Rethinking reading assessment for learning through pedagogical translanguaging: Case studies of teacher-researcher collaboration in the Netherlands and Australia
Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Reading assessment practices worldwide remain largely shaped by monolingual norms that marginalise linguistically diverse learners and contribute to persistent educational inequities. This thesis responds to this problem by examining how teacher-researcher collaboration for co-designing a Functional Multilingual Assessment for Learning (FMAfL) framework for reading engagement can foster primary school teachers’ linguistically responsive education practices. The framework is operationalised through Linguistically & Culturally Responsive (LCR) Reading Conversations – dialogues between teachers and learners in which teachers explicitly invite the use of home languages to make dimensions of reading engagement visible that monolingual assessment frameworks may obscure. Participatory design research was conducted in two contexts that differ in their sociolinguistic and educational landscapes yet share similar dominant monolingual ideologies: the Netherlands (n = 3 primary schools, n = 5 teachers, n = 27 learners) and Australia (n = 1 primary school, n = 2 teachers; n = 11 learners). This thesis adopts a qualitative multiple-case study design, comprising four interrelated studies and a practical guide on the co-designed FMAfL framework (Chapter 4), and is grounded in a linguistic ethnographic perspective. The studies are organised across the following analytical levels, while acknowledging their interdependence: macro-political/ideological (Chapter 2), meso-institutional (Chapter 3), and micro-interactional (Chapters 5 and 6). Study 1 (Chapter 2) establishes the macro-level foundation through a scoping review of 14 empirical studies on linguistically responsive content and reading AfL in primary education. This study maps key concepts, synthesises existing evidence, and highlights research gaps that inform both the collaboration design process and the development of the FMAfL framework. Study 2 (Chapter 3) examines the dynamics of the teacher-researcher collaborations in both contexts at the meso-institutional level. Drawing on reflexive thematic analysis of multiple data sources, including interviews, questionnaires, design-meeting recordings, and fieldnotes, this study explores how collaboration supported the development of linguistically responsive education practices and how teachers reflected on their participation. Chapter 4 presents the resulting theory- and evidence-based FMAfL framework for LCR Reading Conversations, providing the contextual bridge at the meso level to the micro-interactional analyses in Chapters 5 and 6. At the micro-interactional level, Study 3 (Chapter 5) draws on video observations of LCR Reading Conversations (n = 11; approx. 179 mins) facilitated by five teachers with 27 learners in the Netherlands. Using a language and participation regime framework, informed by Conversation Analysis, this study examines how multilingual interaction unfolded while implementing the co‑designed reading FMAfL framework. Study 4 (Chapter 6) complements Study 3 by combining Multimodal Conversation Analysis of video-recorded LCR Reading Conversations with 11 learners (approx. 118 mins) and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of video-stimulated recall interviews with two teachers in Australia (approx. 193 mins). This study investigates how these teachers enacted pedagogical translanguaging through an interactional scaffolding lens and how they made sense of their own practices. In sum, the findings of the layered analysis demonstrate that teacher-researcher collaboration for co-designing reading-focused FMAfL can foster linguistically responsive practices by supporting teachers in reflecting critically on deficit-oriented practice, reframing home languages as assets, and developing and implementing pedagogical translanguaging-based strategies. However, such change is shaped by broader ideological and institutional constraints. Rethinking reading assessment through FMAfL, therefore, requires coordinated efforts across levels: macro-level recognition of learners’ multilingual repertoires, meso-level institutional support and sustained professional development, and micro-level interactional practices that actively challenge monolingual norms.
Author: Charlie Robinson-Jones
Institution: University of Groningen
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7212301554