Shelly
Traditionally, educational systems have been monolingual, and in the language of the elite (Lewis 1976). According to Van Herk (2018), it is easier to “introduce multilingual education in societies where multilingualism is the norm” (p. 180). In this case, translanguaging can be considered as a way into ESL/EFL teaching and learning to support students in making metalinguistic connections and in leveraging all of their content and linguistic knowledge.
What is a translingual classroom?
Let’s have a look at what translingualism is. Translingualism means users gain meaning through their relations to other modes, particularly those drawn from popular culture (Pennycook 2007; Sultana, Dovchin &Pennycook 2015). Translingual pedagogy is by nature a hybrid practice, recontextualizing students’ translanguaging experiences to accomplish new goals using a hybrid set of routines and resources (David, Pacheco, & Jiménez, 2019).
Why do we create a translingual classroom?
As an ESL learner and teacher, I am wondering if it is more important to teach a standard accent or help students express themselves clearly and explicitly when learning a new language. From my perspective, comprehensibility plays a more crucial role than accent. Especially in some Asian countries, under the exam-oriented education system, teachers and students pay more attention to getting higher scores than using the language in their daily life. In this sense, students may suffer from awkward silences when they communicate with others. Therefore, it is necessary to change the mindset and welcome the translingual approach in a language classroom.
To begin with, it can support students as they engage with and comprehend complex content and texts. Next, it provides more opportunities for students to develop linguistic practices for academic contexts. Moreover, it can make space for students’ bilingualism and bilingual ways of knowing and support their socio-emotional development and bilingual identities.
How do we create a translingual classroom?
First, based on my experience, free talk at the beginning of the class is a great way to integrate the translingual approach and help students learn some new words, phrases, and expressions. Especially during the pandemic, online classes make it harder to build relationships with each other. Through this communication, students could have a chance to talk and learn the practical English they really need in daily life.
Second, we could encourage students to use their linguistic repertoire to communicate in class and emphasize both languages in a positive light. Creating a safe and comfortable language learning environment fosters all students, regardless of their native language. The video below shows how the ESL teachers use the translanguaging pedagogy in his multilingual learning class.
Moreover, we could also try to integrate multimedia in the ESL and EFL classrooms and find more appropriate songs with multiple languages to help students use their linguistic repertoire and enjoy the learning process. In my summer teaching, I tried song activities, which worked quite well, and students were highly motivated. Moreover, we could also have music and digital resources in multiple languages in the classroom, it will give all students the opportunity to build upon their native language and learn a second language. If possible, you could also use bilingual digital content that shows two languages side-by-side to help students make the connection between their native language and the second language.
However, some people argue that using their first language in an English class may affect students’ communicative competence in the target language and they may rely on their first language too much unconsciously. In this sense, language teachers may take more responsibility and give clear instructions in order to better practice the target language.
Questions:
1Do you think it is feasible to use translanguaging in ESL/EFL classrooms？
2 Have you experienced or used translanguaging pedagogy in the classroom?
References：
David, S. S., Pacheco, M. B., & Jiménez, R. T. (2019). Designing translingual pedagogies: Exploring pedagogical translation through a classroom teaching experiment. Cognition and Instruction, 37(2), 252-275.
Dovchin, S., Sultana, S., & Pennycook, A. (2015). Relocalizing the translingual practices of young adults in Mongolia and Bangladesh. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts, 1(1), 4-26.
Lewis, G. (1976). “Bilingualism and bilingual education: The ancient world to the Renaissance.” In Bilingual Education: An International Sociological Perspective, ed., J. A. Fishman, 150–200. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Pennycook, A. (2007). Global Englishes and Transcultural Flows. London: Routledge.
Van Herk, G. (2018). What is sociolinguistics? (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.
Hi Shelly,
I really feel your concerns because it’s actually what I felt after learning about the concept of translanguaging and plurilingualism. I have done my 3 final projects about translanguaging/plurilingualism and I would say teachers are the most decisive factor in determining whether translanguaging approaches are appropriate or not. To my research, the successful studies with translanguaging were conducted mainly in European countries or North American contexts, where the population is rather heterogeneous and L2 speakers are really common in the society. Asian context is quite the opposite, with the population is still homogenous and L2 speakers are quite rare. Therefore, it leads to the common belief that L2 exposure should be maximised in the L2 classrooms when they have the chances to practice it. In addition, due to the pervasive proportion of the population who speak L1, it is common sense that L1 would not disappear even the learners are required to use L2 all of the times in the classroom.
Another side note to the mentioned nativeness is the reference to the target language I guess. When the number of L2 speakers are rare, there are little references to different versions of that language, so people tend to stick to the standardised version, for example British or American English. However, in European countries, different versions of English are quite common, so people are really open to different dialects.
Henry Luong