HIDDEN ASSETS: AN INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF TRANSLANGUAGING AS A WRITING RESOURCE FOR BILINGUAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS IN COMPOSITION I

Abstract

This study explores how Spanish-English bilingual students navigated the “Standard English” language policy of their community college’s Composition I course by drawing on their natural translanguaging capabilities. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with students who completed the course within the past two years. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and an asset perspective, the analysis revealed that the students leveraged five key assets to meet the language use expectations of Composition I: 1) Metalinguistic and Contextual Language Use Awareness, 2) Language Agency, 3) Self-Sufficiency, 4) Positive Bilingual Identity, and 5) Translanguaging. These findings advance the perception of translanguaging as a valid, effective, and linguistically equitable ideology and pedagogical approach in First-Year Writing instruction. This study ultimately demonstrates that translanguaging was a natural and vital aspect of the writing process for study participants. It suggests that First-Year Writing instructors should recognize multilingual students as skilled “translanguagers” who possess an inherent repertoire of abilities that support academic writing development, even when the students themselves may not fully recognize these skills. By embracing a translingual ideology, instructors can resist defaulting to deficit perceptions of language variety while respecting students’ rights to self-determination and language agency.