NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
PDF on ERIC Download full text
ERIC Number: EJ1447570
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2079-8245
EISSN: EISSN-2308-1422
(Trans)Languaging-for-Learning: A Perspective from the South
Carolyn McKinney; Robyn Tyler
Reading & Writing: Journal of the Literacy Association of South Africa, v15 n1 Article 508 2024
Background: While the concept of translanguaging has gained significant traction in education in multilingual contexts, it is also debated and contested. Claims are made about what translanguaging can and cannot do, how different it might be from code-switching, whether it arises from a single repertoire of language resources or from use of separate languages, and whether it is detrimental to or supportive of the development and inclusion of marginalised languages. Objectives: In this article we consider what these debates might mean in the South African context and how translanguaging might be different in South Africa with its particular racialised history of marginalisation of African languages. Drawing on epistemologies of the South, we align with the argument that there are multiple multilingualisms. We argue for (trans)languaging pedagogies that embrace both more fixed or monolingual uses of named languages as well as fluid, multilingual use of repertoires. Method: We will review early conceptualisations of translanguaging, showing how these are born out of different contexts as well as how translanguaging is taken up in South African research. We will draw on three examples of fixed and fluid pedagogical translanguaging to show what is possible within a South African classroom context. Results: The three examples show that (trans)languaging-for-learning goes beyond communicating bilingually in a classroom and involves planned meaning negotiation. Conclusion: In (trans)languaging-for-learning, the emphasis is on using one's full linguistic and semiotic repertoire in order to develop and show understanding of learning, rather than to demonstrate mastery of the use of standard named languages. Contribution: The article expands translanguaging theory by theorising (trans)languagingfor-learning from a Southern perspective.
AOSIS. 15 Oxford Street, Durbanville, Cape Town, 7550 South Africa. Tel: +27-21-975-2602; Fax: +27-21-975-4635; e-mail: publishing@aosis.co.za; Web site: https://rw.org.za/index.php/rw
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades; Grade 8; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Grade 9; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A