Translanguaging as an Act of Transformation

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2019 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. While the focus of classrooms labeled English as a Second Language (ESL), English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), or English as a New Language (ENL) is English, these spaces are undeniably multilingual. The students, who are often a combination of immigrants and those born in the United States, come from homes where a range of languages— including English—are spoken by different family members for different purposes. Yet, when these students enter schools and specifically spaces where they are tasked with learning English, their home language practices are often disregarded and even perceived as a problem or challenge to overcome (Ruíz, 1984). This chapter explores how enacting translanguaging as a stance and pedagogy can restructure ESL spaces to be inclusive of emergent bilingual students’ language practices while also supporting their English learning. The TESOL field was traditionally centered on English monolingual approaches that aimed to support students learning English for social and academic purposes, yet often disregarded the backgrounds of students and the way they languaged (Taylor & Snoddon, 2013). ESL pedagogy was focused on teaching language as a structural system, which was taught in isolation of the larger context and without connection to other content areas (Lin, 2013). This structuralist approach to teaching language as a set of skills, rather than a practice (Pennycook, 2010), resulted in classrooms that were focused on English grammar rules and vocabulary, to the extent that home languages were banned and students were punished for speaking them (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). Students’ language practices that were not associated with English were not included in their ESL classes, nor viewed as a place from which to build upon and make connections and comparisons. The goal was for students to achieve what was described as a “native speaker” objective. This almost impossible goal was not about speaking like someone who learned English as their “first language,” but speaking like a White, middle‐upper class monolingual individual. This goal overlooked the variety of ways English is spoken by people who should—but often do not—fit within this “native” label due to their race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Thereby the native speaker myth is more about privileging and giving power to some speakers, while oppressing others (Bonfiglio, 2010; García, 2009). Translanguaging as an Act of Transformation Restructuring Teaching and Learning for Emergent Bilingual Students