Translingual Play that Promotes Cultural Connections, Invention, and Regulation: A LatCrit Perspective

ABSTRACTUsing Latino critical race theory as a lens, this qualitative study explored ways in which young children’s translanguaging practices informed the design of culturally relevant sociodramatic spaces in a bilingual early childhood classroom located along the Texas/Mexico border in South Texas. The authors identified aspects of language development that were evident as children engaged in free play. The findings indicated that bilingual children from the Head Start center where this study took place creatively used language to invent and imagine characters, scenarios, and dialogues. Furthermore, their translingual talk facilitated regulation and control of their free play.