Dis/ability as Mediator: Opportunity Encounters in Hybrid Learning Spaces for Emergent Bilinguals with Dis/abilities.

Martínez-Álvarez, Patricia

Background: Though there has been some attention to how emergent bilinguals learn in relation to languages and cultures, very little research to date has examined similar processes in emergent bilinguals with dis/abilities, including how to understand dis/ability as a source of strength. Purpose: In this article, I explore how dis/ability can mediate learning. To do so, I examine how emergent bilinguals with dis/abilities engage with learning activities in a hybrid space in terms of ability, language, and culture; and how these children's learning is mediated in such a hybrid space. Research Design: This qualitative study documents how 15 bilingual Latinx children with mild dis/abilities in the second through third grades, along with eight bilingual teacher candidates preparing to teach in inclusive bilingual contexts, worked together in a two-year hybrid after-school program. Findings/Results: Children were able to demonstrate the ability to "compensate" for perceived "weaknesses" and learn in what I characterize as nepantla (in-between) spaces in four different ways: (a) resisting the learning activity; (b) shifting the direction of the learning activity; (c) repositioning the content (within their own knowledge); and (d) using external artifacts. Conclusions: Opportunity-centered encounters attending to language, culture, and ability, built on hybridity theory, allowed for shifting perceptions of children's academic identities. The study highlights an asset-based perspective on dis/ability that rejects ableism. Implications include the need for careful planning and constant nurturing of the bilingual child's multiple fluid identities.

LEARNING; BLENDED learning; AFTER school programs; BILINGUAL students; STUDENTS with disabilities; EDUCATION research

Teachers College Record, 2020, Vol 122, Issue 5, p1

0161-4681

Academic Journal

10.1177/016146812012200506