Translanguaging as Playful Subversion of a Monolingual Norm in the Classroom

Abstract

Previous studies of educational translanguaging have described it as an instructional and inclusive practice supporting the active classroom participation of students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. This chapter demonstrates how in monolingually-oriented educational contexts, translanguaging can also constitute a form of subversive language play targeting the local monolingual norm. The data are video-recorded lessons from secondary-level CLIL (Content-and-Language-Integrated-Learning) classrooms in Finland. In CLIL classrooms L2 is often upheld as a normatively assigned medium of interaction, particularly in whole-class talk, and students use their shared L1 in peer interaction. This chapter offers a case study investigating how one student's translanguaging, which takes place as a reaction to the teacher's enforcement of the L2-only norm, is treated as a 'language mix' by other participants in the classroom. Drawing on conversation analytic (CA) methodology, we describe the sequential unfolding and the normative context of the focal student's translanguaging, as well as practices of categorisation with which other students respond to him. We suggest that these kinds of situations can help to empirically tease apart some differences between translanguaging and code-switching. Further, we argue that the 'meaning' of translanguaging to participants cannot be established without considering its relation to locally upheld norms around language choice, which in the present case are employed as resources for the construction of language play and subversive identities.

Doing science through translanguaging: a study of translanguaging practices in secondary English as a medium of instruction science laboratory sessions

“…Research has challenged the monolingual pedagogy of traditional bilingual classrooms such as EMI and CLIL and provided qualitative findings describing how translanguaging facilitates the meaning-making process (Lin and Wu, 2015;Nikula and Moore, 2016;Lin and He, 2017;Jakonen et al, 2018). Nevertheless, there has been limited fine-grained analysis of translanguaging in secondary-level EMI classroom interactions.…”

“…Much of that research (e.g. Nikula and Moore, 2016;Poza, 2018;Lin and Lo, 2017;Jakonen et al, 2018) has conceptualised translanguaging as just a shift among linguistic repertoires.…”

Word search sequences in teacher-student interaction in an English as medium of instruction context

“…In this sense, the extract describes how bilingualism and the institutional norms of the current educational setting generate a resource for laughter. which frames the interaction as delicate (Jefferson, 1985), and Tthe use of immediate translation practice by the teacher does the interactional work to keep the two languages (i.e., Turkish and English) apart by conveying to the student that his language choice is not the appropriate medium of interaction, that is, the L1 is not treated as a legitimate resource (Jakonen et al 2018). In this sense, participants mark the transition from one language to another through interactional resources (i.e., laughter, translational work) to point to the problematic nature of this type of language alternation.…”

Language Education for Everyone? Busting Access Myths

“…51 Yet some teachers have been identified as experts in serving multilingual pupils, 52 and adequate professional development as well as experience supports the development of such pedagogical skills. 53 Prior research has also shown that, unsurprisingly, translanguaging is present in Finnish schools, 54 including in immersion and Indigenous education 55 and not merely tolerated but also used as an intentional pedagogical approach. 56 Efforts such as teacher education programs that focus on language awareness (Language Aware Multilingual Pedagogy or LAMP at the University of Jyväskylä, 57 and the action research project Itä-Helsingin uudet suomen kielet (The new Finnish languages of Eastern Helsinki) 58 are a promising contribution.…”