ERIC Number: EJ1414360
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0951-0893
EISSN: EISSN-1477-4526
Unravelling Translanguaging: A Critical Appraisal
ELT Journal, v78 n1 p64-71 2024
The concept of translanguaging is one of the most successful ones in the recent history of multilingualism research. But what does it really mean? It covers such a wide semantic field that users seem to be free to decide its meaning in whatever way they wish. A key uniting idea of the different approaches is that teachers should 'draw upon' the first language(s) of learners in language teaching or allow the learners to do so to scaffold the learning process. However, this is by no means novel or controversial. The conceptual vagueness of the term translanguaging invites researchers and practitioners to propose a flurry of operationalisations, and make recommendations for practice for which there is no empirical evidence. The concept and the pedagogical applications fall apart as soon as one digs a little deeper. It is timely to either radically revisit the concept and narrow it down or abandon it altogether.
Descriptors: Translation, Multilingualism, Language Research, Semantics, Definitions, Ambiguity (Semantics)
Oxford University Press. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, UK. Tel: +44-1865-353907; Fax: +44-1865-353485; e-mail: jnls.cust.serv@oxfordjournals.org; Web site: http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A