Language and identity

Drawing from the framework of translanguaging and transculturing, this case study counters the notion of separatism in one’s multilingual competency as developing fluidity in language practices and identity. Building from definitions and integration of theories from translanguaging/transculturing and in the context of youth in a London school, and using the methodological tools of discourse analysis, this ethnographic case study examined how the case youth drew upon their entire semiotic repertoire i to materialize relationships and identities across her local and transnational social fields. Specifically, analyses of the trans dimention demonstrate how the youth progressively expanded their ‘trans’ scope across contexts of classroom, transnational family, and multilingual youth community, endorsing how the’ trans’ approach affords a more comprehensive look into the transnational youth’s literacy development and identity work.