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cenoz-gorter-2022-pedagogical-translanguaging-and-its-application-to-language-classes
cenoz-gorter-2022-pedagogical-translanguaging-and-its-application-to-language-classes
RELC Journal
2022, Vol. 53(2) 342–354
Pedagogical Translanguaging © The Author(s) 2022
Classes sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00336882221082751
journals.sagepub.com/home/rel
Jasone Cenoz
University of the Basque Country, Spain
Durk Gorter
University of the Basque Country/Ikerbasque, Spain
Abstract
Pedagogical translanguaging refers to the use of different planned strategies based on activating stu-
dents’ resources from their whole linguistic repertoire . The aim of this article is to examine the
theoretical foundations of pedagogical translanguaging and its application in the classroom. The
core characteristics of pedagogical translanguaging will be discussed in relation to the languages,
students and programmes. Pedagogical translanguaging embraces different practices, but they all
share the characteristic of being planned by the teacher with a pedagogical purpose and using
resources from the students’ whole linguistic repertoire. In this way it is different from spontan-
eous translanguaging. Translanguaging practices aim at activating the students’ multilingual and
multimodal repertoires so that they can benefit from their own multilingualism. Translanguaging
practices can have strong or weak forms depending on the degree of pedagogical intervention
that takes place in the process of learning and the use of two or more languages in the same
class session. Some strong translanguaging practices use resources from different languages in
the same class so as to develop metalinguistic awareness, while other weaker forms are based
on the cross-linguistic coordination of activities carried out in different classes. The article will
also discuss the challenges that the implementation of pedagogical translanguaging poses for lan-
guage teachers.
Keywords
Translanguaging, multilingualism, metalinguistic awareness, integrated curriculum
Corresponding author:
Jasone Cenoz, Faculty of Education, Philosophy and Anthropology, University of the Basque Country, Donostia
20008, Spain.
Email: jasone.cenoz@ehu.eus
Cenoz and Gorter 343
Introduction
The tradition in language teaching has been to separate the languages in the curriculum
and to avoid the use of languages other than the target language in class. The idea has
been that students could use the monolingual speaker of the target language as their
model (Cenoz and Gorter, 2013, 2015; Cummins, 2017; Llurda, 2015). However, this
position is problematic for different reasons. Multilingual speakers are different from
monolingual speakers in that they have the possibility of using resources from different
languages when they communicate. Learners of a second or additional language are
multilingual speakers even if they can be regarded as ‘emergent’ multilingual speakers.
It is not justified that multilingual speakers should aim to behave as if they were mono-
lingual speakers. Nowadays there is more knowledge about the way multilingual speak-
ers communicate and how they can use multilingual resources to convey meaning in a
more effective way than if they only used resources from one language (see, for
example, Canagarajah, 2013). In some cases, language learners who are on their way
to becoming multilingual speakers may use a word or expression in another language
as a compensation strategy when they have limitations in the second or additional lan-
guage (Oxford, 1990). However, the use of resources from other languages does not
necessarily have a compensatory function. Multilingual speakers also use their whole lin-
guistic repertoire, which includes resources from different languages to communicate
more effectively. This is quite common not only in face-to-face interaction but also in
digital communication.
Traditionally, teaching second and additional languages practices have isolated the
target language to avoid the influence of previously acquired languages. Some studies
have reported that beliefs about language separation are still strong among some pre-
service and in-service teachers (see for example, Haukås, 2016; Portolés and Martí,
2020) . Isolating languages creates a cognitive problem in the learning process because
it excludes the possibility of benefitting from prior knowledge. Learning can be enhanced
by using the knowledge that learners already have as a starting point which can then be
linked to new knowledge (Bransford et al., 2000). In the context of language learning, the
most important knowledge that students have is the knowledge of previously acquired
languages. To exclude this knowledge could have a negative effect on the learning
process.
Isolating languages and considering monolingual speakers of the target language as
the ultimate goal can also be associated with affective factors. Students may find that
the aim of speaking the target language like a native speaker is unreachable and that
they fail as language learners. When students are allowed to use their prior knowledge,
their self-esteem as language learners improves (Cenoz and Santos, 2020; Prada, 2019;
Santos et al., 2017).
We argue that learning can be enhanced when hard boundaries that isolate languages
are replaced by soft and permeable boundaries so that students can use their prior knowl-
edge when teaching and learning a second or additional language. We discuss the concept
of pedagogical translanguaging as compared to other uses of the term translanguaging. In
the second section we look at the way it can be applied in language programmes for stu-
dents of different backgrounds. Then we address practices based on pedagogical trans-
languaging in language classes. The final section discusses the challenges and future
perspectives of pedagogical translanguaging.
344 RELC Journal 53(2)
1) It can be applied not only to two languages, as in Wales, but also to three or more
languages and even to students’ home languages, which are not in the school
curriculum.
2) It proposes a wide range of practices and activities that use elements from the
whole linguistic repertoire. These practices and activities can have different func-
tions which include obtaining a deeper understanding of academic texts, access to
more information, the development of metalinguistic awareness and the reinforce-
ment of skills based on the coordination of activities in the language classes in
different languages. The main activity in the case of translanguaging in Welsh
schools was the alternation of languages in the input and the output.
3) It can be applied to more programmes and a wide range of students in all levels of
education. In Welsh bilingual schools, translanguaging was particularly aimed at
secondary school students.
Pedagogical translanguaging takes as its point of departure the approach ‘Focus on multi-
lingualism’ which considers multilingual speakers as different from monolingual
Cenoz and Gorter 345
speakers and advocates for soft and fluid boundaries between languages (Cenoz and
Gorter, 2014). According to this approach, multilingual speakers are different from
monolingual speakers regarding their type of competence, trajectories and discourses.
Multilingual speakers have a rich repertoire, which can be used as a resource to commu-
nicate and to learn additional languages more effectively. It is natural for multilingual
speakers to try to use resources from other languages because they try to link their
prior knowledge to new knowledge. ‘Focus on multilingualism’ also looks at the
social context of communicative interaction. When multilingual speakers communicate
(face-to-face or digitally) they use multilingual resources in their repertoire and translan-
guage to a greater or lesser extent depending on the social context.
Pedagogical translanguaging aims at activating the resources that multilingual learners
have because of their knowledge of different languages. This is the opposite of isolating
languages in traditional approaches or comparing multilingual learners to monolingual
native speakers who do not have multilingual resources. In the next sections the scope
of pedagogical translanguaging will be presented. The discussion of theoretical concepts
of pedagogical translanguaging and its implementation can change teachers’ traditional
beliefs about language separation (Gorter and Arocena, 2020).
Due to the mobility of the population nowadays there are also many students who
speak home languages that are not curricular languages. Pedagogical translanguaging
aims at the development of curricular languages but considers non-curricular languages
as a rich resource that students can use to enhance the positive influence of their own
multilingualism (Günther-van der Meij et al., 2020).
In the Welsh context, Williams (2002) considers that translanguaging is appropriate
mainly at secondary school when students have a reasonable knowledge of Welsh and
English. Pedagogical translanguaging is broader in the type of activities proposed and
can be implemented not only at secondary school but also at primary school and in
higher education. Pedagogical translanguaging can be implemented in different school
grades and different levels of multilingual competence. Students can be speakers of a
majority or a minority language.
Pedagogical translanguaging aims to develop language and literacy skills in two or
more languages. This includes language classes in the first, second or additional language
when the target language is learned as a school subject. Pedagogical translanguaging can
also be implemented in immersion and content and language integrated learning (CLIL)
programmes when a second (or additional) language is used to teach academic subjects.
In immersion programmes a second (or additional) language is taught for at least 50% of
the school time and there are different possibilities regarding the number of hours
assigned to each language in different grades (Baker and Wright, 2021; Lyster and
Genesee, 2019). There are immersion programmes in many contexts, such as French
immersion in Canada, immersion in minority languages such as Mā ori in New
Zealand, Catalan or Basque in Spain or Welsh in the United Kingdom. CLIL programmes
have the same core characteristics as immersion programmes, but they often have English
as the second or additional language, and the time devoted to instruction through English
may be less than 50% of the school time (Cenoz, 2015; Cenoz et al., 2014). Schools with
immersion and CLIL programmes not only teach through the medium of a second or add-
itional language but often have language classes in the languages that are included in the
curriculum. In these cases, the coordination between language teachers and content tea-
chers is necessary even if it is not always possible (He and Lin, 2018; Hu and Gao, 2021;
Villabona andd Cenoz, 2021). As He and Lin (2018: 164) state: ‘CLIL requires a content
teacher to be language-aware and a language teacher to be content-aware’. Here we focus
on pedagogical translanguaging in language classes, but it is important to highlight that
language teachers can have a very important influence on other classes as well because
language is the vehicle to learn academic content. When the language of instruction is
a second or additional language, there is more need to work on pedagogical translangua-
ging in language classes so that students learn to use their multilingual resources in effect-
ive ways.
Multilingual speakers use the resources of their linguistic repertoire and often translan-
guage in a spontaneous way. Spontaneous translanguaging can also take place inside the
classroom and can even be used pedagogically by the teachers, but pedagogical trans-
languaging goes beyond accepting or promoting the flexible use of the multilingual
speakers’ languages (Cenoz and Gorter, 2021). In pedagogical translanguaging practices
and activities, there are specific objectives that will be accomplished by carrying out a
series of learning tasks that use resources from two or more languages in the same
class. The teacher will select the necessary material so that students use the multilingual
learning strategies which are most appropriate to achieve the objectives of the lesson. By
Cenoz and Gorter 347
using these strategies learners can take an active role and be responsible for their own
learning when they link prior knowledge to new knowledge. Pedagogical translangua-
ging embraces a wide range of practices that have different functions, as will be
shown in the next section.
in Basque, Spanish and English by working with the same news item in different lan-
guages. They also wrote a piece of news in Basque (the minority language) using specia-
lized language. The activity was useful to develop their metalinguistic awareness about
the differences between oral communicative language and formal written language.
Students also performed a metalinguistic task comparing Basque, Spanish and English
by identifying cognates.
The implementation of pedagogical translanguaging in this class was part of a profes-
sional development course which the teacher had attended. Before this implementation,
the teacher used only English in this English language class, and students were surprised
when they were asked to use Basque and Spanish as well. The teacher reported that stu-
dents learned more than with other activities, and they became more aware of their advan-
tages as multilinguals, as can be seen in the feedback the teacher provided (see also Cenoz
and Santos, 2020):
Students have undoubtedly answered that they have learnt more dealing with more than one
language in class, because they could talk more, they knew the words and they could learn
the three languages together. Students have found [sic] very interesting learning that they
can transfer the knowledge from one language to the other. And they have become aware of
the advantages of multilingualism.
In fact, the possibility of working with news items in the three languages offered some
advantages because there could be a deeper understanding of the information, access to
more information and the possibility of developing metalinguistic awareness by compar-
ing the way texts are organized in different languages and the vocabulary used in these
texts. Some English language teachers may be worried because students in this peda-
gogical translanguaging class had less time to work in English when the other two lan-
guages were also used. This situation can be remedied if pedagogical translanguaging
is also implemented in the Basque and Spanish classes and students work with the
three languages in the three language classes.
In this example we have seen that three languages are used to complete different tasks,
but there can be activities with a different number of languages. For example, García et al.
(2017) show how translanguaging can include activities using English and Spanish in
bilingual education schools in the United States.
An important point in this type of activity is that oral and written competences are
developed. This modality of translanguaging provides the possibility of accessing infor-
mation in different languages and using different languages when working on the same
topic. Pedagogical translanguaging using resources in different languages for the input
and the output implies a high level of cognitive engagement because the tasks are chal-
lenging in both languages (see also Baker, 2003; Williams, 2002). Williams (2002)
explains that when students translanguage using different languages for the input and
the output they can even augment and supplement the message in the output.
deep reflection about the way languages work that can be done at different linguistic
levels.
Some studies have focused on vocabulary building through pedagogical translangua-
ging. Leonet et al. (2020) report an intervention in the 5th and 6th years of primary edu-
cation at a Basque school. The intervention aimed at developing metalinguistic awareness
at different linguistic levels and took place in the three language classes (Basque, Spanish
and English) for 12 weeks. The results on morphological awareness indicate that the
primary school students in the experimental group, who had taken part in the pedadogical
translanguaging project, obtained higher results in morphological awareness tests than
those in the control group. Students were asked to identify morphemes in words that
could be decomposed such as ‘teacher’ or ‘sportsman’ and also to use prefixes and suf-
fixes to create new meanings such as the word ‘helpful’ in the following sentence:
Although Leonet et al. (2020) report the results in English, the intervention was in
three languages, with the idea being that students could build their vocabulary by realiz-
ing that words in Basque, Spanish and English can be decomposed into morphemes.
Cenoz et al. (2021) examined the effect of another practice used in the same peda-
gogical translanguaging intervention by evaluating the recognition of cognates in the
three languages. Two groups of students completed a cognate recognition task in pairs
and were asked to think aloud while doing the exercise. The differences between the
number of cognates identified by the students in the experimental and control groups
did not reach significance (see also White and Horst, 2012). However, students who
had taken part in the pedagogical translanguaging implementation were able to explain
the relationship between the three languages better and offered more elaborate explana-
tions, thus demonstrating a higher level of metalinguistic awareness. The following
example shows how students reflect on the way cognates can be useful for them
(Cenoz et al., 2021):
English: weekend
Basque: asteburua (week + end)
Spanish: fin de semana (end of week)
It is also possible to use pedagogical translanguaging activities when the linguistic dis-
tance between the languages is very large and the languages are not in contact. In these
cases the focus can be more on the pragmatic and discourse levels. For example, one pos-
sibility could be to work with the way requests can be expressed in different languages
(see Nightingale and Safont, 2019; Portolés and Safont, 2018; Zhu, 2012).
Pedagogical translanguaging at the pragmatic level could work even if the distance
between the languages is very large, as in the case of Chinese and English. An
example of an activity based on pedagogical translanguaging and an English language
class in China could be the following:
Students work in groups in the English language class. Some groups are given information
about a specific situation describing the relationship between an employee and her boss in
China in Mandarin. Other groups are given the same situation in Australia in English. All
the students are asked to formulate a request in which the employee asks her boss for an after-
noon off for personal reasons. The students discuss their requests by paying attention to direct-
ness levels and the use of politeness devices in both languages. There can be a follow-up
changing some elements of the situations or asking students to find examples of common cross-
cultural misunderstandings between Chinese and English speakers.
This example aims at showing the differences between the use of requests in Chinese
and Australian English by activating the knowledge students already have as Chinese
speakers. Another possibility is to work at the discourse level comparing the structure
of different types of texts in different languages. In this way, students can see the simi-
larities and differences between the languages in their multilingual repertoire.
Some of the activities have been used in language classes for many years. The differ-
ence is that pedagogical translanguaging activities use the resources from the students’
repertoire in a systematic way in the language classes. Even if there is a designated lan-
guage for each class, the language classes include resources in different languages, soft-
ening the boundaries between them. Another important point is that activities are
contextualized and aim at the development of communicative competence even when
there can be a specific focus on developing metalinguistic awareness.
Cenoz and Gorter 351
Integrated Curriculum
This practice means that the syllabuses of the different language classes are coordinated
so that languages reinforce each other. In this way, the focus is on working on the same
linguistic elements or communicative functions in each of the language classes. The
implementation of an integrated curriculum implies coordination between the teachers
of the different languages.
This pedagogical translanguaging practice can be regarded as a weak form of peda-
gogical translanguaging because the integration takes place at the curriculum level and
not at the class level. Still, this practice can be considered pedagogical translanguaging
because it is planned and uses resources from the students’ multilingual repertoire
even if the languages are connected at the curriculum level rather than at the class
level. Lyster et al. (2013) report a pedagogic intervention on morphological awareness
carried out in Canada. Students were in year 2 (7–8 years old) and the intervention
took place in French and English. Teachers worked with the same stories and drew the
children’s attention to morphology, but they focused either on English or French in
each class. In this way, the languages can reinforce each other and students can benefit
more from their own multilingualism (see also Cenoz and Gorter, 2018).
Some possibilities of implementing pedagogical translanguaging have been explained
here, but there are many others. Using languages in the students’ multilingual repertoire
as a resource and conducting activities to reflect on languages can also raise metalinguis-
tic awareness when some of the languages are not part of the curriculum (Carbonara and
Scibetta, 2020; García et al., 2017; Günther-van der Meij et al., 2020).
Pedagogical translanguaging is a broad concept that includes a wide range of possibil-
ities which are planned for learning by using students’ prior knowledge of languages in
their multilingual and multimodal repertoires. As Cummins (2021: 273) explains, peda-
gogical translanguaging has empirical support and can also have important advantages:
Final Remarks
In this article the concept of pedagogical translanguaging has been discussed together
with the way it can lead to a deeper understanding of academic language, improved
access to information, development of metalinguistic awareness and development of
multilingual competence.
Pedagogical translanguaging can be implemented in different ways relating the learn-
ing of two or more languages. Its specific implementation is linked to the aims of the
multilingual education programme which the school uses and also to the wider context
of the area where the school is located. There is not a single way to implement peda-
gogical translanguaging, but in all cases the aim is to promote the activation of the lear-
ners’ multilingual repertoire in a way that is pedagogically planned.
The implementation of pedagogical translanguaging poses some challenges.
Ideologies of language separation are pervasive, and it is common to find teachers who
352 RELC Journal 53(2)
strongly believe that the target language has to be separated from other languages and that
the monolingual native speaker should serve as the model to aspire to in language teach-
ing. Even though pedagogical translanguaging is supported by research, it is important to
conduct more research studies in different contexts to provide further evidence that can
help teachers to change traditional ideologies of separation.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article: This work was supported by the Eusko Jaurlaritza, Ministerio de Ciencia
e Innovación, (grant number IT-1225-19, PID2019-105818GB-100) .
ORCID iD
Jasone Cenoz https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9000-7510
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