¡Maestra, Ya Le Entiendo! Teachers And Students Creating A Language-Rich Learning Environment With Available Language Resources And Students’ Funds Of Knowledge

This qualitative study investigates how dual language educators in elementary schools along the U.S.–Mexico border create language-rich learning environments with the Spanish resources available to them. Motivated by longstanding shortages of adequate Spanish instructional materials in bilingual classrooms, this study examines the extent to which this challenge persists in contemporary educational contexts. Grounded in translanguaging theory (de la Piedra, Araujo, & Esquinca, 2018; Flores & Chaparro, 2018; Otheguy, García, & Reid, 2015) and the funds of knowledge framework (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005), the study explored: (1) the materials provided by districts and schools, (2) the challenges teachers face with those materials, (3) the strategies they employ when resources are insufficient, (4) how teachers and students engage in translanguaging, and (5) how teachers draw upon students’ linguistic funds of knowledge. Data consisted of interviews with 12 dual language teachers and 10 classroom observations in one DLBE setting. Findings revealed both persistent resource gaps and creative teacher responses. Although more Spanish resources are now available, teachers reported missing curriculum components, limited book selections aligned with students’ linguistic varieties and literacy levels, and inadequate quantities of Spanish texts in school libraries. As a result, educators continued to translate materials, create Spanish instructional tools, and purchase resources with their own money, illustrating the invisible labor described by Hatton (2017) and Amanti (2019). The study concludes with recommendations to make this labor visible and calls for sustainable district and school efforts to address resource inequities. Keywords: dual language bilingual education, translanguaging, funds of knowledge, Spanish resources, teacher labor, bilingualism, U.S.–Mexico border