Is This Translanguaging?
Elena PirovanoStudio 8
You may have encountered the term translanguaging to describe the way multilingual speakers access and mix their multiple languages to communicate and make meaning in their world. The Languages classroom is by default at least a bilingual classroom where the language of instruction (English) and the target language (the language we teach) are both present and used in the teaching and learning process. Moreover, as the Australian society is increasingly multilingual and multicultural, the students often bring to the classroom a variety of other languages that they may speak fluently or that they have only been exposed to through their family background; languages that may be similar or very different from the target language. Sometimes, these multiple languages become visible in the classroom. Is this translanguaging? For example, when we use English to explain or translate something, does it mean that we are using a translanguaging strategy? When we allow our students to respond using English or gestures or visual representations rather than the target language, are we promoting translanguaging? When we encourage students to make comparisons between the languages they speak and the target language, are we developing a translanguaging pedagogy? In this workshop I aim to share my understanding of pedagogical translanguaging in the practicality of the Languages classroom and responding to some of these questions using examples from my teaching practice and insights into research on pedagogical translanguaging.