Translanguaging pedagogy as seen through a critical literacy lens

Abstract

This article examines the use of translanguaging pedagogy in a multilingual classroom through a critical literacy lens. The article focuses on the events leading to the collection of data for my PhD thesis. During this period, data was collected using first-year health care students who participated in translingual activities during a collaborative task. The set-up and the process of data collection involved a critical literacy stance. Issues of power of language and how language can position people as subjects could be observed, and ultimately the language politics of the classroom were evident. In the classroom where the study was conducted, students were required to be in translanguaging discussion groups. It was evident that those students who were in the majority due to them speaking a common language grouped together. Those who spoke the minority languages also grouped together. From these observations there was a clear indication of politics in that classroom. This political situation made those who were in the majority feel more powerful than those in the minority.