KINGSTON, R.I. – Feb. 18, 2026 – The University of Rhode Island has launched a new Translanguaging Lab, an interdisciplinary research collective within the University’s Feinstein College of Education.

According to URI Feinstein College Dean Danielle Dennis, the recently launched Translanguaging Lab is the first of its kind in the region. “We think it has real potential to grow into a national model,” she says.

Lab Director Laura Hamman-Ortiz describes translanguaging as a linguistic practice, a pedagogy, and a theory of language. She says URI’s new center puts discussion of multilingualism and bilingualism at the heart of its research focus, which is timely and important, especially given the larger conversations about language happening in public forums across the U.S.

Translanguaging describes the practice of dynamic multilingual languaging to make sense of the world. But URI faculty in the new lab say translanguaging is more than a buzzword — it’s a way of seeing, hearing, and honoring the full, dynamic language practices of bilingual individuals, and bringing this understanding to instructional design and interaction.

“It’s a more holistic lens for understanding bilingualism,” said Hamman-Ortiz. “Translanguaging theory acknowledges that lived bilingualism is dynamic, complex, and ever-evolving. It also seeks to reframe deficit lenses too often applied to multilingual learners and their language practices, viewing bilingualism as both an asset and a right.”

Launched in fall 2025, the lab also includes three more core faculty from URI’s Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Bilingual Education programs:

• Amy Correia: Correia launched URI’s Master’s in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Bilingual/Dual Language Immersion program; she has 20 years’ experience teaching and designing programs for multilingual learners.
• Nicole King: King’s past experiences as a teacher of multilingual learners in the U.S. (Louisiana and South Carolina) and Italy drive her research interests today to work with and empower multilingual students, their families, and their teachers.
• Steve Przymus: New on the faculty this year, Przymus brings three decades of experience advocating for and teaching multilingual youth at multiple levels.

“The Translanguaging Lab represents an intersection of expertise, advocacy, and need not just at URI, but in Rhode Island more broadly,” says King. “Multilingual learners are the fastest growing group of learners in the U.S., and Rhode Island is among states where they are growing faster than elsewhere in the country. Research has shown that these learners are best at developing their content knowledge and understanding, continuing their development in English, and experiencing a true sense of welcome and belonging in classrooms that are designed through translanguaging.”

While URI has long had strong language programs, especially in International Engineering and other language-focused programs, the new Translanguaging Lab will serve as a research hub. The lab will engage URI faculty and students in cutting-edge research on translanguaging, while also offering professional learning for educators and engaging in advocacy for multilingual students and language education, especially at the state level.

URI Ph.D. student Jeanne Mullaney, who is also a language professor at the Community College of Rhode Island, is one of the graduate students working in the lab. She shares, “The Translanguaging Lab will strengthen language instruction in Rhode Island as we are building a network of teachers who have a deeper understanding of the role of translanguaging in language teaching and learning.”

The lab has had a busy first year. Members are laying the groundwork for several new research projects, including documenting the linguistic diversity of Rhode Island via geomapping; researching professional learning around translanguaging pedagogy with local educators; and designing early literacy interventions involving eye tracking and translanguaging with bilingual children’s books.

Sharon D’Antuono, a URI clinical assistant professor in communication disorders and a Ph.D. candidate in education, says that the lab is an important bridge for research and clinical training.

“It fosters my ability to prepare our speech-language pathology graduate students to learn the importance of supporting children in culturally and linguistically responsible ways and to understand language development through an asset-based lens, instead of a deficiency lens,” she said. “This lab will strengthen URI’s capacity to support multilingual communities by generating applied research and creating meaningful partnerships with educators and families.”

Megan Levy, a student in the URI TESOL master’s program, says her experience in the lab has helped shape her thinking about teaching multilingual students. As a math teacher at Central High School in Providence, Levy saw how transformative translanguaging strategies were in her classroom.

“I worked with many multilingual learners, including newcomers, and I saw translanguaging as a means to give my students greater access to the core curriculum we use in Providence,” she says. “I saw far stronger engagement when incorporating students’ language resources into my teaching practice, and I would encourage any teacher to consider trying the same.”

Beyond pedagogy, URI’s translanguaging faculty also say that the lab brings critical analysis to a place that is already deeply multilingual: Rhode Island.

“It’s really surprising how many languages are spoken in such a small state,” said Hamman-Ortiz. “Our current linguistic landscape study, led by Dr. Steve Przymus, is aiming to document that linguistic diversity, showcasing the rich multilingualism of Rhode Island and examining how it manifests across the state.”

One out of five Rhode Islanders speak a language other than English and 16% percent of the state’s K-12 students are defined as multilingual learners (MLLs). Hamman-Ortiz says that there are over 100 languages spoken in Rhode Island. Spanish is dominant after English, but there are also multiple other languages spoken in the state, including Portuguese, Haitian Creole, French, Mandarin, Italian, Khmer, Arabic, and Narragansett.

“We have the potential to offer something really unique here in terms of research and professional development,” she adds. “It’s a shift in perspective to not just have English as the end goal, but to also recognize the power of cultivating bilingualism.”

 “We are a multilingual state,” she notes, “and a multilingual country.”

Contact laura.hammanortiz@uri.edu to be added to the list for the lab’s new monthly newsletter.