Research Statement

My research demonstrates a commitment to highlighting the affordance of language diversity in higher education. In my dissertation "Using Spanish in English Language Spaces: Identifying Bilingual Composition Students' Negotiating Practices", I explore how domestic students, specifically Spanish dominant and English dominant use translanguaging practices in first-year composition courses as they are encouraged or invited by their instructors.  While scholars have studied language practices for a long time, most studies examine these practices at the elementary and high school level. My research focuses on higher education, specifically how bilingual students negotiate languages in Hispanic-serving institutions where the minority is the majority.

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"Using Spanish in English Language Spaces: Identifying Bilingual Composition Students' Negotiating Practices" is a qualitative study that uses ethnographic research methods to examine the negotiation practices of bilingual students in writing courses at a predominantly Hispanic-serving institution.  Research (Canagarajah 2011, 2009; Horner & Lu, 2007, and Lee 2014) has shown how acknowledging and integrating students’ linguistic varieties can aid in students’ understanding of writing and meaning making. In addition, by employing pedagogical strategies such as translanguaging students may be able to make connections with writing and learning. Yet, while translanguaging has proved to be a significant learning strategy, shifting to a new pedagogy that acknowledges students’ language varieties is not that easy. There is resistance especially when this shift goes against the prevalent English only hegemonic point of view. However, in a Hispanic-serving institution along the U.S. – Mexico border, instructors are embracing students’ cultural and linguistic diversity by departing from the unidirectional method of instruction and encouraging their students to use their linguistic skills to participate in the academic environment.

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My goal in this project is to contribute to the scholarly research on language diversity and continue to build on the conversation about addressing, acknowledging and valuing students’ linguistic repertoires in the classroom. To achieve a clearer understanding of the situated communicative practices of bilingual students as well as their language ideologies, my study addresses how and why students, specifically Spanish dominant bilinguals and English dominant bilinguals, use translanguaging practices in writing courses when encouraged by their instructors. Additionally, I examine bilingual students’ language ideologies in reference to translanguaging and how do these ideologies change or are set aside as the need to combine languages arises.

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Understanding negotiating strategies could lead to adopting a multilingual pedagogical approach which would allow college students to make use of their rich linguistic background in the classroom.

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