AAAL 2021 Presentation

Translanguaging for STEM Learning:
Exploring Tertiary Learning Contexts at a
Hispanic-Serving Institution
Juliet Langman, Jorge Solís, Lina Martin Corredor,
Nguyen Dao, Hector Castrillon-Costa, Andrew Walton
AAAL 2021

AAAL 2021
Translanguaging for STEM Learning: Exploring Tertiary
Learning Contexts at a Hispanic-Serving Institution
- Introduction
- Theoretical Framework
- Literature Review
- Research Goals & Questions
- Methodology
- Findings
- Conclusion
Agenda

AAAL 2021
Translanguaging Framework
Translanguaging
(Garcia, 2009)
Language Use
(García and Wei, 2014)
Identity
(Fuller 2012; Li and Zhu 2013)
Social Identity
(Fuller, 2012; Wei, 2018)
Multimodal
(García and Wei, 2014)
Social, Cultural, and
Institutional
(Martin-Beltrán 2014)
Simultaneous Social and
Cognitive Act
(Canagarajah, 2013)
Learning
(Mazak and Herbas-Donoso, 2015)

AAAL 2021
Main Bodies of Research
Literature Review
Tertiary Level
Instructional
Translanguaging
Spontaneous
Translanguaging
U.S.
Context

AAAL 2021
Literature Review
Translanguaging as a
Linguistic Practice
In STEM K-12
Settings
Connected to
Identity
Our Study Explores
Translanguaging
Practices in STEM
Tertiary Courses at
a Hispanic Serving
Institution in
Southern U.S.

AAAL 2021
LA STEM Project and Study
Overall goal: To support sustained improvements in
learning key STEM areas, with the intent of enhancing
the academic achievement and experiences of
underrepresented minorities.
LA-STEM Framework:
Rooted in belief that literacy skills support success
across all academic disciplines and are a necessity for
students learning STEM concepts (Lee, Quinn, and Valdés,
2013)
Academic Literacy:
The language of schooling required to develop and
display expertise in particular disciplines (Gee, 2012;
Langman & Thomas, 2017).
Lesson Study Approach:
Faculty collaboratively plan, teach, & observe target
lessons, with the goal of improving student learning
(Wood & Cajkler, 2017).

AAAL 2021
Context
Setting: Large public HSI university in the Texan southwest
Lesson Study Cycle:
14 weeks in Spring 2020 (covid)
2 engineering faculty, 1 engineering GRA,
2 education faculty, 3 education GRAs.
Lesson Delivery:
Mass Spring Systems
50 minute-classes
2 engineering faculty (3 courses)
2 focal student trios
Goal:
Analyze mass-spring systems through “word problems”, which involve statements that
describe (1) the physics of mass-spring systems and (2) the conditions at which they
operate.

AAAL 2021
Participants
Student
Pseudonym
Gender Origin Major Schooling
Diego Male Mexico Mechanical Engineering Moved to U.S. to attend
college
Ramiro Male Costa Rica Computer Engineering Moved to U.S. to attend
high school
Lucas Male Laredo, Texas - U.S. schooling
Sofía Female Nuevo Laredo,
Mexico
Civil Engineering Moved to U.S. to attend
middle school
Julio Male El Paso, Texas Chemical Engineering U.S. schooling
Hector Male - - -
Faculty
Pseudonym
Gender Origin Languages Spoken Teaching Experience
Dr. Weber Male Mexico Spanish, English, French 4 years
Dr. Smith Male U.S. English 19 years

AAAL 2021
Data Collection & Analysis

AAAL 2021
1.1. Seamless Translanguaging
Finding 1: Translanguaging during group work
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Ramiro: ¿Cómo así? ((calibrating the spring with his
pen)) Porque alguien tiene que operar el sistema,
alguien…mira aquí dice...
Diego: Uh huh
Ramiro: ((Reading from handout)) “one team member
will operate the system, other members will take
measurements with the pointer and scale, and the last
member will record the measurements in this
handout.”
Lucas: Yo, si quieres, yo hago record the
measurements.
Lucas: pero ahorita ¿para dónde llega? (‘it’ refers to
the spring)
Ramiro: Ahorita de la parte de aquí, ((pointing at the
pointer)) ¿qué ves?
Diego. Es diez ((referring to the spot on the spring))
Ramiro: ((Writing on handout in front of the “initial
elongation” item)) Diez centímetros, lo cual es cero
punto uno [metro] ((writing ‘0.1’ on the handout))
Diego and Lucas: ((Copying what Ramiro wrote and
writing on their handouts))
Lucas: Ajá.
Dr. Flores: Raise your hand if you already completed
this portion.
All: ((Raise their hand))
Ramiro: How so? ((calibrating the spring with his pen))
Because somebody has to operate the system,
somebody… look, here it says…
Diego: Uh huh
Ramiro: ((Reading from handout)) “one team member will
operate the system, other members will take measurements
with the pointer and scale, and the last member will record
the measurements in this handout.”
Lucas: If you want, I do record the measurements.
Lucas: but now where does it stop?
(‘it’ refers to the spring)
Ramiro: Now, from this part, ((pointing at the pointer))
what do you see?
Diego: It’s ten ((referring to the spot on the spring))
Ramiro: ((Writing on handout in front of the “initial
elongation” item)) Ten centimetres, which is zero point
one [meter] ((writing ‘0.1’ on the handout))
Diego and Lucas: ((Copying what Ramiro wrote and
writing on their handouts))
Lucas: Uhu
Dr. Flores: Raise your hand if you already completed this
portion.
All: ((Raise their hand))
Excerpt 1
Setting up the
experiment

AAAL 2021
1.1. Seamless Translanguaging
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Diego and Ramiro: ((Whispering and
looking at the spring going up and down))
una, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete,
ocho, nueve, diez.
Ramiro: Ya ¿verdad?
Diego: Como diez veces ¿no?
Lucas: Sí, diez veces
Ramiro: Diez cycles
Diego: Sí
Lucas: Seis segundos
Ramiro: Seis, punto, tres, siete segundos
All three: ((Writing ‘6.37 sec’ on
handout))
Lucas: Y luego el period..
Ramiro: Period of vibration
Lucas: XXX contrario de esto
Diego: Sí
Lucas: O sea, punto sobre punto, seis,
tres
Diego and Ramiro: ((Whispering and
looking at the spring going up and down))
one, two, three, four, five, six, seve,
eight, nine, ten.
Ramiro: Now, right?
Diego: Like ten times, isn’t it?
Lucas: Yes, ten times
Ramiro: Ten cycles
Diego: Yes
Lucas: Six seconds
Ramiro: Six-point-three-seven seconds.
All three: ((Writing ‘6.37 sec’ on
handout))
Lucas: And then the period..
Ramiro: Period of vibration
Lucas: XXX contrary to that
Diego: Yes
Lucas: So, point, over point six three
Excerpt 2
Discussing the
definition of a cycle

AAAL 2021
1.2. Negotiating Translanguaging as Identity Work
Excerpt 3
Lesson Study
Implementation
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Sofía: ¿Qué es eso? ((referring to the
pointer))
Julio: Yeah, so the period is going to be
longer.. wait, shorter
Hector: Sigue empujando, no quiere...
Sofía: Si quieres, mejor quita de una
vez
Hector: Ah no, ya, ya. Ya lo vi.
Sofía: Oh Okay.
Hector: Aqui arriba, creo, creo ((taking
the weights out of the spring))...
TA: ((Passing out one handout))
Sofía: ((Talking to Hector)) Yo creo que
es para ti. ((Talking to Julio)) It was like
zero point zero six or eight.
Julio: ((Writes ‘0.06’ on handout))
Sofía: What is that? ((referring to the
pointer))
Julio: Yeah, so the period is going to be
longer.. wait, shorter
Hector: keep pushing, it doesn’t want to...
Sofía: If you want, remove it now
Hector: Ah no, already, already. I already
saw it.
Sofía: Oh okay
Hector: Over here at the top, I think, I
think...((taking the weights off the spring))...
TA: ((Passing out one handout))
Sofía: ((Talking to Hector)) I think it’s for
you. ((Talking to Julio)) like zero point zero
six or eight.
Julio: ((Writes ‘0.06’ on handout))

AAAL 2021
Perceptions of Translanguaging
(Finding 2)
Excerpt 4
Negotiating the interview
language
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Lina: Mira podemos hacer la
entrevista en espanol on en inglés
Sofía: En lo que usted quiera
Lina: No lo que TÚ quieras
Sofía: En español está bien
Lina: ¡Sí!
Lina: Look, we can do the interview in
Spanish or in English.
Sofía: In the language you want
Lina: No, in the language YOU want.
Sofía: Spanish is good.
Lina: Yes!
Excerpt 5
“can I say it in Spanish
and in English?”
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Sofía: Eh, pues, estábamos encontrando
como los ciclos del spring, este estamos
buscando por el, el periodo, el periodo
que es lo que dura en el el los ciclos, y la
amplitud y la frecuencia del ciclo,
entonces estamos usando también las..
uhm, ¿lo puedo decir en español y en
inglés?
Lina: Claro que sí
Sofía: The Second Order Differential
Equations, uh, es una manera de buscar,
encontrar esas cosas.
Sofía: Well, we were finding how
the spring cycles, eh we were
finding the, the period, the period
that is the duration of the, the
cycles and the amplitude, and the
frequency of the cycle, so we were
also using.. um, can I say it in
Spanish and in English?
Lina: Yes, of course
Sofía: The Second Order Differential
Equations, um, this is a way to look
for, find those things.

AAAL 2021
Finding 2: Translanguaging Perceptions &
Practice during interviews
Excerpt 6
Signalling a safe
translanguaging space
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Lina: Viendo el handout, ¿puedes
explicar cómo las principales, uh,
actividades que te pidieron que
completaran, como las cosas que te
pidieron que hicieras?
Sofía: ((Looking at the handout))...Y
también usamos todo lo que aprendimos
la clase pasada del Hooke's law y cómo
differentiate that, that, those equations and
also the acceleration we know it's like the
second derivative of the initial elongation
or position… Um, aquí hicimos más lo
mismo como, más este, usamos otra vez
lo the second order differential equation...
Lina: Looking at the handout, can
you explain the main, uh, activities
that you were asked to complete,
like the things they asked you to
do?
Sofía: ((Looking at the handout))
...And we also used all that we
learned the previous class about the
Hooke’s Law and how to
differentiate that, that those equations
and also the acceleration we know it’s
like the second derivative of the
initial elongation or position…Um,
here we did more of the same like,
more, we used again that of the
second order differential equation,...

AAAL 2021
3. Faculty Reflections on Bilingualism
3. Faculty Reflections on
Translanguaging Practices
“Sometimes I notice that sometimes students are able to
express better the ideas in the first language, so I speak
Spanish, originally from Mexico. And sometimes when I, at the
end of the class, I always have at least one or two students
approaching me with technical questions of the lecture, or of
the homework or the exam. And I noticed that some students
detected perhaps my accent, and they started talking to
me in Spanish, and were able to communicate very
effectively in terms of the questions. So, I usually reply to
them in Spanish in order to make these interactions a little
bit friendly. “
(Dr. Flores, Engineering Lesson Study meeting on 10/15/2020)

Conclusion & Implications
AAAL 2021
1. Translanguaging practices are prevalent not only in K-12, but also in tertiary
settings.
2. The use of spontaneous translanguaging to discuss and learn academic
content is common.
3. The study reveals students’ mixed feelings about their linguistic identities.
4. Little study in higher education has been done regarding how faculty can
leverage their shared multilingual linguistic repertoires
Implications:
1. The need to raise faculty’s critical perspectives of their agency for engaging in
translanguaging pedagogies
2. Explorations of pedagogical professional development at the tertiary level
3. “Translanguaging [...] can support the broader epistemic practices at the heart
of new science standards, such as analyzing and interpreting data, developing
and using models, or designing solutions” (Buxton-Harman et al., upcoming)

Transforming STEM
Undergraduate Education
through Academic Literacy,
Mentoring and Professional
Development project is
funded by the National
Science Foundation’s
Improving Undergraduate
STEM Education: Hispanic-
Serving Institutions (HSI
Program).
Grant #1832388
Contact
Information
LA STEM Team
● LA_STEM@utsa.edu
Website
● https://engineering.utsa.edu/
buildingcapacity/
PI: Heather Shipley
Co-PIs: Mark Appleford, Krystel
Castillo, Juliet Langman, Harry
Millwater, Kelly Nash, Jorge
Solis, Krystal
AAAL 2021

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