Ye Yuan of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School was awarded one of the School’s 2022 Graduate Student Research Mini Grants. Yuan’s research examined how and why teachers adopt translanguaging pedagogy—purposefully using both languages in bilingual instruction—in Mandarin/English immersion programs.
Yuan used a case study approach, interviewing two Mandarin elementary teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The findings showed that the teachers held an incomplete understanding of translanguaging pedagogy and only partially adopted it in class. However, to better implement translanguaging pedagogy in a way that can reframe language separation policy in immersion programs, teachers need a more comprehensive understanding of translanguaging pedagogy. This may be achieved by integrating more language-specific training in credential programs for pre-service teachers as well as providing more Mandarin/ English bilingual resources to in-service teachers.
The new Gevirtz School Graduate Student Mini Grant program was created to fund impactful and creative research aligned with the mission and values of the School. By seeding the creation of grant proposals, articles, or other scholarly products by graduate students, the program aims to help graduate students establish a track record of independent research. This funding also aims to support students who have had limited opportunities for funding or who have had to overcome (or are experiencing) challenging circumstances. The award is a one quarter 25% GSR and up to $500 direct research project costs.
Ye Yuan is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Education with interdisciplinary emphases in Applied Linguistics and Language Education. Ye is co-advised by Dr. Jin Sook Lee and Dr. Amy Kyratzis. She earned her B.A. in TCSOL from Beijing Language and Culture University in China, and her M.A. in TESOL from the University of Southern California. Ye is also a certified Montessori teacher. Before attending UCSB, she worked as a bilingual preschool teacher for two years. Currently, her research interests lie in bilingualism, bilingual language assessments, heritage language maintenance, and the use of technology in language learning.