Translanguaging in preschools: evidence from Polish-English bilingual children

ABSTRACT

The present study draws on the theoretical framework of translanguaging and seeks to shed light on the patterns of translanguaging and how translanguaging affects meaning-making processes among bilingual children in preschool. This case study focuses on 8 months of observation and recordings of pupils ranging in age from 3 to 6 years. The gathered speech samples of 200 hours of verbal recording provide information on bilingual children’s linguistic repertoire, their reasons for translanguaging, and the way pupils achieve comprehension through strategic usage of the two languages. The data highlights translanguaging as a practice that maximizes meaning-making ability among young children.

KEYWORDS:

• Translanguaging
• bilingual children
• nursery schools
• linguistic repertoire
• bilingualism
• Poland

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Judyta Pawliszko

Judyta Pawliszko PhD is a researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Applied Linguistics at the University of Rzeszów; e-mail: [email protected]. Research interests related to sociolinguistic determinants of bilingualism, language hybridization, the linguistic worldview of bilinguals, as well as intercultural communication (book published in 2020: Sociolinguistic analysis of Mexican-American bilingualism: Spanglish as a sociocultural phenomenon, Berlin: Peter Lang).