Dynamic flows of translanguaging/trans-semiotizing in CLIL eco-social systems

Abstract

This article drew on the recent dynamic, distributed view of translanguaging and flows and the New Materiality view of meaning making to explore content and language integrated learning (CLIL) activities in an English-Medium-Instruction (EMI) secondary Science classroom. Fine-grained analysis of the multilingual and multimodal classroom interactions between a Cantonese-speaking Science teacher and her Urdu-speaking students exemplified how students and teacher engaged in dynamic translanguaging, trans-semiotizing and trans-registering. The analysis supports the dynamic, heteroglossic, trans/languaging view of language learning and sheds light on some of the current queries about translanguaging.

ABSTRACT (ABSTRACT IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE)

本文應用學者近年提出的動態分散性超語流動觀 和新唯物意義構建觀 兩種理論對以英語作爲教學語言(EMI)的中學科學課堂中内容與語言融合教學 (CLIL)的活動進行了探索, 透過精細地分析課堂上母語為廣東話的科學教師與其母語為烏都語的學生之間多語多模態的課堂互動, 為師生如何投入動態超語, 超符號及超語域的交流提供了示例。 數據分析支持動態的、話語混雜的、超語的語言學習觀, 並為目前有關超語的一些疑問提供了解釋。

Plain Language Summary

This article explored the content and language integrated learning (CLIL) activities in an English-Medium-Instruction (EMI) secondary Science classroom based on two recent theories of translanguaging and meaning making. The detailed analysis of classroom interactions between a Cantonese-speaking Science teacher and her Urdu-speaking students offered an example of how students and teacher engaged in multilingual and multimodal interactions during CLIL lessons. The findings of this research shed light on some of the current queries about translanguaging.

Keywords:

• Translanguaging
• trans-semiotizing
• flow
• new materiality
• semiotic repertoires
• multimodalities/entextualization cycle (MEC)

Notes

1 In the excerpts, T and Ss refer to the teacher and students respectively. Individual student is coded S1, S2…Sn according to the sequence of speaking in each excerpt, hence referring to different students at different excerpts. To draw readers’ attention to the key points in the T-Ss interactions, some sentences in the excerpts are underlined.