Translingual Identity as Pedagogy: International Teaching Assistants of English in College Composition Classrooms. (January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zheng, Xuan
• Other Names: De Costa Peter I. guestEditor.; Norton Bonny guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Modern language journal. Volume 101(2017)Supplement 1
• Page Start: 29
• Page End: 44
• Publication Date: 2017-01
• Subjects: translingual teacher identity -- identity as pedagogy -- international teaching assistants -- college composition; Languages, Modern -- Periodicals; Languages, Modern -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 407
• DOI: 10.1111/modl.12373
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0026-7902

Abstract

Abstract : The article aims to expand the scope of research on international teaching assistants (ITAs) by foregrounding identities as pedagogical resources. Employing an ethnographic multiple case study approach, the study examined the experiences of 2 English department ITAs in learning to teach College Composition classes at a public university in the United States. Guided by Morgan's (2004 ) "identity as pedagogy" and Canagarajah's (2013 ) conceptualization of "translingualism, " the study found that the ITAs' becoming of translingual teachers was constrained by their perceived linguistic membership and competence, which intersected with other identity categories such as accent, nationality, ethnicity, and religion. In addition, they adopted different orientations to their multilingualism to manage the challenges of teaching diverse groups of students, and were able to deploy various identities as pedagogy. The findings suggest that the ability to re‐imagine oneself as a translingual and to draw on translingual identities to enact a translingual pedagogy should not be taken for granted: Only when the ITAs become aware and critical of the link between identity and pedagogy can they utilize their translingual identity‐as‐pedagogy more fully in ways that benefit both the teacher and the diverse student body.