Plurilingualism and translanguaging: emergent approaches and shared concerns. Introduction to the special issue

Abstract

This special issue includes texts by some of the most currently prominent scholars in the fields of plurilingualism and translanguaging. Coming from diverse geographical and cultural contexts, the authors were invited to share their perspectives on the evolution of plurilingualism, translanguaging and their relation to language teaching and learning. The articles in this special issue illustrate the varied and exciting possibilities that can be afforded by these approaches that aim to locate speakers' fluent, hybrid, multimodal and creative communicative practices at the centre of research and practice. The texts also underscore key commonalities and divergences which demonstrate that these frameworks are best analysed, compared or applied after first acknowledging that they emerge from different research traditions and socio-political backgrounds. Perhaps most importantly, the articles demonstrate that as long as socioeducational inequalities persist there is need for reflection, expansion and complementary actions, especially since both approaches share an interest in social and educational transformation of current models of bi/ multilingual education around the globe.

INTRODUCTION–Socially just plurilingual education in Europe: shifting subjectivities and practices through research and action

“…Various publications in recent years (e.g. García & Otheguy, 2020;Lau & Van Viegen, 2020;Vallejo & Dooly, 2020) discuss the similarities and divergences in how the notions of multi/ plurilingualism emerged and have been used in political and scholarly work in Europe and beyond. These authorsamongst otherspoint out important historical differences in how the terms emerged and are used in different geographical contexts and disciplines.…”

“…Multilingualism and plurilingualism are employed by scholars from different theoretical and methodological backgrounds to refer to linguistically diverse social contexts, to the full communicative repertoires and competences of individuals, and to educational strategies fostering different languages in schools. Furthermore, as Vallejo and Dooly (2020) explain, Europe institutional discourses often frame the promotion of multi/plurilingualism within broader political projects of supporting European cohesion, maintaining European cultural heritage, promoting citizens' mobility and boosting Europe's economic development and competitiveness. Meanwhile, many researchers of multi/plurilingualism in Europe take a critical view, setting out from the concerns of minoritised speakers in Europe and placing social and educational equity at the forefront of their work (García & Otheguy, 2020).…”

Transcultural literacies in online collaboration: a case study of fanfiction translation from Russian into English

“…Digital technology has made intercultural contacts a daily activity for many people in the world. As a result, the globalization of cultural flows and the various ways that people appropriate these cultural flows have become hot topics for investigation, and the prefix 'trans-' can now be seen in terms like translocalities, transnational, translanguaging and transculturing, underlying the fluidity and mix of cultures, languages and localities in the digital environment (Baker & Sangiamchit, 2019;Black, 2008;Kytölä, 2016;Sultana & Dovchin, 2016;Vallejo & Dooly, 2019).…”

Introduction

“…Pourtant, ce point de vue contraste avec les représentations modernes qui se sont efforcées d'assimiler les langues uniques à une identité nationale et à une communauté imaginaire présumée (Anderson, 1991) de locuteurs qui partagent et sont unis par une langue et une situation géographique communes (Wiley, 2014). Malheureusement, cette idéologie monolingue visant l'édification de la nation a parfois eu pour conséquence de caractériser la diversité linguistique et les pratiques polysémiotiques comme un défaut du système : une « Babélisation » indésirable de la société humaine, qui, en tant que source de tension et de division, devrait au mieux être gérée et contrôlée (Vallejo & Dooly, 2019). Même lorsque l'acquisition de systèmes multilingues est un but explicite, cette idéologie peut parfois renforcer des approches de l'enseignement des langues qui réifient une forte séparation entre les langues et découragent les apprenants de faire des transferts de connaissances, de compétences et de stratégies ou d'hybrider des codes en puisant dans leur répertoire multilingue lors qu'ils se livrent à des pratiques langagières pour atteindre leurs objectifs de communication.…”