Volume 15 Issue 3 2021 AMAE Special Issue Centering Translanguaging in Critical Teacher Education: Cultivando Nuevos Conocimientos de Translenguaje en la Educación de Futuros Docentes Guest Editors Pablo C. Ramirez California State University, Dominguez Hills Armando Garza Ayala University of New Mexico Editors Patricia Sánchez The University of Texas at San Antonio Antonio J. Camacho AMAE, Inc. Associate Editors Julie L. Figueroa Sacramento State Lucila D. Ek The University of Texas at San Antonio Managing Editor Christian Fallas-Escobar The University of Texas at San Antonio Association of Mexican American Educators Journal A peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu ISSN: 2377-9187 Armijo Romero Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 151 Bilingualism and Bilingual Education: Conceptos Fundamentales. David Schwarzer, Mary Petrón, and Clarena Larrotta (Eds.). Peter Lang Publishing. 2021. 168 pages. ISBN 9781433184505. Hardcover &96.32 Minea Armijo Romero Universidad de Nuevo México Bilingualism and Bilingual Education: Conceptos Fundamentales has been an anticipated scholarly and practical support for pre-service teachers en el campo de la educación bilingüe. The editors, Schwarzer, Petrón, and Larrotta ensure this book reflects not only the theory but also the ways languages are spoken and heard in 21st century bilingual classrooms and communities throughout the country by tejiendo el español y el inglés en contextos académicos. En este libro podemos leer y experimentar el translenguaje ya que, as the editors mention, this is the first translanguaged book that has been published, and therefore it resonates with the urgent need to be responsive in taking strong actions in favor of our multilingual communities (García et al., 2011). This work compiled groundbreaking research in the field of bilingual education by bringing ten chapters written by scholars communicating the complexity of bilingual contexts around the United States. The book re-centers dialogues built on rich linguistic repertoires, modeling what translanguaging practices look like in writing, and reflecting the ways cuando translenguamos de una manera natural, flexible y fluida al hablar en nuestros entornos socioculturales. El libro está dividido in three major sections that take the reader through a journey of theory, practice y acción. The first section of the book, “Theory,” is comprised of four chapters that begin by addressing the historical and social contexts of linguistic suppression and separation in the United States. Inicialmente, presentan nuevas valorizaciones, which include decolonial perspectives que retan la vigilancia institucional del lenguaje. En el capítulo uno, “Subtractive Schooling and Authentic Cariño: Translanguaging in the Bilingual and Dual Language Classroom,” Valenzuela, Salmerón, y Batista-Morales exploran resistencias hacia herramientas colonizadoras. Such tools are analyzed as they relate to the oppressive attitudes toward language and bilingual students in the classroom. This chapter is built on Curry’s (2016) model DOI: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.451 Armijo Romero Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 152 of authentic cariño, which advocates for bringing translanguaging practices al salón de clases to activate and engage in political awareness and authentic caring. De esta forma, el capítulo presenta el translenjuage como una práctica que cuestiona la drástica separación de lenguajes en la educación bilingüe. The authors advocate for shifts in instructional practices que permitan utilizar los repertorios lingüísticos de los estudiantes en aulas multilingües. In chapter two, the experiences of teacher educators, in connection to their raciolinguistic context, is highlighted by Ek, Fallas-Escobar, and Sánchez. Este capítulo documenta y analiza las narrativas personales de maestras y maestros bilingües latinos/as/xs in ways that provide windows to explore the realities al vivir en dos lenguajes. This chapter, “Retrospective Ideological Work: Leveraging Latina/o/x Bilingual Teacher Educators’ Personal Narratives” provides an opportunity to connect con los retos reales que son parte de la vida de las/los docentes en sus aulas de clase. En el tercer capítulo, “maestras fronterizas”, de la Piedra and Araujo nos presentan las historias y las prácticas of two female educators that are teaching in border spaces. El capítulo entrelaza las teorías Chicana/Latina feministas and their role as Nepantleras y expertas en cruzar fronteras lingüísticas y culturales. This chapter is rooted in the need to address how the success of emergent bilingual students largely depends on their conocimiento académico, lingüístico y emocional. Al final de esta sección, en el capítulo cuatro, Smith and Murillo, in their piece, “Funds of Linguistic Knowledge en Prácticas Transnacionales to Promote Biliteracy Development,” address the importance of recognizing los fondos de conocimiento lingüísticos, and the way we can observe them among people who are identified as transnationals. Además, this chapter provides resources to teach bilingual children through examples of work the authors have done with transnational families. This chapter clearly illustrates the authors’ scholarly practices and the experiences of transnational people. That is, while Smith and Murillo describe the challenges of translanguaging practices as they relate to funds of knowledge, they also address their own challenges in navigating language ideologies and language use. This chapter provides implications for the field of bilingual teaching and learning of transnational students, their families seen as assets, and the implementation of translanguaging practices in the classrooms. This section supports the understanding of translanguaging theories and the way these are shaping teaching practices in bilingual education. The second section of the book, “Practice,” nos comparte la experiencia de los docentes y las maneras en que la “práctica” materializa los fundamentos teóricos presentados en la Armijo Romero Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 153 primera parte del libro. Aquí se pueden observar ejemplos en espacios escolares y sus situaciones académicas. Caldas Chumbes, Palmer, and Pallais, in the fifth chapter titulado “Embracing Our Bilingual Selves in Reflection & Dialogue: Hacia Una Praxis Bilingüe en Espacios de Preparación de Docentes,” immerse the reader into the ways bilingual educators construct their teacher identities navigating structures of power in teacher preparation programs. El capítulo centra la atención en la formación de pre- and in-service bilingual teachers. In addition, the authors point out that there is scarce knowledge que se relacione con las historias individuales of bilingual teacher educators. This chapter provides an analysis of the educators’ linguistic trajectories, su educación, sus ideologías, and their professional experiences. Las implicaciones de este capítulo son significativas as teacher analysis is key in the bilingual classroom dónde se entrelazan las prácticas e ideologías lingüísticas. The book continues with chapters six and seven, los cuales nos ayudan a entender el papel del translenguaje en el aula bilingüe. The authors elaborate on how instructional and social ideologies influence pressure to adhere to language separation. Furthermore, they expand on the kind of linguistic purism that gets in the way of a genuine use of the full linguistic repertoire. In addition, the chapters presentan las realidades que experimentan los docentes bilingües en el salón de clases, as they navigate the pressures and the misunderstanding surrounding language use by the school administration and the teacher community. The authors provide a working definition of translingüismo explicando sus tres componentes; linguistic phenomenon, ideología y estrategia en el salón de clase. Furthermore, these chapters present estrategias y actividades that support the creation of translingual spaces. Schwarzer and Caswell, in particular, conceptualizan el translingüismo como global and local, or glocal; al mismo tiempo, they observe an ongoing negotiation of cultural and linguistic identities. In chapter seven, De La Rosa shares her experience as a science teacher utilizando dos idiomas en su enseñanza. The author details the process of instruction and the way it intersects with translanguaging practices; the effectiveness in her methods is contrasted to the surrounding attitudes toward her use of Spanish and English in Texan schools. The third section “Action,” presents three chapters which focus on the implementation of the theoretical and practical foundations presented in the previous sections. As a group, these three last chapters address the need to activate pedagogical translingual practices presented in three different learning contexts: Latina mothers, parental engagement, and Armijo Romero Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 154 development of Latina/o/x bilingual teachers in Texas. The intersection of language, hybridity, and the role that families play, is the focus of chapters eight and nine. In these two chapters, Cedeño, Parra, and Larrotta highlight the important roles schools play in the life of families and students para asegurar que el aprendizaje sea exitoso. Chapter eight, “Breaking Walls: Language Inclusion y Familias Latinas,” se enfoca en el papel de las madres in the broader school context taking into consideration success as well as historical exclusion. In chapter nine, Larrotta challenges pre-conceived assumptions related to parental involvement and parental engagement. En este capítulo, the author propone nuevas formas of parental participation. In this pedagogical perspective, se amplifican the expressions of hybridity beyond language into the family context. In chapter 10, Petrón and Berg look at the process of acquiring a bilingual certification in the state of Texas for Latina/o/x pre-service teachers. The authors explore the meaning of going through this process without enough institutional resources. They describe the way the Bilingual Target Language Proficiency Test (BTLPT) in Texas is weaponized against aspiring bilingual teachers. The chapter provides recommendations for the development of communities of practice in the field of bilingual education. En su exploración teórica, this book nos ofrece un análisis profundo que nos permite ver la aplicación de la teoría del translenguaje en una variedad de contextos escolarizados y socioculturales. One of the key contributions this book provides, is the strong tie it presents with real life situations that are highly visible in schools across the United States. As a translanguaged text, the reader will be invited to expand their linguistic and reading repertoire to interact with the use of language as presented; in that allows the reader to experience the natural flow of languages merging into the ideas they capture while engaged with translanguaging practices. This work is breaking linguistic norms that marginalize the ways bilingual students manipulate their full range of linguistic resources; it is a must-read for (bilingual) teacher educators, pre- and in-service teachers, and administrators. Armijo Romero Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE) Journal © 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 155 References Curry, M. W. (2016). Will you stand for me? Authentic cariño and transformative rites of passage in an urban high school. American Educational Research Journal, 53(4), 883- 918. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216660380 García, O., Flores, N., & Chu, H. (2011). Extending bilingualism in US secondary education: New variations. International Multilingual Research Journal, 5(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2011.539486 González, N., Moll, L. C., & Amanti, C. (Eds.). (2006). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410613462