Translanguaging

This article presents findings from a study conducted in eight New York City schools with English-only policies in an effort to disrupt monolingual practices for emergent bilinguals. The participant schools were given intensive professional development and participated in a project where they were “required to engage students’ bilingualism as a resource in instruction and implement translanguaging pedagogy” (p. 741), disrupting dominant monolingual approaches in schools. Findings suggest that taking a…

Moses and Torrejon Capurro (2023) delve into the role of literacy-based play in supporting language development, translanguaging, and identity work among young emergent bilinguals in a South American kindergarten classroom. The study focuses on a play-based unit designed to boost English usage in a social context modeled after a restaurant, where translanguaging is seen as a key strategy for communication and learning. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis…

In this article, Moses, Hajdun, and Alvarado Aguirre (2021) detail their work in two bilingual first-grade classrooms in the United States and Colombia, focusing on translanguaging practices among emerging bilingual students. The authors describe a series of instructional activities that encouraged students to use both English and Spanish in their writing and communication. The study highlighted how the strategic use of bilingual texts and translanguaging not only supported language development…

Prilutskaya's (2021) review examines research on pedagogical translanguaging, an approach that encourages multilingual learners to leverage all their languages for learning. The study analyzes 20 empirical studies across various educational contexts. Key Findings: Translanguaging is used for different purposes, from reinforcing instruction to promoting classroom rapport. In English Language Teaching (ELT) contexts, translanguaging often focuses on improving English proficiency. K-12 schools use translanguaging to boost student participation, understanding, and identity…

This case study explores how children in an early childhood program at an international school in Hong Kong develop language by employing translanguaging practices. Specifically, it explores conditions for multilingual interactions and the experiences of young children within trilingual learning contexts. The authors highlight research on Spanish/English dual language programs where the separation of language instruction was “at odds with natural social interactions of emergent bilingual children” (p. 278) who…

In their study, Scibetta and Carbonara (2020) explore the implementation of translanguaging pedagogy within primary schools in Italy through the L’AltRoparlante project. This transformative action research project promotes inclusive multilingual education in schools with high percentages of immigrant minority students. The project aims to legitimize and leverage students' diverse linguistic repertoires, challenging the monolingual norms prevalent in Italian education. The authors analyze data from interviews and focus groups conducted with…

In this article, Tai (2021) explored translanguaging pedagogies within the context of an English as a Medium of Instruction high school in Hong Kong. Tai explored how translanguaging pedagogies could serve the needs of South Asian ethnic minoritized students, who had different linguistic and cultural backgrounds than most students and teachers in their school. Tai found translanguaging pedagogies served as an inclusive practice within a mathematics classroom. He proposes translanguaging…

In this practitioner focused article, Templeton (2023) examines the implementation of translanguaging pedagogy in international school settings, addressing the linguistic and cultural homogeneity often present in educational policies. In the article, Translanguaging is defined as the fluid use of linguistic resources by bilingual individuals to make meaning and communicate. Templeton argues for the consistent application of translanguaging practices to celebrate and utilize students' plurilingualism as an asset rather than a…

This article presents an iterative study to bring out “practical and pedagogical issues of translanguaging in the classroom” (p. 491). The study involved interviews with three groups of stakeholders from four multilingual high schools: language education researchers, teachers, and multilingual learners. The authors interviewed a range of stakeholders to capture translanguaging “pedagogical challenges (real or perceived)” and their “views on those challenges” (p. 508). As a result, a total of…

In Wang’s (2019) study, the use of translanguaging pedagogies in Chinese Foreign Language (CFL) classrooms is explored in response to the challenges faced by both students and teachers as classrooms become more linguistically diverse. Traditionally CFL classrooms were dominated by monolingual teaching methods. As the number of students in these classrooms coming from diverse language backgrounds has increased, translanguaging has emerged as a strategy. Wang’s research, conducted through surveys and…