Sessions

Re-examining translanguaging in plurilingual classrooms

The past two decades have witnessed an exponential surge of interest in pedagogical translanguaging (TRLNG), understood as a bi- or multilingual resource-based set of pedagogical practices (traditionally for emergent bilingual students acquiring the societally dominant language) where the medium of instruction is different from the home language(s) of the learners. However, despite the current world fame and popularity of the concept, it is not without problems, which will be examined based on an overview of current pedagogical literature (k = 110; Paradowski 2021, under review). Among the many caveats, we shall see how TRLNG may be less transformative than has been suggested and how the demographics—and language repertoires—of teachers often fail to align with those of the student population. We will also see that TRLNG practices may unintentionally reproduce disadvantages, with language singletons in particular facing steeper challenges. Moreover, not all students appreciate the opportunity to use their home language(s), and TRLNG may actually cause a decrease in well-being. Finally, foreign language classrooms in particular require the reconciliation of many conflicting goals. The talk will conclude with a recommendation of more critically aware and reflective plurilingual pedagogies that always take into account the circumstances and ecologies of the classroom and the subjectivities of the students.