Translanguaging in digital learning: the making of translanguaging spaces in online English teaching videos

Abstract

Language learning through online platforms is becoming increasingly popular. The technological affordances of YouTube provides a translanguaging space for learners and teachers alike to bring their different identities, experiences and histories and create a coordinated performance (Li, 2011). Nevertheless, existing literature on translanguaging space predominantly focuses on multilingual encounters in which language users draw on a repertoire of linguistic resources in making meaning, and more attention is needed to understand the role of translanguaging space in light of the orchestration of different modalities (Zhu, Li & Jankowicz-Pytel, 2020). Drawing on two online English lessons and their comments, we focus on how the online teachers draw on different registers, styles of speaking, and strategically orchestrating a range of multimodal resources to teach English vocabulary by means of role plays. We employed multimodal analysis and qualitative content analysis to unpack how two different yet interrelated translanguaging spaces are constructed in these online video classrooms. We argue that in such kind of digitally-mediated learning setting, two translanguaging spaces are created: the 'interactional translanguaging space', and 'performative translanguaging space'. The study also offers some pedagogical implications to inform the future directions of developing teaching and learning materials in digital platforms.

Translanguaging as a space of simultaneity: Theorizing translanguaging pedagogies in English medium schools from a spatial perspective

“…On the other hand, the translanguaging pedagogies, as discussed in this article, resist such a discriminatory monolingual ideology and reimagine the classroom space as an equal space where all learners have the “right to speak” (Norton, 1997) as multilingual speakers. In this ideological space, the classroom is reconfigured not only as an interactional space (Ho & Tai, 2021) but as a thirdspace (Soja, 1996), which is a radically open space for resistance, struggle, and emancipation. In this space, the students position themselves not only as multilingual speakers but also as multiepistemic subjects representing their community, home, and the school.…”

“…At Light School, teachers mainly use photos, given in the textbook, to engage students in classroom activities through translanguaging. I understand that recent studies have discussed diverse multimodal resources such as gesture and technological tools in the creation of translanguaging space (Ho & Tai, 2021; Tai & Li Wei, 2020, 2021). But I focus on the images from the textbook and students’ drawings collected as fieldnotes.…”

Translanguaging in Language Teaching and Learning: Current Practices and Future Directions

“…Contributions to this special issue addressed various issues regarding translanguaging and language education from educational and social aspects. The topic of translanguaging itself is not ideologically freewe hope that readers will view all the contributions of this issue from a critical perspective to unpack the concept of translanguaging as a practical theory of language (Li, 2018), or even translanguaging as method , to understand the benefits/effectiveness/challenges of translanguaging for educational contexts (Bonacina-Pugh et al, 2021;Fang and Liu, 2020;Ho and Tai, 2021), as well as to promote social justice through the use of language (García and Leiva, 2013;. Readers may also ponder: Is the use of translanguaging most effective in learning, or is the adoption of translanguaging a must in education or daily language use?…”

“…The field of applied linguistics and teaching English to speakers of other languages has experienced various reforms in relation to the ontology and epistemology of English language education. From the early debate challenging the dichotomy of native and non-native speakers of English (Liu, 1999) and the development of World Englishes (Kachru, 1992), to the more recent acceleration of Global Englishes language teaching (Rose and Galloway, 2019) and multimodal and translanguaging as a theory, method, or approach of language education (García and Li, 2014; Li, 2022; Li and García, 2022), it seems that English language education has witnessed more than a ‘multilingual turn’ (May, 2014); it is going through a critical ‘trans-era’ that recognizes both linguistic and cultural diversity, and views social, cultural, and multimodal resources as valuable assets in learning for inclusive education (Dovchin and Lee, 2019). The question still remains regarding whether such native-oriented, fixed, elusive, impossible but patronizing learning goals should respond to the new sociocultural and psychological considerations and diversity of the landscape of English language education.…”

Bilingual Proficiency Development and Translanguaging Practices of Emergent Korean-English Bilingual Children in Korea

“…Thus, among multilingual individuals, self-identity is greatly impacted through TL. TL plays a unique role in that it fosters the construction of identities (Ho & Tai, 2021). What is unique to multilingual individuals is that self-identity should not be considered as just one, but multiple identities in correspondence to their multilingual abilities.…”