Translanguaging
entry by Julie M. Marx, Global Family Expert at Expat Valley
The dynamic, fluid use of an individual’s full multilingual repertoire (without regard to named language boundaries) to make meaning, communicate, and learn. Distinguished from code-switching in that it does not assume discrete, separable language systems being alternated between, but rather a single integrated linguistic repertoire deployed holistically.
Comparable terms
Code-switching (see separate entry — related but distinct; code-switching assumes discrete language systems being alternated; translanguaging rejects this separation) · Multilingual practice (applied linguistics — broader, less theoretically specific) · Plurilingual competence (Council of Europe — overlapping; emphasizes the individual’s integrated repertoire) · Metrolingualism (sociolinguistics — related; fluid language use in urban multilingual contexts)
Why this matters
Translanguaging reflects how multilinguals actually speak and learn in real life. It challenges school practices that rigidly separate languages and view mixing as a problem. Embracing it in classrooms can boost engagement and learning for mobile students.
Cross-references
Code-Switching (Language & Identity); Multilingualism (Language & Identity); Linguistic Repertoire (Language & Identity); Language Identity (Language & Identity); ELF (Language & Identity); L1/L2 (Language & Identity); Multilingual Education (Education). Linguistic repertoire is the foundational concept that translanguaging draws on, the full range of an individual’s linguistic resources deployed without regard to named language boundaries. Language identity is shaped by translanguaging practices, how individuals move across their repertoire signals cultural belonging and social positioning. ELF is one of the most common translanguaging contexts in international living, the shift between a shared lingua franca and other named languages in the repertoire. L1/L2 is the binary that translanguaging theory most directly challenges; multilingual education is the pedagogical context in which translanguaging is most consequentially applied.
Sources
Translanguaging is defined as the dynamic and fluid use of multiple languages by bilingual individuals that transcends conventional linguistic boundaries, with García and Wei arguing that it should be central to multilingual education because it reflects the natural language practices of multilingual individuals.
García, O. & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. Palgrave Macmillan.
Since García and Wei’s 2014 publication, translanguaging has generated over 23,000 research publications, with the concept opening space to recognize the dynamic multilingualism of students in classrooms taught in dominant languages and problematizing additive bilingualism models.
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