The topic keeps coming up.  “I have kids in my class who don’t know English yet. Why can’t I just give them work in their native language?”  “I have kids in my class who prefer English.  Why can’t they translanguage during Spanish time?” Who said you can’t or that they can’t?  Of course, translanguaging is allowed.  But only understand what translanguaging really is and why it is used.

Translanguaging at its most basic is the use of one’s entire linguistic repertoire or one’s linguistic repertoire in two or more languages if you are beyond bilingual.  Most families where multiple languages are routinely spoken by more than one member of the household will use translanguaging.  For instance, it is not unusual for me to use both English and Tamil when speaking to my parents.  This is the case especially in the kitchen where I do not necessarily even know how to say certain spices in English.

Bilingualism as described above is a valid language register, and many of our students who are growing up as simultaneous bilinguals, or students who have been introduced to more than one language at once, use this register as their first language.  Therefore, if students who come into school for the first time in preKindergarten or Kindergarten are not allowed to use their entire linguistic repertoire, they will be at a disadvantage compared to their monolingual English speaking peers. 

So how do we allow young students to use their entire linguistic repertoire? In Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) classrooms, at younger ages, students should be allowed to use their entire linguistic repertoire with the teacher and with their classmates. However, the teacher and other adults should maintain the language of instruction. Furthermore, assignments given should be in the language of instruction. Teachers should also be working at building students’ skills in the language of instruction.  For instance, if during Spanish time, a student asks, “Can I go to the baño?” the teacher can recast, “Puedo ir al baño?” Depending upon the urgency of the situation and the child’s disposition, the teacher may further ask the student to repeat. 

That said, at times the teacher may insist on students, including simultaneous bilinguals, staying in the language. For instance, the teacher may be teaching a particular language structure. At that time, they need to have the scaffolds in place to make language accessible. For instance, the teacher may choose to have sentence stems such as “Today is_____________.”  She may ask students to use that pattern to answer the question with the days of the week given as a part of an oral word bank. With this level of support, students will not be translanguaging, but, as all conversations will not be this structured, translanguaging will be allowed during other parts of the day. 

In Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) classes as well, young students or newcomers should be allowed to work together using all their linguistic repertoire whenever there are enough students in the class who speak the same combination of languages to do so.  Of course, similar to DLBE teachers, there may be moments in which the teacher chooses to have students remain in the language of instruction. At these times, the teacher will provide the support necessary.

As students get more proficient in the languages, students will need to join their teachers in maintaining the language of instruction. This is especially the case in DLBE in the Language Other Than English (LOTE). Students in upper elementary and middle school should all be maintaining the language of instruction during the time dedicated to the LOTE.  Otherwise, in spite of proficiency, students are likely to lose their language skills because in the end, English continues to have more status in the United States than any other language.  Therefore, students who are proficient or near proficient in both languages will be more inclined to choose to speak in English when given the choice.

Finally, whether in an SEI classroom or a DLBE classroom, we have to remember that translanguaging and translating are not the same.  In an SEI classroom, the teacher may choose to give a short introductory reading in the native language before starting the unit. That would be a good use of translanguaging.  However, if she gives the entire day’s reading in the student’s native language, that would not support the student’s language acquisition.

Similarly, the DLBE teacher should not repeat lessons in the other language.  If they do, students will listen only in the language they are most proficient in and not make linguistic gains in the weaker language. When the DLBE and/or SEI teacher pair students together, they should be careful not to pair students with vastly different proficiency levels together where one will translate for the other.  (Students can be paired together even if one is capable of translating provided a culture has been established where students do not engage in translation but in helping classmates learn the language.)

This is just a small introduction to translanguaging.  In a future blog, I will discuss what pedagogical translanguaging looks like. Until then, you may want to consider checking out my book, Puzzle Pieces, A Systems Approach to Multilingual Education.  In Chapter 5, I talk about separation of language, translanguaging, and pedagogical translanguaging in SEI, DLBE, and World Language classrooms.