View Content #27074

By Juan Carlos Gonzalez, CASLS Fellow

The language learning landscape is full of promise with an increasing number of immersion programs being created each year. However, simultaneously, monolingual sentiment is on the rise with language course enrollment dropping, leaving some to question why it is important to learn a second language. There are many different outcomes one wishes to attain when learning to speak another language. For me, I have found many advantages to speaking more than one language. I speak three languages: American Sign Language, which I studied for two years and use occasionally; Spanish, my first language that I speak with my family; and English, a language I started learning in elementary school in Mexico. However, since I moved to the United States, I took classes as English as Second Language in Oregon. That has been delightful with more and more knowledge and experiences being added to my repertoire. I have learned different cultures, ways of living, and customs; and I have met many people around me throughout the journey.

At first, the benefits of learning my second language never crossed my mind. I just thought that it would be because I was passionate about speaking another language, about learning new things, and most of all, my desire to explore new cultures.

Passion and motivation were essential for my journey of learning these languages, but what we can do to support and inspire those who are in that process? For example, how do we support students that already speak two or more languages in classrooms, but are still afraid to speak those languages? It is interesting to think that knowing multiple languages can influence the way you identify, your way of doing things, and, especially, your way of thinking. What is especially interesting, and useful for me, is when the languages I speak collide and work together.

Translanguaging, defined as the process by which multilingual speakers utilize their languages as an integrated communication system, is a recent framework within which we can consider this multilingual approach. Wei (2018) notes, “Over the years, Translanguaging has proven to be an effective pedagogical practice in a variety of educational contexts where the school language or the language-of-instruction is different from the languages of the learners" (p. 15). Three elements of translanguaging really resonate with my experience and are something I would like to see more of:

1. The use of multiple languages around me and the resources to be able to learn about different cultures in the same classroom.
2. Additional focus on the way I think and the implementation of an approach to learning a language from top to bottom, rather than bottom to top learning.
3. A focus on the ways language changes people’s perceptions and ways of seeing things, helping them become more open to exploring new challenges.

Translanguaging is an essential strategy for bilingual classrooms. It can also be used very successfully in multilingual classrooms. Translanguaging pedagogy is different with young and older learners, but it is beneficial for all ages.  Implementing an approach to support translanguaging practice requires an openness to innovative practice as well as control over professional development. We must clearly understand the significant benefits for learners in terms of their own language and English development, their content learning, and their social development.

References

Creese, A., & Blackledge, A. (2015). Translanguaging and Identity in Educational Settings. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 20-35. doi:10.1017/S0267190514000233

Li, W (2018). Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language. Applied Linguistics, 39:1, 9-30. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039