Translanguaging
Overview
Translanguaging is a flexible classroom practice enabling students to listen, speak, read, and write across their multiple languages or dialects, even if the teacher does not have formal knowledge of these additional languages. It includes many practices that allow students to best make meaning in their current context, such as: adjusting their language for different speakers, alternating between languages, translating from one language to another, and thinking in one language and reading, writing, or speaking in another. For instance, when responding to a word problem read by the teacher in one language, multilingual students may group up to discuss the problem in their shared language and to connect it to their own cultural contexts. Engaging in flexible language practices in the classroom supports a student's linguistic and cultural Identity, and Communication and Collaboration skills. It can support students in bridging the gap between their home life and school by allowing them to bring language back and forth between the two and encouraging and supporting family engagement. It is important for educators to encourage these flexible practices when appropriate, for example by giving explicit indication that learners may translanguage and use any and all of their linguistic resources when thinking about and working through a task. It is also important to consider a student's level of literacy in their native language when determining how to best use it to support their classroom learning.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch this math teacher as he uses translanguaging strategies to help his students make sense of word problems.
Design It into Your Product
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
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