Wei, L. (2018) ‘Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language’, Applied Linguistics, Vol. 39(1), pp. 9–30. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039 9 (Accessed: 21 February 2024).

This article argues that the 21st century has made it necessary for us to think differently about language than we have done to date. Because of globalisation, migration and extensive cross-border communication coupled with advances in technology that facilitate multimodal communication, there is a need to reconceptualise language and multilingualism to make it better aligned with the ways in which communication takes place in today’s world. Today, people switch in and out of different ‘named’ languages, e.g. they mix English with Chinese, and they use emojis and post video stories on Instagram, thus blurring the lines between spoken and written modes of communication. For these reasons, there has been a shift within sociolinguistics with researchers increasingly arguing that named language as we used to know them, e.g. ‘English’, ‘Swahili’, ‘Hausa’, ‘Nepali’, etc. are becoming increasingly irrelevant, at least in practice. Of course, ‘named’ languages still play an important role in official policy, for promoting linguistic rights and in peoples beliefs. At the same time, linguistic researchers who used to advocate that it was best if learners were only exposed to the target language when learning languages, this doctrine has over the years, and as more research evidence has emerged, come to be replaced with one where learners are best served by learning through many different languages, as they are wholly capable of telling them apart when they need to.

Erling, E. J., Adinolfi, L. and Hultgren, A. K. (2017) Multilingual classrooms: opportunities and challenges for English medium instruction in low and middle income contexts. British Council and Education Development Trust.

This research report shows how students and teachers across primary schools in Ghana and India engage in ‘translanguaging’, that is they draw widely on features from one ‘language’ or ‘dialect’ to facilitate comprehension in others. This can entail the teacher teaching a topic in English and then grouping students according to their home language and asking them to discuss the topic in their home language. It can also entail drawing on resources from both speaking and writing, e.g. the teacher explaining something to the class in Nepali or Hausa while writing key words or teaching points on the white board in English.

Paulsrud, BA, Zhongfeng, T. and Toth, J. (2021) English-Medium Instruction and Translanguaging. Multilingual Matters.

This book shows how students and teachers across contexts as diverse as Kenya, South Africa, Maldives, Cambodia, Kazakhstan and others engage in translanguaging, i.e. extensive usage of their home language, despite the fact that the classes are officially English-medium. Authors make the point that although translanguaging is sometimes stigmatised or actively discouraged in official language policy, it tends to be used extensively in classroom practices, and often with positive effects of facilitating communication and comprehension between speakers of multiple different languages. Researchers argue that everyone should work to destigmatise language mixing and translanguaging and instead actively promote it in language policy and practice. To support their point, they evidence it with research showing the many positive benefits of translanguaging.