A Multimodal Approach
Interlanguage Pragmatics and Bilingual Critical Literacy
What are Interlanguage Pragmatics?
Interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) is a useful concept for instructors who are tasked with grading and providing feedback to students who are writing in their second or third language. The basic idea of ILP is this: When a student is acquiring a language, features of the first language (L1) and second language (L2) or third language (L3) combine to create what is called an "interlanguage." When students write or speak in this interlanguage, it can appear as if they are making mistakes in the L2 or L3--but in reality, features of the L1 are simply slipping through. Instructors who understand the basics of ILP can use this information to adjust their grading and feedback in order to best help the student gain bilingual critical literacy-- that is, fluency in both their first and second (or third) language, the ability to codeswitch between or combine languages, and an understanding of the unique cognitive and cultural aspects of bilingualism.
What is Bilingual Critical Literacy?
in Decolonizing Rhetoric and Composition Studies: New Latinx Keywords for Theory and Pedagogy, José Cano defines bilingual critical literacy as a simultaneous development of English and Spanish (or any traditionally dominant and subordinate language) which "will enable students to write in two distinct codes [or languages] without switching from one to another in the same text" (68). In other words, the bilingually literate student should have the ability to compose a written work in its entirety in either their L1 or L2 without mixing the languages--their choice of language is stylistic and tailored to their audience, and they only codeswitch within a text to communicate a specific bilingual or cross-cultural concept. The reason that bilingual critical literacy is so important for the decolonial composition course is because English is often the dominant literate language, and it will sometimes efface a student's native or heritage language. For instance, a Mexican-American student may speak Spanish but may only be able to write in English because they have only received English instruction. To remedy this, instructors should encourage students to develop their native or heritage literacy alongside English -- this may require additional language learning and development on the instructor's part or the enlistment of a language assistant, but it is definitely worth the extra work.