Functions of Spanish-use during writing interactions: experiences of newcomer elementary students in an English-medium classroom

Classrooms in the United States increasingly serve students from linguistically diverse backgrounds, including newcomer students who enter U.S. schools for the first time and are new speakers of English. Historically, newcomers have been subject to deficit narratives and positioned as primarily needing English-language intervention. However, in classrooms that support translanguaging, newcomers are supported to use all their language resources when speaking, reading, and writing. This paper draws on positioning theory to explore the experiences of newcomers during writing workshop in one second-grade classroom. Specifically, we ask: What were the social and academic functions of Spanish use during writing interactions by/with newcomers? How did this Spanish use position newcomers and the peers and teachers with whom they interacted? Using qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, findings illustrate academic functions of Spanish use, including (1) giving/clarifying writing directions, (2) discussing writing content, and (3) learning lexical items, as well as social functions, including (1) playing and (2) sharing about self. Additionally, findings show how this Spanish use positioned newcomers as learners, experts, and peers. Interactional potential of flexible language use with newcomers during writing instruction is discussed.