The total of 4 journal articles discussing translanguaging are collected online from reputable journal publishers. The inclusion of journal articles reviewed and synthesized in this synthesis applies the following criteria:

1. Research-generated journal
2. Published by reputable journal publishers
3. Contain ‘translanguaging’ as keyword
4. Discussed under the domain of English language teaching (ELT) and learning
5. Published in 2020

#1 Seals, C. A., & Olsen-Reeder, V. (2020). Translanguaging in Conjunction with language revitalization. System, 102277.

This study discusses how the authors drew upon teacher and community practices and beliefs, weaving these together to create professional development resources in support of translanguaging that acknowledge the ongoing need for support of te reo Maori language revitalization and Samoan language maintenance. The data were collected in two early childhood centers, one puna kohungahunga and one a’oga amata in the North Island, New Zealand. The data were coded by using software application called NVivo version 10 and later in NVivo version 11 by utilizing the recursive system advocated by the grounded theory approach (cf. Charmaz, 2014)¹. The transcribed selections were analyzed following the Interactional Sociolinguistics approach (Gumperz, 1982², 2005³). The study finds sustainable translanguaging in the classroom and support previous findings from Flynn, Hoy, Lea, and García (2019)⁴ revealing the ability of a bilingual pre-school student to tell increasingly complex stories over the course of the school year when allowed to draw upon his full linguistic repertoire. This study (1) supports the idea that translanguaging allows more of the class to be involved and participate in the classroom activity, as previously argued by others (see García, Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)⁵ while (2) suggests that even if other children are using English, this usage might not promote the desire to accommodate to English - the dominant language. Furthermore, (3) illustrates that access to a full linguistic repertoire in a story does not appear to cause some to miss out on information; and (4) offers a response pedagogy for teachers wanting to maintain spontaneous conversation within the classroom in the heritage language, and further highlights that speech accommodation to English need not be as prevalent as some might assume. The teacher-reported evidence suggests that sustainable translanguaging methods are possible, positive, and meaningful in the classroom, and ‘softening boundaries’ need not be limiting for language learning.

#2 Masaeed, K. A. (2020). Translanguaging in L2 Arabic Study Abroad: Beyond Monolingual Practices in Institutional Talk. The Modern Language Journal.

The publication examines interlocutors’ orientations to, and use of, multidialectal and multilingual practices during second language (L2) Arabic conversations-for-learning beyond the classroom in a study abroad program. It takes a translanguaging perspective as the point of departure to examine how participants orient to and deploy multidialectal and multilingual practices during L2 Arabic institutional conversations-for-learning beyond the classroom in study abroad. The data were gathered from a corpus consisting of approximately 8 hours and 33 minutes of audio-recorded L2 Arabic dyadic conversationfor-learning sessions. The program from which the data are drawn was a federally funded summer study abroad program in Morocco that offers American university students the opportunity to study Arabic as a critical language. L2 Arabic learners who took part in the program came from different majors and fields of study, and from different universities in the United States. The study recruited the total of 10 students and 8 speaking partners as participants. The students who participated in this study were enrolled in undergraduate programs, and all of them were native speakers of English whose Arabic proficiency level on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) scale ranged from Novice Mid to Advanced Low. As indicated, the data were collected using video-recording. The findings show that dyadic interactions between L2 Arabic learners and their native speaker conversation partners show how multidialectal and multilingual practices can work as a valuable interactional resource that multilinguals draw upon for productive interactions to enhance meaning-making, identity negotiation, and knowledge construction. In addition, participants seem to give precedence to intersubjectivity over monodialectal and monolingual language policies through their use of these translanguaging practices. Furthermore, the data show that multilingual participants normalize translanguaging to establish (1) intersubjectivity; (2) create opportunities for learning; (3) signal their multiple identities and experiences as travelers, multidialectal speakers, bargainers, movie watchers, consumers of popular culture; (4) and to show their interactional competencies. The analysis also shows participants’ orientation to translanguaging as an interactional resource enabling them to draw on at any moment throughout their interactions in pursuit of maximizing their meaning-making and knowledge construction in these speaking practice sessions.

#3 Stavrou, S. (2020). Introducing Translanguaging in the Educational Context of Cyprus: A Dynamic View of Spaces of Translanguaging in a Primary Classroom. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 51(4), 440–458.

The study focuses on the analysis of students’ translanguaging practices in the classroom context and focuses on the communicational context of students’ conversations as well as on the way students link the curriculum content to their individual and collective experiences to construct new meanings. It also investigates strategies applied by students in drawing on their linguistic resources in constructing knowledge and in acquiring meaning collaboratively in the learning context of the bidialectal classroom. The study applied linguistic ethnography which examines language within the social context (Creese 2008)⁶. In gathering the data, the author observed the students and videotaped them. The study was conducted in a primary school in South Eastern Cyprus in the nonoccupied area of Famagusta. In detail, it examined one of the two Year 4 classrooms, consisting of eighteen 9-year-old students (9 girls and 9 boys). In addition, the author interviewed 17 (out of 18) parents. The findings of the study reveal that translanguaging practices improve thinking within the academic context and developed a shared understanding of the topic under negotiation. In addition, translanguaging practices tend to enable students to relate the curriculum content into their personal experiences and use them as a resource for negotiating the meanings of the text and to provide constructive and critical opinions in the discussions in the classroom.

#4 Wang, P. (2020). A case study of translanguaging phenomenon in CBI classes in a Chinese university context. International Journal of Applied Linguistics.

This study is stemmed from the fact that China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) indexing shows little research has been performed on Chinese college students’ use of translanguaging groups when learning English in their CBI programs. Therefore, the study explores whether translanguaging helps the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educational outcomes of Chinese college students, and is underpinned by core notions of multilingualism, and what the purpose of doing translanguaging with them is.

The study applied case study where the participants were 200 subjects (18–22 years old), who were readily available in five intact 2nd year CBI classes of the five majors. In the data collection phase, the participants were asked to complete questionnaire survey consisting of three open questions. The participants were also observed during class time. The focus of observation were (1) observation of teachers; (2) observation of the student; and (3) observation of the program - as inspired by Echevarría, Vogt, and Short’s (2008)⁷ The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol.

The study claims that translanguaging enables the flow of conversation where pairs/groups of the CBI students are in collaboration, exploring more complex topics than they would if they were to only use L2. It is also claimed that translanguaging ensures shared understanding of an idea in a different language in order to elaborately explain, emphasize a point, or repair comprehension difficulties. In addition, two different kinds of attitudes of the CBI student seemed to be in sharp contrast to each other are revealed. The first attitude found is with regard to potential educational advantages to translanguaging: (1) promoting a deeper and fuller understanding of the subject matter; (2) facilitating the enhancement of the weaker language; and (3) promoting the integration of fluent speakers with early learners. Another type of attitude is merely in support of the target language as the medium of CBI classes. The study concludes CBI as an empowering language teaching approach, which admits that pedagogical translanguaging commonly takes place in CBI contexts as a real means of communication, not simple due to knowledge in a particular language, but for different communicative functions. Furthermore, it is concluded that the focus of CBI pedagogy is no more on learning a target language in isolation, but rather integrating the language learning into the study of disciplinary matters.

Worth reading resources on translanguaging

1. Translanguaging with Multilingual Students: Learning from Classroom Moments
2. The Translanguaging Classroom: Leveraging Student Bilingualism for Learning
3. Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education
4. Translanguaging for Emergent Bilinguals: Inclusive Teaching in the Linguistically Diverse Classroom
5. Translanguaging and Transformative Teaching for Emergent Bilingual Students