Translanguaging as an Agentive, Collaborative and Socioculturally Responsive Pedagogy for Multilingual Learners by Shakina Rajendram A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Shakina Rajendram 2019 Translanguaging as an Agentive, Collaborative and Socioculturally Responsive Pedagogy for Multilingual Learners Shakina Rajendram Doctor of Philosophy Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto 2019 Abstract The translanguaging turn in language education offers a new perspective on multilingualism by positing that multilingual learners have one linguistic repertoire rather than two or more autonomous language systems (García & Li Wei, 2014). When learners engage in translanguaging, they draw on all the features from their repertoire in a flexible and integrated way (Otheguy, García, & Reid, 2015). While many studies have advocated for the use of teacher-led pedagogical translanguaging, less research has documented the affordances of student-led collaborative translanguaging, and the factors that may constrain their use of translanguaging. My study is a step in this direction as it provides evidence of the potential of translanguaging as an intentional and agentive student-led collaborative pedagogy for multilingual learners. My research was a case study of two trilingual Grade 5 English language classes in a Malaysian elementary school – one class with an English-only policy, and one class without. Over 6 months, I recorded learners’ interactions as they worked in groups of 3-5 on collaborative learning activities. My data sources also included interviews with 55 learners and their two teachers, artefacts, field notes, and reflexive journal entries. Using sociocultural critical discourse analysis (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997; Mercer, 2004), I conducted qualitative and quantitative analyses of 100 30-minute to 1.5-hour long transcripts of learners’ interactions, and ii conducted a thematic analysis (Nowell, Norris, White & Moules, 2017) of the interviews. The results revealed that learners in both classes used translanguaging agentively to fulfil 100 cognitive-conceptual, planning-organizational, affective-social and linguistic-discursive functions that supported their individual and collective learning. Even with an English-only policy in place, learners harnessed the affordances of translanguaging using multimodal resources such as symbols, images, videos, and gestures. However, their specific language choices and beliefs about language were influenced and at times constrained by the teacher’s language policies and practices, parental discourses about linguistic capital, and ethnic tensions in the country. My research positions translanguaging as collaborative and agentive, socioculturally situated and culturally responsive, and a resource for learning as well as a process of learning. As an outcome of this study, I provide recommendations for a collaborative translanguaging pedagogy approach. iii Acknowledgements As I write this, my heart is filled with overwhelming gratitude for the many people in my life without whom this PhD would not be possible. Above all, I thank God for being my counselor, comforter, companion, and guide throughout this journey. Thank You for opening the door for me to do this PhD, for giving me the wisdom to make the right decisions and the strength to overcome all the obstacles in my path, and for so faithfully watching over me every step of the way. I will cling on to Your promise to strengthen, help and uphold me all the days of my life. Thank you so much to my supervisor, Dr. Shelley Stagg Peterson, for setting such a good example of the type of scholar I want to be – you are kind, generous, humble, optimistic, and a true teacher at heart. I admire how you always prioritize the needs of the teachers and children you work with, and how you use your research to benefit them. Thank you for being so prompt with your feedback on my thesis chapters (even on your travels!), for always affirming my work through your positive comments, and for helping me to become a better researcher and writer. I am also very grateful to my committee members, Dr. Jeff Bale and Dr. Antoinette Gagné, for the valuable feedback they provided on my thesis. Dr. Jeff Bale, you were the first professor I had the privilege of taking a course with at OISE, and from day one, you have challenged me to think more critically about language education. Throughout my thesis writing, you were the ‘inner voice in my head’ that helped me think about my work from different perspectives. Dr. Antoinette Gagné, thank you for going above and beyond to care for your students, and helping them achieve their goals. I truly appreciate the time and effort you have put into mentoring me not only during my thesis writing, but also in my research and teaching beyond the PhD. I have enjoyed every conversation we have had (in person, on Zoom, or during a taxi ride!), and I always come away from those conversations with creative insights and ideas. To my external examiner, Dr. Ofelia García, words are inadequate to express the depth of my appreciation for you. Thank you so much for the incredibly significant work you are doing with multilingual teachers and students, and for the tremendous impact you have had in the field of education. It was your work on translanguaging among language minority students that inspired iv this entire thesis, and your publications were seminal to the conceptualization of my study, the development of my theoretical framework, the analysis of the data, and the discussion of why my findings matter. I really appreciate your detailed, insightful, and thoughtful appraisal of my thesis, and the excellent recommendations you provided to help me move this research forward. Thank you to my internal external examiner, Dr. Emmanuelle Le Pichon-Voorstman, for the extensive and thought-provoking feedback you provided on my thesis during my final oral examination. You have helped me to think outside the box about various concepts in my thesis. I am also ever so grateful to my alternate internal examiner, Dr. Kathy Broad, for the meaningful suggestions you made during my oral examination. Thank you for highlighting the intersections between my research, teacher education, teacher learning, and importantly, teacher unlearning. To my family – I owe this success to you. Thank you so much to my husband and best friend, Kevin Nadarajah, for your unwavering support, love, kindness, patience, and understanding. I am so thankful to have walked through this PhD journey with you by my side. Thank you for the endless coffee runs, for praying with me, for playing the piano for me while I worked, for your assistance with Excel, for holding me accountable to my work and keeping my eyes on the goal, and for helping me to always stay grounded. I am so thankful to have you in my life. To my beloved mother, Dr. Mallika Vasugi, I am honoured to be following in your footsteps. Thank you for all the sacrifices you made to get me to where I am today. Thank you for nurturing a love for reading and writing in me, for teaching me the value of hard work and perseverance, for helping me preserve my cultural and linguistic heritage, and for modelling what it means to be a woman of wisdom, strength, dignity and integrity. To my beloved father, Pas. Ernie Rajendram, thank you for covering me with prayer, for being a constant source of encouragement, and for always reminding me that whatever I do, I should work at it with all my heart, as working for the Lord. I was filled with peace and assurance throughout my PhD journey knowing that the both of you were supporting and praying for me unceasingly. To my dearest sister, Rhema Rajendram, I am so grateful for your love, support, and presence in my life. Thank you for showing me how to relax and appreciate the little joys of everyday life. To my brother-in-law, David Vela Tirado, thank you for always lifting my spirits through your thoughtful and inspiring messages! To my dearest father- and mother-in-law, Kalatharan and v Shereen Nadarajah, you have been such amazing second parents to me. Thank you for caring so much about me, for always checking in on me, and for praying for me every day. To my sister- in-law, Dr. Sharon Nadarajah, thank you for helping me stay on track with my work. Those coffee and Netflix breaks with you really helped me stay motivated! To all my other extended family members, thank you for standing by me and supporting me in so many different ways. I would like to say a huge thank you to all my colleagues at OISE for the amazing conversations and collaborations we have had: Alison Brooks, Katie Brubacher, Shawna Carroll, Angelica Galante, Soon Young Jang, Grace Karram Stephenson, Jade Kim, Mimi Masson, Mama Nii Owoo, Yecid Ortega, Zehra Palta, Jayson San Miguel, Vijay Ramjattan, Monica Shank, Jeanne Sinclair, Wales Wong, Yiran Zhang, and everyone I have had the honour of working with in different capacities. Each of you has played a unique and significant role in my PhD journey. A special thanks to Jennifer Burton, Nazila Eisazadeh and Jeannie Larson for your help and feedback on different parts of my thesis. To all the members of the NOWPlay and Supporting English Learners (SEL) projects, I am so thankful for the opportunities I have had to learn from you. A special thanks to Dr. Julie Kerekes for your guidance on the SEL project, and to Dr. Ruth Hayhoe for the pearls of wisdom you have shared with me over the years. To my colleagues in the International Foundation Program (IFP) at the University of Toronto: Katherine Anderson, Dan Brielmaier, Jessica Byrnes Cheong, Jeannie Haller, Michèle Irwin, Eleonora Maldina, Rasa Mazeika, Janine Rivière, Heejin Song and Joanna Warden-Abrahams, it was such a pleasure to be a part of the USS/WE50X team.