From Le Petit Prince to critical multilingual language awareness: enacting translanguaging pedagogies for pedagogical and social justice for all

This article presents findings from a research-practice partnership between a Midwestern University in the US and a local school district, investigating collaborative multilingual inquiry in mainstream English elementary classrooms. Through the lens of translanguaging, we discuss the design and implementation of a multilingual teaching unit centred on Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince. The unit, implemented with students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, aimed to cultivate Critical Multilingual Language Awareness (CMLA) and to use students’ linguistic repertoires as classroom resources. Le Petit Prince, translated into over 300 languages, served to de-center English and position all students as language learners. Through multilingual read-alouds and exploration of translations, students engaged with new languages, developing their capacity as multilingual listeners and fostering respect for minoritised language users. Central to our approach was engaging both English-dominant and language-minoritised students in multilingual inquiry through co-learning. Activities involved comparisons of translations, promoting translanguaging practices and empowering students as dynamic language users. Drawing on data from 130 elementary students, including classroom conversations, observations and work samples, we analyse key classroom moments to illustrate how translanguaging pedagogy for CMLA can be used in mainstream classrooms to foster linguistic and cultural collaboration for all students.