Home Creating a meaningful summative assessment in a Chinese immersion context: a translanguaging perspective
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Creating a meaningful summative assessment in a Chinese immersion context: a translanguaging perspective

  • Chiu-Yin (Cathy) Wong

    Chiu-Yin (Cathy) Wong is Associate Professor of TESOL and Bilingual Education at Monmouth University, New Jersey, USA. Prior to earning her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Second Language Education, Professor Wong had taught ESOL in Hong Kong, Korea, and Hawaii. She had also taught Mandarin, Chinese at the tertiary level in the US. Currently, her research interests lie primarily in the area of teachers’ learning and implementation of pedagogical translanguaging in ESL as well as Chinese immersion settings. Her recent work appears in Applied Linguistics, System, Language and Education Journal, ELT Journal, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, among others.

    ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: December 5, 2024
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

While existing literature has addressed teachers’ translanguaging practices in diverse educational settings, its integration into assessments remains limited. Adopting a participatory research design in the form of a teacher-research collaboration, the present study examined in detail how a content and language integrated learning (CLIL) teacher integrated translanguaging into a summative assessment in a Chinese immersion setting. I also delved into the perceptions of the teacher and her students regarding the assessment. The data were triangulated and included co-design notes, in-class and post-observation field notes, as well as transcripts of one-on-one interviews with the teacher and students. The findings show that the teacher skillfully integrated translanguaging, including using planned strategies and leveraging students’ full linguistic repertoires into the summative assessment. The concept of juntos (García, Ofelia, Susana I. Johnson & Kate Seltzer. 2017. The Translanguaging classroom: Leveraging student bilingualism for learning. Philadelphia, PA: Carlson), a collaborative dynamic among teachers and students appeared to play a major role in the assessment. Integrating translanguaging into the assessment appeared to render complex topics more comprehensible and relevant to the students’ lived experiences. Additionally, it is evident that the teacher–researcher collaboration deepened the teacher’s pedagogical practices in translanguaging and garnered positive feedback from students, indicating an increase in confidence, engagement, and the strengthening of their multilingual identities. I conclude with a call for assessments integrated with translanguaging, transmodalities, and co-learning practices, aiming to transform evaluations into affirmations of students’ funds of knowledge in today’s socio-cultural-political context.


Corresponding author: Chiu-Yin (Cathy) Wong, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, School of Education, Monmouth University, 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch, NJ 07764, USA, E-mail:

Funding source: Monmouth University

Award Identifier / Grant number: Creativity Grant

Award Identifier / Grant number: Transformative Learning Grant

About the author

Chiu-Yin (Cathy) Wong

Chiu-Yin (Cathy) Wong is Associate Professor of TESOL and Bilingual Education at Monmouth University, New Jersey, USA. Prior to earning her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Second Language Education, Professor Wong had taught ESOL in Hong Kong, Korea, and Hawaii. She had also taught Mandarin, Chinese at the tertiary level in the US. Currently, her research interests lie primarily in the area of teachers’ learning and implementation of pedagogical translanguaging in ESL as well as Chinese immersion settings. Her recent work appears in Applied Linguistics, System, Language and Education Journal, ELT Journal, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, among others.

References

Aleksić, Gabrijela & Ofelia García. 2022. Language beyond flags: Teachers misunderstanding of translanguaging in preschools. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 25(10). 3835–3848. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2022.2085029.Search in Google Scholar

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. 2012. ACTFL proficiency guideline. Alexandria, VA: ACTFL.Search in Google Scholar

Ascenzi-Moreno, Laura. 2018. Translanguaging and responsive assessment adaptations: Emergent bilingual readers through the lens of possibility. Language Arts 95(6). 355–369. https://doi.org/10.58680/la201829683.Search in Google Scholar

Brown, Douglas H. & Heekyeong Lee. 2017. Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.Search in Google Scholar

Cenoz, Jasone & Durk Gorter. 2021. Pedagogical translanguaging. UK: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781009029384Search in Google Scholar

Cenoz, Jasone & Durk Gorter. 2022. Pedagogical translanguaging and its application to language classes. RELC 53(2). 305–482. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882221082751.Search in Google Scholar

Chu, Curtis Shu Sun. 2017. “Translanguaging in reading comprehension assessment: Implications on assessing literal, inferential, and evaluative comprehension among ESL elementary students in Taiwan.” NYS TESOL 4(2). 20–34.Search in Google Scholar

Durán, Leah. 2020. “Todas las poems que están creative”: Language ideologies, writing and bilingual children. Journal of Language, Identity and Education 19(6). 412–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2020.1726754.Search in Google Scholar

García, Ofelia & Wei Li. 2014. Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave: Macmillan.10.1057/9781137385765_4Search in Google Scholar

García, Ofelia, Susana I. Johnson & Kate Seltzer. 2017. The Translanguaging classroom: Leveraging student bilingualism for learning. Philadelphia, PA: Carlson.Search in Google Scholar

Gorter, Durk & Eli Arocena. 2020. Teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism in a course on translanguaging. System 92. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102272.Search in Google Scholar

Greenier, Vincent, Xiaohua Liu & Yangyu Xiao. 2023. Creative translanguaging in formative assessment: Chinese teachers’ perceptions and practices in the primary EFL classroom. Applied Linguistics Review 15(5). 1861–1885. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2023-0085.Search in Google Scholar

Infante, Paolo & Peter Licona. 2021. Translanguaging as pedagogy: Developing learner scientific discursive practices in a bilingual middle school science classroom. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 24(7). 913–926. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1526885.Search in Google Scholar

Li, Wei. 2018. Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics 39(2). 9–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039.Search in Google Scholar

Li, Wei. 2023. Transformative pedagogy for inclusion and social justice through translanguaging, co-learning, and transpositioning. Language Teaching 57(2). 203–214. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444823000186.Search in Google Scholar

Lin, Sarah & Alex Leung. 2024. ESL classroom interactions in a translanguaging space. Applied Linguistics Review 15(6). 2397–2425. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2022-0202.Search in Google Scholar

Lincoln, Yvonna S. & Egon G. Guba. 1985. Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications.10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8Search in Google Scholar

Liu, Jiajia E., YuenYi Lo & Angel M. Y. Lin. 2020. Translanguaging pedagogy in teaching English for academic purposes: Researcher-teacher collaboration as a professional development model. System 92. 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102276.Search in Google Scholar

Lopez, Alexis A. 2023. Examining how Spanish-speaking English language learners use their linguistic resources and language modes in a dual language mathematics assessment task. Journal of Latinos and Education 22(1). 198–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2020.1731693.Search in Google Scholar

Lopez, Alexis A., Sultan Turkan & Danielle Guzman-Orth. 2017. Conceptualizing the use of translanguaging in initial content assessments for newly arrived emergent bilingual students. ETS Research Report 2017(1). 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/ets2.12140.Search in Google Scholar

Meier, Gabriela S. 2017. The multilingual turn as a critical movement in education: Assumptions, challenges, and a need for reflection. Applied Linguistics Review 8(1). 131–161. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2016-2010.Search in Google Scholar

Merriam, Sharan B., & Elizabeth J. Tisdell. 2016. Qualitative research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Search in Google Scholar

Nieto, David & Annie Nguyen. 2023. Strategizing assessment to support emerging bilingual students: A focus on the home language. Multilingual Learning and Teaching 18(2). 239–250. https://doi.org/10.1515/mlt-2021-0005.Search in Google Scholar

Otheguy, Ricardo, Ofelia Garcia & Wallis Reid. 2015. Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics. Applied Linguistics Review 6. 281–307. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2015-0014.Search in Google Scholar

Quintanilha, Maria. 2021. Concurrent data collection and analysis: Say what? Quali Q. Available at: https://www.qualiq.ca/resources.Search in Google Scholar

Rossman, Gretchen B. & Sharon F. Rallis. 2003. Learning in the field: An introduction to qualitative research, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Search in Google Scholar

Saldaña, Johnny. 2016. The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Search in Google Scholar

Schissel, Jamie, Haley De Korne & Mario López-Gopar. 2021. Grappling with translanguaging for teaching and assessment in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts: Teacher perspectives from Oaxaca, Mexico. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 24(3). 340–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1463965.Search in Google Scholar

Steele, Carly, Sender Dovchin & Rhonda Oliver. 2022. “Stop measuring Black kids with a White stick”: Translanguaging for classroom assessment. RELC Journal 53(2). 400–415. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882221086307.Search in Google Scholar

Sydner, Sydney & Diane S. Fenner. 2021. Culturally responsive teaching for multilingual learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.Search in Google Scholar

Tai, Kevin W. H. 2023. Shaping student responses into academic expressions: Analysing an English medium instruction history classroom from a translanguaging perspective. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 27(4). 550–580. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2023.2232089.Search in Google Scholar

Tai, Kevin W. H. & Wei Li. 2021. Co-learning in Hong Kong English medium instruction mathematics secondary classrooms: A translanguaging perspective. Language and Education 35(3). 241–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2020.1837860.Search in Google Scholar

Tian, Zhongfeng. 2022. Translanguaging design in a third grade Chinese language arts class. Applied Linguistics Review 13(3). 327–343. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2021-0024.Search in Google Scholar

Tian, Zhongfeng & Sunny M. C. Lau. 2022. Translanguaging pedagogies in a Mandarin-English dual language bilingual education classroom: Contextualised learning from teacher-researcher collaboration. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 26(8). 960–974. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2022.2161815.Search in Google Scholar

Ticheloven, Anouk, Elma Blom, Paul Leseman & Sarah McMonagle. 2019. Translanguaging challenges in multilingual classrooms: Scholar, teacher and student perspectives. International Journal of Multilingualism 18(3). 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2019.1686002.Search in Google Scholar

Tracy, Sarah J. 2020. Qualitative research methods. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar

Wang, Danping & Martin East. 2024. Integrating translanguaging into assessment: Students’ responses and perceptions. Applied Linguistics Review 15. 1911–1937. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2023-0087.Search in Google Scholar

Williams, Cen. 1994. An evaluation of teaching and learning methods in the context of bilingual secondary education. Bangor: University of Wales PhD thesis.Search in Google Scholar

Wong, Cathy C. Y. 2023. “Translanguaging reminds me to stay humble”: Impact of teacher candidates’ pedagogical knowledge of translanguaging on professional identities for teaching EMLs. Language and Education 38(5). 818–837. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2023.2221230.Search in Google Scholar

Wong, Cathy C. Y. 2024a. Integrating translanguaging into formative assessment: Experiences from a Chinese immersion contest. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 27(8). 1053–1068. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2024.2324856.Search in Google Scholar

Wong, Cathy C. Y. 2024b. Centring on students’ needs by engaging in translanguaging shifts. ELT Journal 78(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccae004.Search in Google Scholar

Wong, Cathy C. Y. & Kevin W. H. Tai. 2023. The development of an ESOL teacher candidate’s knowledge of translanguaging. System 116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2023.103058.Search in Google Scholar

Wong, Cathy C. Y. & Zhongfeng Tian. 2024. Integration of content and language instruction in an immersion setting through Chinese and English teacher collaboration. In K. Y. Sung (ed.), Chinese-English dual language immersion programs: Content area instruction, learners, and evaluations. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.10.3102/IP.24.2092492Search in Google Scholar

Wong, Cathy C. Y. & Zhongfeng Tian. 2025. Maximizing students’ learning of content and language through pedagogical potential translanguaging in a Chinese immersion setting. Learning and Instruction 95. 102023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.102023.Search in Google Scholar

Wong, Cathy C. Y., Xiaochen Du & Antonio G. Estudillo. 2023. “I’ve grown so much more confidence in my actual instruction”: Examining teacher candidates’ pedagogical knowledge growth in translanguaging. Language and Education 37(6). 820–835. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2023.2205839.Search in Google Scholar

Zheng, Bingjie. 2021. Translanguaging in a Chinese immersion classroom: An ecological examination of instructional discourses. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 24(9). 1324–1339. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1561642.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2023-11-06
Accepted: 2024-11-11
Published Online: 2024-12-05
Published in Print: 2025-07-28

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Review Article
  3. The application of social network analysis in applied linguistics research: a systematic review
  4. Research Articles
  5. The neoliberal coloniality of EMI in Hong Kong higher education: insights from online stancetaking
  6. Unpacking fluid linguistic landscape in a community coffeehouse in Hangzhou, East China: an everyday life perspective
  7. Translanguaging in public and digital spaces: integrating telecollaboration to linguistic landscapes studies
  8. Investigating the relationships of writing behaviours to linguistic complexity and accuracy in independent and integrated writing task performance
  9. Exploring unobserved heterogeneity of speech fluency and its dynamic interactions with emotions
  10. Modality of input and factors affecting incidental vocabulary learning: reading, listening, and viewing with captions
  11. Blurred lines of participation: nexus analytical tools for reflecting on the roles of researchers and participants in change-oriented research projects
  12. The contribution of second language writers’ translanguaging ability to their information-based academic writing ability
  13. Translanguaging in the linguistic landscape: creative scripts in Yi ethnicity students’ handwritten signs
  14. Playing with funds of difficult knowledge: interactional insights for heritage language education
  15. Creating a meaningful summative assessment in a Chinese immersion context: a translanguaging perspective
  16. Transnational media and English spread in the Expanding Circle: Hollywood’s predominance, language accommodation, and English as an additional language in cinema, television, and video on demand
  17. Translingual practices for critical language awareness in English as an additional language writing education
  18. Multilingualism, translanguaging, and education in the Vaupés, Northwest Amazonia: dynamics of language use, and language loss
  19. Moderation of teacher-student rapport in the link between smartphone addiction and foreign language burnout and its gender difference
  20. The impact of divergent language policies on teachers’ language attitudes and proficiency in two multilingual education settings
  21. Exploring EFL learner resilience and examining its association with L2 buoyancy and language achievement
Downloaded on 16.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/applirev-2023-0248/html
Scroll to top button