Transmediational Practices in a Bilingual Elementary Classroom

Creative classroom constructions imbued with arts integration, a transmediational multimodal pedagogy, are examined in exploratory action research in three bilingual elementary classroom learning experiences. In each of the lessons, there was a whole-group introduction and small-group hands-on arts-based activities inclusive of peer dialoguing, interactive teacher talk, and reflection. The action research focused on how transmediational practices amplify and expedite emergent bilingual students' language and content learning in math/dance, social studies/music, language arts/visual arts, and theater lessons. Transmediation is the act of translating meaning from one sign system to another to generate new understandings and making cognitive connections, in this case, between the arts and other ways of knowing. Creating meaning in a second sign system forces the student to reexamine the central concept of the original composition or subject area. The findings and implications from the action research discloses the need for extended time to fully engage in more than one sign system, to document generative processes to encourage risk-taking, and to continue pedagogies informed by collaborative groups to enhance student self-esteem and confidence. The research suggests that pre- and in-service teacher education can benefit from transmediational practices recognizing a resonance with bilingual students' metalinguistic awareness that provides two or more ways to understand the world.