Translanguaging by Design in EFL Classrooms

ABSTRACT

This study presents the analysis of a translanguaging by design activity I conducted with students finishing an EFL program at a Costa Rican university, for which I showed them pictures of graffiti in Spanish and encouraged them to discuss these, using their entire linguistic repertoire. I recorded their discussions, selected instances of bilingual languaging, and analyzed their spontaneous and intuitive translanguaging. Whereas classroom interaction showed that students translanguaged for various purposes and in clearly distinctive ways, follow-up student interviews revealed some of the affordances and constraints of purposefully bringing translanguaging into programs that have for long been dominated by monolingual language ideologies. By and large, this study constitutes an attempt at transforming translanguaging from a furtive to a purposefully planned practice, which is a much-needed step forward in challenging monolingual and language separation ideologies in EFL programs and in disrupting the trend in EFL education to view students simply as learners, and not as emergent bilinguals with a complex linguistic repertoire and intricate languaging skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Translanguaging by design
• EFL classrooms
• classroom interaction
• educational philosophy
• spontaneous languaging
• emergent bilinguals

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christian Fallas Escobar

Christian Fallas Escobar holds an M.A. in Second Languages and Cultures and has been an EFL instructor for sixteen years. His areas of interest are bilingualism, language ideologies, language policy, and raciolinguistics. He is currently doing a Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy and Language at the University of Texas at San Antonio.