Translaguaging as an Aide to Literacy

The conventional monolingual "English Only Policy" in the Philippines has been sparked
by the discussion of language choice in English language instruction in a multilingual
environment. The consequence was the institutionalization of Mother Tongue-Based
Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) in 2009. There is still some debate regarding the bilingual
teaching methods used in Philippine schools. However, Translanguaging will become more
significant in the upcoming year and decade, despite not being a "new" practice. Combining
multiple languages in a framework of teaching is what it is, in a nutshell. Translanguaging
integrates a variety of theoretical stances. It was believed that maintaining a policy of separating
the local tongue and English was the ideal strategy in an English classroom. This way of
thinking has, nevertheless, been decisively refuted throughout time.Translanguaging bridges the
linguistic gap between the learner's first and second language, and also, the target language is
typical in a country with a wide variety of languages like the Philippines. In order to answer
some of the questions who are either sympathetic to or critical of the term, as well as to clear up
some of the confusion that the widespread use of the term has brought on, the main goal of this
article is to explain the the term Translanguaging and its added value with the literacy issue in
education.
People appear to have been bothered by the word translanguaging. It has been used in
teaching, regular social engagement, cross-modal and multimodal communication, the study of
linguistic landscape, the visual and performing arts, music, and transgender discourse. The
rising collection of work creates the sense that Translanguaging may be used to describe any
activity that deviates just a little from the norm. There is a lot of ambiguity around the
possibility that the term translanguaging will eventually replace names like code-switching,
code-mixing, code-meshing, and crossing as the umbrella term for many multilingual and
multimodal behaviors. Academic discourse also appears to be competing with concepts like
polylanguaging, polylingual languaging, multilanguaging, hybrid language practices,
translingual practice, flexible bilingualism, and metrolingualism. Many disagree with the terms
need and that of the other words as well, characterizing them as meaningless slogans of the post-
modern and potentially post-truth period. Researchers and practitioners have begun to doubt the
rigidity of distinct bilingualism in light of the pedagogical problems surrounding parallel
monolingualism. Cummins (2005) criticized the waste of multilingual resources in traditional
settings. He made the case that explicit two-way instruction should be taught in bilingual
instruction. The editors acknowledge that translanguaging alone cannot bring about systemic
change for children whose first language is not English, despite the transformational potential
demonstrated in the case studies. The key factor required to have a long-lasting effect is
modifying how society perceives multilingual speakers, frequently associated with racialized
populations. These are the key implications for teachers to consider: because translanguaging
benefits all students, it is crucial to have multilingual signs and differentiated materials; it is
essential to understand pupils holistically and get ready to give socioemotional assistance.
Moreover, clarifying the term "translanguaging" establishes a specific understanding of
bilinguals' mental grammar and language behaviors. According to translanguaging, bilinguals'
mental grammars are organized, but unified collections of features and their behaviors are acts of
feature selection rather than grammar switch. Returning to the well-known but sometimes
overlooked notion that named languages are social, not linguistic, objects is necessary for a clear
understanding of translanguaging.The designated language of a nation or social group is not a
linguistic entity defined in terms of lexical and structural qualities; its limits and membership
cannot be determined based on such traits, in contrast to the idiolect of a specific individual,
which is. Only from the perspective of an outsider do the two identified languages of the
bilingual exist. The speaker's whole idiolect or repertory, which is unique to them and not to any
identified language, is all that is visible from the insider's perspective. The use of a speaker's
whole linguistic toolkit without respect for careful adherence to the socially and politically
established boundaries of designated (and typically national and state languages) languages is
known as translanguaging.
 Therefore, based on the explanations given, the ability to translanguage is frequently
severely constrained in educational settings. Additionally, schools conflate testing for
competency in a specified language, which insists on discouraging translanguaging, with the
assessment of overall linguistic proficiency, which is best displayed in bilinguals when
translanguaging. The idea of translanguaging is particularly pertinent to educational institutions
concerned with the linguistic and intellectual development of bilingual students as well as
minority populations engaged in language preservation and revitalization initiatives. Moreover,
future studies may focus on developing a theoretical foundation for translanguaging as a method
of teaching languages in traditional classrooms.

Prepared by:

NINA NERIE D. DE VELA

Teacher 1
F.buencamino Sr. Integrated School