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This Element explores multilingual university spaces and decoloniality, critically examining how coloniality and neoliberalism intersect. While neoliberal language policies aim to equip students with English as a 'lingua academia', critical issues relating to students' translingual identities and belonging are often overlooked. Empirical data are shared from a linguistic landscape study involving a walking ethnography of a university educationscape in the United Arab Emirates, whereby Emirati students share insights on signage and spaces as 'intertextual products' connected to (un)belonging. Data are analysed through thematic and nexus analysis with main themes including the dominance of English, imbalanced bilingualism, bottom-up translanguaging, everyday nationalism, and sticky places and objects. Findings are discussed in relation to the study setting and other global contexts. The Element closes with practical suggestions on decolonising action relevant to a range of multilingual university spaces and future research directions.
This Element aims to provide evidence-based, research-informed applications of translanguaging pedagogies across various multilingual classroom contexts. By offering both theoretical implications and specific examples of translanguaging in action, the Element aims to help educators to implement translanguaging pedagogy that challenges monolingual norms in educational institutions. The Element also explores new theoretical notions derived from translanguaging, such as translanguaging sub-spaces, transpositioning, transknowledging, transmodalities, transculturing, transbordering, transsemiotising, and transprogramming. Additionally, it critically examines various methodological approaches for researching translanguaging in classroom settings, proposing a combination of Multimodal Conversation Analysis and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to capture the complexity of classroom translanguaging practices. This Element concludes by asserting that adopting a translanguaging perspective is an ethical and pedagogical imperative, providing the essential theoretical and methodological frameworks for creating equitable, inclusive, and transformative multilingual learning environments.
This plenary critically examines the role of English medium instruction (EMI) preparatory programmes in supporting student success across global higher education. Drawing on a systematic, critical review of empirical studies published between 2015 and 2025, it explores how such programmes influence learning outcomes, motivation, pedagogy, and equity. Through the narrative lens of a Turkish student, Eylül, the discussion highlights how linguistic proficiency alone seldom ensures disciplinary engagement or academic confidence. Evidence from recent EMI research demonstrates that programmes integrating language and content, authenticity, and translanguaging practices most effectively prepare students to ‘think through English’. The paper concludes by identifying gaps in longitudinal and cross-contextual evidence and calls for pedagogical and policy designs that move beyond language support toward sustainable, inclusive, and identity-affirming EMI education.
This article is a critical analysis of principles for the provision of translanguaging in the language policy of North-West University. It draws on the conceptualization of translanguaging as a transformative, inclusive, and empowering practice (Cenoz & Gorter 2022a,b, Kleyn & García 2019, Tai 2022) and attempts to uncover the mood and dispositions of the university toward main-streaming this practice for the inclusion of indigenous African languages in teaching and learning. We discuss how the wording of the provisions reveals the language policy to be power-inflected, reproducing contestations between indigenous and ex-colonial languages. The article ends by suggesting a continuous review of the language policy to eliminate vague and escapist policy provisions.
The chapter presents an updated overview of translanguaging studies in Chinese university classrooms. It starts with a briefing of development of translanguaging research in China. Followed are systematic reviews of translanguaging studies on Chinese foreign language classrooms, English medium instruction classrooms and international students classrooms respectively. Based on review of these studies, the chapter ends by outlining the future directions of translanguaging research in Chinaand beyond.
Originally conceptualised as a pedagogical practice of language alternation in the Welsh/English bilingual classroom, translanguaging has acquired new meanings over the past decades. In this chapter, I highlight the transformations of the term and show how translanguaging research in Canada has pushed it outside bilingual boundaries. Increasing multilingualism in the Canadian context, coupled with calls to decolonise education and empower speakers of minoritised languages, including in Indigenous and immigrant communities, make translanguaging within a bilingual framework no longer viable, nor inclusive. In Canada, translanguaging pedagogy is implemented within an overarching social justice plurilingual framework and has developed new tenets which must be considered in translaguaging research moving forward: disaffiliation of translanguaging from its bilingual origins, embracing multilingualism, and viewing language users as dynamic plurilinguals rather than emergent bilinguals.
Within the timespan of one decade, there have been numerous publications on the viability and educational benefits of translanguaging. In this chapter, I will focus on two publications (Block, 2018 and Jaspers, 2018) that appear to offer conflicting arguments about the shortcomings and perils of pursuing the agenda proposed by translanguaging. That is, whereas Jaspers argues that its ‘transformative’ claim ‘is becoming a dominating rather than a liberating force’, Block argues that the ‘transformative’ agenda advanced by researchers and practitioners of translanguaging does not go far enough to address the systematic and damaging effects of social injustice.
This chapter advocates the translanguaging approach to language education where all languages are valued, and all knowledge that has been acquired through different languages and in different cultural conditions is valued. Translanguaging sees language learning as cultural translation. Learning a new language is about learning a different way of making meaning as well as achieving an understanding of the world around us with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This requires co-learners’ willingness to to adapt and unlearn, to trust and respect each other, and to support each other on a journey of transpositioning.
This chapter focuses on the development of trilingual education in the Basque Country where Basque, a minority language, is used along with other languages. Nowadays, Basque is the main language of instruction in pre-primary, primary, and secondary school. Education through the medium of Basque has had an enormous effect on increasing the number of Basque speakers among young people. The increasing importance of English and the diversity of home languages in a multilingual society create the need for changes in language policy and teaching approaches. In this chapter, recent trends to integrate language subjects in the curriculum, the integration of language and content and pedagogical translanguaging are alsodiscussed.
Grammatical theories about bilingual codeswitching aim to define cognitively represented mechanisms which regulate language mixing for bilingual speakers, illuminating grammatical theory as it relates specifically to bilinguals. A related term, translanguaging, similarly denotes language mixing, or dynamic language use, but is often understood to include the deconstructivist supposition that bilingualism itself is a fiction. This chapter reviews the contributions of codeswitching research to the theory of bilingual grammar, supporting the Integrated Multilingual Model (IMM) of bilingualism. The IMM is consistent with a multilingual approach to translanguaging, which rejects deconstructivism and affirms individual multilingualism as socially significant and psychologically real.
This chapter reviews the different approaches to multilingual education that are prevalent today and the ideologies about people and nations upon which they rest. We first review the ideologies surrounding language as monoglossic or heteroglossic and the resulting manifestations in language education. We then review each of what are usually seen as separate fields – foreign language, heritage language, second language, and bilingual education. We discuss their histories and approaches, and describe how their monoglossic conception has worked against their aims of developing multilingual people. We end by discussing two newer paradigms, plurilingualism and translanguaging, focusing more directly on translanguaging approaches in multilingual education.
In many different educational contexts, learners learn effectively in a second/additional language in terms both of subject knowledge and language ability. In other contexts, however, disadvantaged learners, including language minorities in the Global North and majorities in the Global South, fail to learn effectively in a second/additional language. The experience can damage their education and, in the case of low-income countries, the national economy. This article outlines a series of detriments to education which arise from learning in an unfamiliar language, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. It proposes multilingual education as a way of reducing these detriments and outlines what are considered to be its benefits especially in this region, as well as the views of ministries and communities which often oppose it. By way of illustration, it shows how the processes of multilingual education have been introduced in textbooks for Rwanda and Tanzania.
This chapter describes policies for the use of languages in education in South Africa, particularly the use of English. From a multilingual perspective, we discuss the language policy in South Africa and its effect on the education system in South Africa. A variety of translanguaging strategies is discussed, including technological support like the Mobilex mobile phone application. We also discuss the possibilities for multilingual education by considering the degree to which the funds-of-knowledge concept could be used to determine and encourage the use of African languages among off-campus students, specifically when students studied remotely (in response to the Covid-19 pandemic).
This chapter contributes to the emerging literature on translanguaging as a resource for second language (L2) teaching and learning. Situated in Japanese higher education, it focuses on the translanguaging practices of Japanese L2 students or emergent bilinguals, who are ‘actively in the process of acquiring knowledge of a second language and developing bilingual languaging skills for use’ (B. Turnbull, 2018a: 1043), by addressing how they deploy translanguaging in L2 written practices as an indicator of the interplay of their complex linguistic repertoire.
This chapter outlines relevant aspects of theory and practice in the field of second language research for multilingual approaches to (language) education. We argue that what has been gleaned from the general field of second language acquisition research should not be ignored in any discussion of multilingualism or multilingual education. We contend that second language research – theoretical, empirical and applied – should continue to be part of the language education toolkit available to teachers, course designers, administrators and researchers; indeed, anyone involved in multilingual education.
With over 17 million children learning English, Bangladesh has one of the world’s largest English-learning populations. However, despite this, the country faces challenges in achieving the optimal level of English proficiency. English language teaching (ELT) initiatives in Bangladesh, which have evolved over time, can be broadly classified based on the Grammar-Translation Method, Communicative Language Teaching, and the English in Action project. These approaches predominantly reinforced traditional monolingual and bilingual frameworks while overlooking the rich metalinguistic, cultural, and intellectual resources that students bring to English classrooms. This article critically examines past ELT efforts, policies and their outcomes through a translanguaging lens, which challenges the rigid language separation ideology in traditional models and encourages the use of all linguistic repertoires in learning English as a target language. This article provides fresh perspectives on the strengths and weaknesses of past initiatives, as well as suggestions for developing linguistically and culturally sustainable ELT models based on translanguaging scholarship.
Kongish Daily, a Facebook page promoting Kongish – a creative, critical, and colloquial form of Hong Kong English with Cantonese inflections – has attracted a following in social media over the past decade. It has also sparked interest among sociolinguists interested in (post-)multilingual developments in East Asia. This study is built on Hansen Edwards’s (2016) premise that Hong Kong English would gain wider acceptance in Hong Kong as the cultural identity of local language users shifted amidst sociocultural transformations. We first provide an overview of the Kongish phenomenon, followed by a qualitative study involving 30 active Kongish users from diverse age groups, genders and occupations. Through semi-structured interviews, we explore users’ perceptions of language and identity. Our findings support Hansen Edwards’s prediction regarding the strengthening of Hong Kongers’ cultural identification, while revealing an evolving, counter-stereotypical Hong Kong culture as well as an opinion divide on the future trajectory of Kongish.
This chapter looks at the interplay between Latinx literature written in Spanish or English, and discusses translanguaging and the complexities of translating an accented or bilingual text into either Spanish or English. The chapter also discusses the vicissitudes of self-translation and the global dimension of Latinx literatures as well as the translation of Latinx literature into languages other than English or Spanish, specifically into German. These aspects of translation promote a reading of Latinx literature beyond the merely representational, highlighting the critical roles of cultural production, distribution, and the literary marketplace instead.
Over the past two decades, English has become a key medium of instruction in higher education in non-native English contexts, especially Asian countries. Extant research highlights the rapid expansion of English-medium instruction (EMI) and challenges in policy implementation, revealing tensions between different language policy levels (i.e., macro, meso and micro). Thus, a multilevel analysis is needed to understand these tensions. This review examines factors influencing EMI adoption in China, Japan, Malaysia, and Nepal, focusing on policy implementation by educators and students. Findings show that EMI adoption is driven by English's role as a global lingua franca and the permeation of neoliberal ideologies at the macro policymaking level. Such a macro-level endorsement of monolingual EMI has resulted in micro-level inequalities for students, with resistance manifested through multilingual practices, such as translanguaging, in the classroom. The discrepancies between language policies and practices highlight the necessity of reassessing the adequacy of monolingual EMI policies and the importance of adopting a multilingual policy framework. The article concludes with a critical discussion of the trends observed in these contexts and recommends several policy directions for the future.
In this chapter explore language usage and interaction in general and discuss the overlap of sociolinguistics with the fields of pragmatics and discourse analysis. We will investigate the conventional patterns used by speakers when they construct, participate in and evaluate discourse at large. The concept of face is an important one here, namely the self-image of speakers that they wish to maintain and protect via the sociolinguistic resources available to them: speech events in the form of narratives, telephone conversations, weblogs, university lectures, etc. Context effects on sociolinguistic interaction are discussed with examples of turn-taking, power, solidarity and cross-cultural communication, and also with a focus on social hierarchies and language practices in the workplace. We conclude with a discussion of crossing and translanguaging in multilingual contexts.