Emotional scaffolding for emergent multilingual learners through translanguaging: case stories

Abstract

Despite a large body of literature on foreign language learning anxiety and emerging research on translanguaging, research on the role of translanguaging on the socioemotional experiences of emergent multilingual learners (EMLLs) is minimal at best. Yet the persistent academic and emotional difficulties of EMLLs in K-12 US schools urge a closer look at how translanguaging strategies can help navigate these difficulties. In this article we present two case stories illustrating how translanguaging strategies can act as scaffolds for EMLLs’ emotional well-being. Grounding our analysis in notions of language learning anxiety, translanguaging, and emotional scaffolding, we report on research conducted in two rural elementary schools. We show how the use of translanguaging strategies with two elementary-age students and two multilingual volunteers played a key role in reducing anxiety and related behavioral issues, in addition to improving acquisition of academic content. We discuss implications for multilingual school districts and how they can harness these practices to benefit all students, including monolinguals.