translanguaging

Translanguaging is a concept in bilingual and multilingual education and sociolinguistics that describes how speakers draw on the full range of their linguistic resources to communicate, learn, and think. It treats language ability as a single repertoire rather than as separate, bounded languages, enabling speakers to move fluidly across linguistic features from different languages as needed.

Unlike code-switching, which is often described as alternating between languages within or across utterances, translanguaging emphasizes the integrated use of all languages a person knows. It views multilingual competence as a dynamic resource that can be deployed to make meaning, build knowledge, and express identity, rather than a set of discrete systems to be kept separate.

The term and approach were popularized in the field of bilingual education by Ofelia García and colleagues, who argued that translanguaging can promote access to learning and validate students’ home languages. In classrooms, translanguaging practices include using multiple languages in instruction, allowing students to discuss, write, and read across languages, and employing multilingual resources such as books, peer collaboration, and translation as tools for learning.

Proponents emphasize social justice and equity, contending that translanguaging recognizes linguistic diversity as an asset and supports agency and participation for multilingual students. Critics point to challenges in implementation, potential tensions with standard language norms, and the need for teacher training and assessment frameworks that accommodate multilingual repertoires. Overall, translanguaging reframes language use as a unified resource rather than a collection of separate languages.