Plurilingualism and translanguaging: commonalities and divergences

ABSTRACT

The concepts of plurilingualism and translanguaging are explained and distinguished, showing how each has contributed to transformations in the study of bilingualism and multilingualism. The terms have introduced different epistemologies related to multilingual speakers. The two concepts have different socio-political grounding, a difference that has contributed to carving divergent paths in educational practice. Plurilingualism, whose educational benefits are discussed here, upholds the familiar conception of the dual lexico-grammatical system of bilinguals, a conception challenged by translanguaging. But alongside divergences, we point out the continua of practices enacted by educators informed by plurilingualism and translanguaging, both of whom have engaged with an education that benefits bilingual students.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingualism
• language education
• multilingualism
• plurilingualism
• translanguaging

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgements

We want to express our sincere appreciation to the two anonymous reviewers whose insights have enriched this revised paper, and in particular to the anonymous reviewer who questioned and extended our thinking. Gracias.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Ofelia García is professor in the Ph.D. programs in Urban Education and Latin American, Iberian and Latino Cultures at The Graduate Center of City University of New York. García has published widely in the areas of bilingualism and bilingual education, the education of emergent bilinguals, sociology of language, and language policy.

Ricardo Otheguy is professor emeritus of Linguistics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His publications in theoretical linguistics are in the areas of sociolinguistics, language contact, sign-based approaches to grammar, and the study of Spanish of the United States. In applied linguistics, his publications are in the areas of bilingual education and the teaching and assessment of the language of Latinos in the United States.

ORCID

Ofelia García http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1405-9965