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Abstract
As computing pervades more aspects of life, and as Computer Science for All (CS for All) initiatives roll out across the U.S., the field must understand the experiences and language practices of emergent bi/multilingual K-12 students and use that knowledge to drive equitable pedagogical and programmatic approaches. But little is known about how emergent bi/multilingual students — a growing population that school systems have often viewed with deficit-based lenses and have thus struggled to educate equitably — use language in the context of CS education. This dissertation addresses this gap by (1) qualitatively documenting and using asset-based frames to analyze moments when emergent bilingual middle schoolers translanguaged (flexibly orchestrated linguistic, semiotic, and technological resources) as they participated in computational literacies in CS-integrated Language Arts, English-as-a-New Language, and Social Studies units co-designed by teachers and researchers working together in a research-practice partnership. It also (2) captures insights about how students understood their meaning-making choices in those moments and (3) uses findings from this empirical work to generate theory about the relationships between translanguaging and computational literacies. Findings provide evidence that emergent bi/multilingual students’ diverse language practices are assets in CS education, and enabled the forging of new meaningful computational literacies. This project lays groundwork for CS practitioners to meaningfully include emergent bi/multilingual students and for bilingual education to consider computing’s role in languaging and expression.
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