Reflecting on Translanguaging: ‘Across’ and ‘Beyond’ Multilingualism

Abstract

Originating from Welsh language as ‘trawsieithu’ (Lewis, Jones & Baker, 2012, p. 643), the term translanguaging has become a popular new term added to bilingual and multilingual education in many parts of the world. Apparently, the concept of translanguaging is supposed to broaden the fields of bilingualism and multilingualism to give them a more global perspective (note the title of García’s (2009) book. I have been invited by the editors of this collection to give my views on translanguaging within the second language education world. So in this brief article I give my reflections on what I think the term means to me as a second language teacher educator. As you will see I have more questions than answers about this new and interesting concept but nevertheless I try to apply it to a second language classroom.