Translanguaging as a boundary crossing mechanism: A Turkish-American Youngster and her linguistic negotiation of three discursive spaces

Abstract

In order to effectively respond to the increased linguistic and cultural diversity in the U.S. schools and close the consistently documented achievement gap between culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students and mainstream students, teachers need to take an asset-based approach and be able to draw on CLD students’ entire funds of linguistic knowledge. However, few studies have examined CLD students’ linguistic choices in multiple discursive spaces with different linguistic norms, values and practices. This article addresses this research gap through a case study of Elif, a Turkish American student and her linguistic boundary crossing experiences within and across three discursive spaces: her home, her Turkish heritage language school, and her mainstream school. Through in-depth analysis of interviews, observations, and field notes, the study revealed that Elif experienced different linguistic environments and boundary types. She negotiated experiences that ranged from smooth to managed to insurmountable boundaries. Finally, translanguaging practices acted as a key boundary object that mediated sociocultural discontinuities in the Turkish heritage language school, and facilitated Elif’s experiences between Turkish dominant and English dominant discursive spaces.