TEACHERS’ TRANSLANGUAGING PRACTICES IN BILINGUAL CLASSROOMS: A CASE STUDY AT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN HUALIEN, TAIWAN (CHINA)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18173/2354-1075.2025-0124Keywords:
translanguaging, bilingual education, elementary classrooms, TaiwanAbstract
Translanguaging is a teaching approach that encourages students to use all of their language resources to support learning, and it has become increasingly popular in multilingual classrooms. This present study aims to explore how Taiwanese teachers employ translanguaging in actual bilingual elementary classrooms. Primary data was classroom observations collected from four elementary teachers in Hualien, Taiwan over four weeks. The findings revealed that teachers used a variety of strategies, such as switching between two languages, English and Mandarin, using gestures, visuals, facial expressions, and tone of voice, to support students during lessons. These practices served five main purposes: (1) explaining concepts or language points, (2) checking students’ understanding, (3) contextualizing content knowledge, (4) reinforcing instructions, and (5) fostering positive classroom relationships. By employing translanguaging practices, teachers created a more inclusive learning environment. Drawing on the findings, this study discusses how translanguaging can be a powerful tool to support both language and subject knowledge development, as well as student engagement.
Downloads
References
[1] García O, (2011). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. John Wiley & Sons.
[2] Chen HC, (2023). Teaching CLIL to primary school students under Taiwan’s bilingual 2030 plan. TESOL Communications, 3(1), 66-86. DOI: 10.58304/tc.20240105.
[3] Graham KM & Yeh YF, (2023). Teachers’ implementation of bilingual education in Taiwan: Challenges and arrangements. Asia Pacific Education Review, 24(3), 461-472. DOI: 10.1007/s12564-022-09791-4.
[4] Kao YT, (2022). Exploring translanguaging in Taiwanese CLIL classes: An analysis of teachers’ perceptions and practices. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 36(1), 100–121. DOI: 10.1080/07908318.2022.2033762.
[5] National Development Council, (2018, December). Blueprint for developing Taiwan into a bilingual nation by 2030. https://isp.ncl.edu.tw/files/file_pool/1/0L335835503738311866/blueprint_for_developing_taiwan_into_a_bilingual_nation_by_2030.pdf
[6] Lewis G, Jones B & Baker C, (2012). Translanguaging: Developing its conceptualisation and contextualisation. Educational Research and Evaluation, 18(7), 655–670. DOI: 10.1080/13803611.2012.718490.
[7] García O & Wei L, (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1057/9781137385765.
[8] Garza A & Langman J, (2014). Translanguaging in a Latin@ bilingual community: Negotiations and mediations in a dual-language classroom. Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, 8(1).
[9] Lin A, (2015). Egalitarian bi/multilingualism and trans-semiotizing in a global world. In W Wayne E, B Sovicheth & G Ofelia (eds.), Handbook of bilingual and multilingual education, p. 19–37. Wiley-Blackwell.
[10] Fang F & Liu Y, (2020). ‘Using all English is not always meaningful’: Stakeholders’ perspectives on the use of and attitudes towards translanguaging at a Chinese university. Lingua, 247, 102959. DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2020.102959.
[11] Lu X & Zuo Y, (2023). Descansamos-xiuxiamos: A case study of a teacher’s translanguaging practices and attitude in an L3 Spanish audio-oral classroom at a Chinese university. Porta Linguarum: An International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning, (VIII), 63–81. DOI: 10.30827/portalin.viVIII.29214.
[12] Zhou X, Huang X & He J, (2020). Translanguaging in L3 Spanish classrooms: Practices and attitudes. Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación, (84), 65–75. DOI: 10.5209/clac.71996.
[13] Liu Y, (2020). Translanguaging and trans-semiotizing as planned systematic scaffolding: Examining feeling-meaning in CLIL classrooms. English Teaching & Learning, 44(2), 149–173. DOI: 10.1007/s42321-020-00057-z.
[14] Creese A & Blackledge A, (2010). Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning and teaching? The Modern Language Journal, 94(1), 103–115. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00986.x.
[15] McCracken M, (2017). Translanguaging as a tool to preserve L1 languages and promote multilingualism. In Proceedings Van Schools tot Scriptie III: Een colloquium over universitair taalvaardigheidsonderwijs, held at Leiden University on 2 December 2016 (pp. 20-38).
[16] Wei L, (2018). Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics, 39(1), 9–30. DOI: 10.1093/applin/amx039.
[17] Kim S & Choi S, (2021). Teachers’ perceptions and practices of translanguaging for emergent bilinguals in US multilingual classrooms. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts, 7(3), 279–307. DOI: 10.1075/ttmc.00079.kim.
[18] Wang D, (2019). Translanguaging in Chinese foreign language classrooms: Students’ and teachers’ attitudes and practices. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(2), 138–149. DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2016.1231773.
[19] Zhang Q, Osborne C, Shao L & Lin M, (2022). A translanguaging perspective on medium of instruction in the CFL classroom. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 43(5), 359–372, https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2020.1737089.
[20] Sharan MB & T Elizabeth J, (2016). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implement (4th ed.). Jossey Bass.
