Moving beyond language(s): a case study on a newcomer’s translanguaging practices

Abstract

Numerous scholars have investigated translanguaging in students with a migration background by examining the deployment of their linguistic repertoire. By contrast, few studies have adopted a social semiotic perspective on translanguaging. Similarly, studies on newcomers in this field are scarce. Newcomers, especially those to the trilingual education system in Luxembourg, face significant language challenges. The present paper explores the ways in which Portuguese-speaking Harry combined the resources of his semiotic repertoire in science and French lessons in Year 4, and discusses different combinations of resources. Findings based on field notes and video-recordings of classroom activities show that the eleven-year-old engaged in learning by activating his prior knowledge and deploying his semiotic repertoire in resourceful ways. He mobilised features of five languages, coordinated linguistic, paralinguistic and extralinguistic resources, and aligned his resources to those of his peers. Furthermore, he reproduced the semiotic combinations of peers as well as the translanguaging practices in class. We show that a newcomer orchestrates his semiotic resources in complex ways to communicate, make meaning and engage in learning processes. Further research into the deployment of the semiotic repertoire at school is needed.