Author Archives: annamend

How do we know translanguaging benefits language acquisition?

Though the socioemotional and critical pedagogy aspects of translanguaging have often been researched, what remains under-researched is the extent to which translanguaging benefits language development. This is not the kind of question that can simply be researched through pre-tests and post-tests. Using painstaking analysis of transcripts of student-centred interaction as her main data source, VinitiContinue reading “How do we know translanguaging benefits language acquisition?”

What is code-switching?

Is it an outdated theory of language? Does it suggest that individuals have separate compartments for separate languages in the brain? Is it the researcher’s perspective on language use, imposing language labels such as Spanish, English, etc., in contrast to how research participants experience languages as fluid and lacking clearly defined borders? Or is “codeswitching”Continue reading “What is code-switching?”

What is translanguaging?

I am not the first person to grapple with this question, which is a very big question that can have different legitimate answers. However, as someone whose PhD lit review attempted to distinguish a host of multilingual practices (including, but not limited to, translanguaging and code-switching), I have written the posts in this blog underContinue reading “What is translanguaging?”

What do teachers make of translanguaging the first time they learn about it?

Formerly an EFL teacher in Romania and a public middle school ESL teacher in the southern U.S., Dr. Elena Andrei, Assistant Professor of TESOL at a Midwestern U.S. university, attempted to introduce the construct “translanguaging” to a group of 20 undergraduate and graduate students preparing to teach ESL in K-12 schools. About a third ofContinue reading “What do teachers make of translanguaging the first time they learn about it?”