Hi Alexia!
I really like how you connected translanguaging to identity. That feels like the core of it. Students are learning content more effectively in addition to being recognized as whole people. What García points out is that when schools separate languages into neat boxes, they’re not just limiting how kids can communicate and enforcing a way of seeing those kids as divided, incomplete. Phuong and Cioè-Peña remind us that this separation carries real harm. Even when bilingual students “get it right,” their speech is still filtered through ideas about normalcy and ability that don’t come from them. That’s why translanguaging matters -- it’s rejecting the notion that some ways of speaking are a flaw that needs fixing. Smith shows how this ties back to identity in practice. Students move across different Englishes, not as a switch but as survival, as a way to keep their full selves intact. Translanguaging in the classroom helps them avoid that constant shaving down of who they are. And like you said, this isn’t just about fairness. Barrett and others found that when kids’ language knowledge is treated as expertise, their test scores go up. So the “too expensive” argument falls flat. What costs more is ignoring what actually works. I think your reflection captures that urgency: translanguaging is both pedagogy and affirmation. It’s not extra. It’s what schools should be doing if they’re serious about equity.
I really like how you connected translanguaging to identity. That feels like the core of it. Students are learning content more effectively in addition to being recognized as whole people. What García points out is that when schools separate languages into neat boxes, they’re not just limiting how kids can communicate and enforcing a way of seeing those kids as divided, incomplete. Phuong and Cioè-Peña remind us that this separation carries real harm. Even when bilingual students “get it right,” their speech is still filtered through ideas about normalcy and ability that don’t come from them. That’s why translanguaging matters -- it’s rejecting the notion that some ways of speaking are a flaw that needs fixing. Smith shows how this ties back to identity in practice. Students move across different Englishes, not as a switch but as survival, as a way to keep their full selves intact. Translanguaging in the classroom helps them avoid that constant shaving down of who they are. And like you said, this isn’t just about fairness. Barrett and others found that when kids’ language knowledge is treated as expertise, their test scores go up. So the “too expensive” argument falls flat. What costs more is ignoring what actually works. I think your reflection captures that urgency: translanguaging is both pedagogy and affirmation. It’s not extra. It’s what schools should be doing if they’re serious about equity.