Latinx Youth as Linguistic Experts: Documenting Translanguaging Moments in Youth Participatory Action Research

Drawing on Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and translanguaging frameworks, the purpose of this study is to demonstrate how Latinx youth leverage their community knowledge and language practices in community-based research. Through a multimodal and ethnographic examination of the students engagement in youth-driven research this article highlights how language is central to the expertise they cultivate of their everyday socio-political worlds. Findings showcase how the youth in this study drew on their linguistic expertise alongside their community knowledge and sociopolitical awareness to make sense of the various components of the research process. Further, they document translingual practices that are reflective of the lived realities and of the multilingualism located within their community. Engaging in translingual practices throughout the YPAR project reflected authentic, joyful, and critical practices of meaning making throughout their inquiry. Implications for this study include co-designing linguistically transformative spaces for youth and the importance of recognizing the community knowledge and experience that shapes their linguistic practices.