik & Golubeva (2019a, 2020). The main goal of this longitudinal qualitative research was to understand how students and teachers used translanguaging practices to get familiar with different cultures as young learners are exposed to the diversity of languages and cultures in this heritage language school.…”

“…Encouraging young students to translanguage in multilingual/multicultural early childhood classrooms with their peers and teachers helps these children express individuality, gain validation, build a positive attitude towards tolerance and acceptance of diversity in general, and form cultural identities (Golubeva & Csillik, 2018;Csillik & Golubeva, 2020;Csillik, 2019a in press). It is an empowering strategy to simply encourage young language learners to accept that two or more cultures and languages represented in the classroom can be beneficial for learning.…”

“…This is especially beneficial in the case of first-generation immigrant students who are transitioning from one culture to another in a very short period of time, and by providing translanguaging practices they can easily find a closer link to the "home" they left behind. It is remarkably comforting at first in an environment where they might face a 'cultural shock' upon arrival (Golubeva & Csillik, 2018;Csillik & Golubeva, 2020;Csillik, 2019a in press).…”

“…The authors' previous works focused on two different aspects of translanguaging. First, they researched on translanguaging practices in a multilingual classroom of the above-mentioned Hungarian heritage school to identify student-led and teacher-led translanguaging practices (Golubeva & Csillik, 2018). Later, the authors looked into the pedagogical translanguaging practices of the teachers how they dealt with occurring language gaps (lexical and cultural) in an immersion Hungarian-English bilingual program.…”

“…Since language is both a symbolic system of communication and a cultural tool to transmit culture itself, play plays an essential part in both language and culture development and in a young learner's understanding of the external world (Golubeva & Csillik, 2018). Young children at play are making sense of the world around them through a process of "inner speech".…”