Translanguaging in L3 Spanish Classrooms: Practices and Attitudes

Abstract

Abstract. Research into pedagogical translanguaging in second/foreign language education has largely been focused on the interplay between two languages, one of which is usually English. Little attention has been paid to the practice of trilingual translanguaging (translanguaging between three languages), and how this can be helpful in the acquisition of a third language. This study, conducted in two Spanish as a third language classrooms in a Chinese university, aims to explore teachers’ translanguaging practices as well as the teachers’ and students’ attitudes to these practices. Analysis of data collected through audio-assisted classroom observation, interviews, and questionnaires reveals that teachers proactively and flexibly mobilize their multilingual resources in classroom talk. Students in general express positive attitudes towards teachers’ translanguaging practices, and express a wish to experience a greater amount of bilingual translanguaging between English (L2) and Spanish (L3). Meanwhile, having access to the views of L3 learners on teachers’ classroom talk proves to be a crucial component in the understanding of how L3 teaching and learning can take place in the most effective way. This study calls for further research into translanguaging practice in multilingual classrooms and its impact on students’ learning.

Bilingual teachers’ translanguaging practices and ideologies in online classrooms in Saudi Arabia

“…Teachers exhibited the belief that translanguaging was useful in certain contexts for various academic purposes, despite some teachers, universities, and policymakers believing English should be the sole medium of instruction. The findings are in line with recent studies highlighting how translanguaging can enhance the learning process [44,45,46]. The first research question asked, "Do bilingual EFL teachers use translanguaging?…”

Towards a Sustainable Classroom Ecology: Translanguaging in English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in a Finance Course at an International School in Shanghai

“…Translanguaging was first conceptualized as a pedagogical practice at the beginning of the 21st century [27] and, in recent years, has become a focus for researchers concerned with multilingual education [28,29]. Li [30] has argued that translanguaging provides a space for multilingual language speakers to combine different dimensions of their identity into one coordinated and significant performance, resulting in a more meaningful experience.…”

Descansamos-xiuxiamos: a case study of a teacher’s translanguaging practices and attitude in an L3 Spanish audio-oral classroom at a Chinese university

“…As well as language shifts between Spanish and Chinese, the excerpts show that he occasionally included English (i.e., bad qualities, bad behavior) to explain particular grammatical points. As English is closer to Spanish than Chinese in its lexical and syntactic rules, the use of a shared L2 English should be seen as a significantly valuable linguistic asset to aid the students' L3 Spanish acquisition (Zhou et al, 2020).…”

“…Previous research on L3 teaching has suggested that teachers tend to switch their teaching language to students' L1 or L2 to help them understand classroom instruction and capture their attention (Fang & Liu, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020;Zhou et al, 2020). This can be seen as a translanguaging practice for instruction reinforcement purposes.…”

“…With its rising international prominence (Zhou et al 2020), Spanish has become popular among Chinese learners, with over 100 institutions nationwide offering undergraduate Hispanic Philology programs (Lu et al, 2019). Targeting the teaching of Spanish as an L3 delivered by a multilingual Spanish speaker, this study intends to investigate translanguaging practices in a Descansamos-xiuxiamos: a case study of a teacher's... languages other than English (LOTE) classroom, where research is needed (Chen et al, 2021;Tsuchiya, 2017).…”