Translanguaging

Translanguaging is a theory of multilingual practice developed most influentially by Ofelia Garcia and Li Wei (2014). It holds that multilingual speakers do not operate with separate, bounded language systems but draw on a single integrated linguistic repertoire. The term was coined by Cen Williams (trawsieithu) in the 1980s to describe a Welsh bilingual education practice of switching the language of input and output within a lesson. Garcia and Li Wei transformed it into a broader theoretical framework that challenges the very notion of "named languages" as discrete objects.

Beyond Code-Switching

Translanguaging is not code-switching by another name. Code-switching describes alternation between identifiable languages and assumes those languages exist as separate systems. Translanguaging rejects that premise: a bilingual's linguistic resources form one repertoire, and what observers label "switching" is simply the speaker deploying features from that repertoire as the communicative situation demands. The distinction matters because code-switching still operates within a monoglossic ideology (two separate codes), while translanguaging adopts a heteroglossic one (one system with socially named subsets).

Pedagogical vs Spontaneous Translanguaging

Researchers distinguish two modes of translanguaging in educational settings:

• Pedagogical translanguaging is planned by the teacher. It involves deliberate design of activities that draw on students' full repertoire — for example, reading a text in English and discussing it in Vietnamese, or using L1 to scaffold understanding of L2 concepts. Cenoz and Gorter (2022) define it as strategic use of the whole linguistic repertoire within structured classroom activities.
• Spontaneous translanguaging occurs naturally when multilingual speakers use all available resources in unplanned interaction — inside or outside the classroom. It reflects the reality of bi/multilingual communication rather than a teaching strategy.

These are not dichotomous categories but points on a continuum: well-designed pedagogical translanguaging creates conditions for productive spontaneous translanguaging.

Implications for ELT

Translanguaging raises practical questions for English language classrooms:

• L1 use is not a failure. When a student uses Vietnamese to clarify an English concept, that is competent multilingual behaviour, not evidence of deficiency.
• Strategic deployment. Teachers can design tasks where the L1 serves a scaffolding role (e.g., brainstorming in L1, producing in L2), then gradually reduce L1 reliance as proficiency grows.
• Assessment. If we accept an integrated repertoire, then assessment purely through monolingual English performance underestimates what the learner knows and can do.
• Identity. Translanguaging validates students' multilingual identities rather than positioning them as incomplete approximations of a native English speaker.

Criticisms

The strong form of translanguaging — that separate languages do not exist — creates tensions. Teachers must still teach "English" as a named language. Multi-competence offers a more pragmatic alternative: it acknowledges that languages are distinct systems that interact dynamically within one mind, without denying their separateness. Critics also note that translanguaging can be co-opted to justify unsystematic L1 use that lacks pedagogical purpose.

Key References

• Williams, C. (1994). Arfarniad o ddulliau dysgu ac addysgu yng nghyd-destun addysg uwchradd ddwyieithog. PhD thesis, University of Wales.
• Garcia, O. & Li Wei (2014). Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Cenoz, J. & Gorter, D. (2022). Pedagogical translanguaging and its application to language classes. RELC Journal, 53(3).