Considerations in Utilizing Translanguaging Practices to Meet the Language Needs of Maya Children in U.S. Schools

Abstract

PURPOSE: Meeting the needs of Maya children in U.S. schools requires extensive training. Research is lacking in best practices to support students with intersectional identities. This article provides a roadmap centralized on Maya children's experiences, acknowledging the linguistic diversity of Maya immigrants, their language and cultural practices, and their integration into or exclusion from minoritized and White neighborhoods in the United States to provide a starting point for culturally responsive service delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Supporting the needs of Maya children requires an approach that values and recognizes their intersectional identities while developing collaborative relationships with students, families, and educators. Application of the roadmap will support to (a) identify educational obstacles faced by Maya children, (b) integrate translanguaging to support best practices for educational success, and (c) determine service delivery considerations for bilingual/trilingual, multicultural children. More research on the topic is needed to establish evidence-based practice guidelines to utilize a translanguaging pedagogy within speech-language pathology.