The Buckeye Language Education Resource (BuckLER) Center welcomes Dr. Zhongfeng Tian
Centering Teacher–Researcher Collaboration in Translanguaging Research
Location: Schoenbaum Hall 220
Date: Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Time: 4:30-6:00 pm
Event Speaker: Dr. Zhongfeng Tian
The last decade has witnessed the momentum of “trans-” turn in applied linguistics and language education. Within these conversations, the term translanguaging articulates a paradigmatic shift in how we think about language(s) and how we can serve multilingual learners in ways that are more humanizing and justice-oriented (Tian et al., 2020). However, we have yet to encounter translanguaging as consistent and intentional practices across K-12 educational settings despite its theoretical and pedagogical promises. In this talk, Dr. Tian will suggest one pathway towards advancing and sustaining translanguaging: teacher–researcher collaboration. He will firstly explain the rationale behind it and then introduce a framework, expanding García et al. (2017), which explicitly centers on the power of equitable teacher–researcher partnerships and the embedded dynamic, iterative, complex process: translanguaging co-stance, co-design, and co-shifts (Tian & Shepard-Carey, 2020; Shepard-Carey & Tian, 2023). Based on his past years’ work alongside pre- and in-service teachers in ESL and Mandarin-English dual language bilingual education contexts (e.g., Tian & Lau, 2023; Tian et al., 2022), he will illustrate how this framework could provide a heuristic to unpack, analyze and potentially improve collaborative approaches. He will end with suggestions for both researchers and teachers to reimagine a juntos future to continuously push translanguaging theory forward and make translanguaging pedagogies norms in our classroom spaces.
Zhongfeng Tian, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education in the Department of Urban Education at Rutgers University–Newark. Theoretically grounded in translanguaging, his research centers on working with teachers, families and communities to provide bi/multilingual students with equitable and inclusive learning environments in ESL and dual language bilingual education contexts, and preparing culturally and linguistically competent teachers with social justice orientations. Dr. Tian has published extensively in the field of ESL/bilingual education and teacher education, including four books (with Multilingual Matters, Springer, and De Gruyter Mouton), seven special issues and over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles at International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Journal of Language, Identity & Education, TESOL Quarterly, to name a few. Most recently, based on his scholarly contributions in Chinese-English bilingual education, Dr. Tian has received an Early Career Award from ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Research SIG.
Relevant readings:
- Shepard-Carey, L. & Tian, Z. (Eds.) (2023). (Re)imagining Translanguaging Pedagogies through Teacher-Researcher Collaboration. Multilingual Matters.
- Tian, Z., Aghai, L., Sayer, P., & Schissel, J. L. (Eds.) (2020). Envisioning TESOL through a Translanguaging Lens: Global Perspectives. Springer International Publishing.
- Tian, Z. & Lau, S. M. C. (2023). 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
- Tian, Z., Robinson, E., & McConnell, J. (2022). Tales from a Shared Journey of Teaching and Researching Translanguaging. RELC Journal, 53(2), 416-430. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882221089388
- Tian, Z. & Shepard-Carey, L. (2020). (Re)imagining the Future of Translanguaging Pedagogies in TESOL through Teacher-Researcher Collaboration. TESOL Quarterly, 54(4), 1131-1143. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.614