Articles by Angelica Galante
International Multilingual Research Journal , 2024
Plurilingualism is an inclusive language teaching approach to sustain multilingual societies, but... more Plurilingualism is an inclusive language teaching approach to sustain multilingual societies, but there is little investigation on teacher candidates' (TCs) beliefs and challenges before and after its implementation. This interpretive qualitative study introduced plurilingualism in teacher education at a Canadian university. Sixteen TCs participated in the study, which 1) investigated TCs' conceptualizations of plurilingualism, and 2) examined TCs' perceptions of overall affordances of critical plurilingual pedagogies before and after their practicum. For four months, participants experimented with plurilingual pedagogies such as translanguaging and crosslinguistic analysis, designed tasks, and taught lessons. Five types of data were generated: 1) weekly annotations of readings on Perusall, 2) designed language tasks, 3) task delivery demonstrations, 4) lesson plans, and 5) final reflection after the teaching practicum. Inductive content analysis was conducted on NVivo with data triangulation. Findings suggest that TCs shifted their views of language, and aligned plurilingual pedagogies with equity, diversity, inclusion and decoloniality principles. Findings also show that TCs transgressed the monolingual discourses often present in schools, and felt empowered after the training. We call for the inclusion of critical plurilingual practices in teacher education programs for the sustainability of multi/plurilingualism.
The Language Learning Journal, 2023
While studies have shown benefits of plurilingual pedagogies on students' experiences learning la... more While studies have shown benefits of plurilingual pedagogies on students' experiences learning languages, more research is needed to examine how these pedagogies can be enacted in foreign language programmes in digital environments. Moreover, prioritising oral engagement has been an urgent need among teachers who use synchronous platforms such as Zoom to teach languages. This article reports on a multiple case study with three teachers-English, Spanish, and Frenchand 17 students in Brazil. Five plurilingual strategies were implemented in their language courses: cross-linguistic comparisons, cross-cultural comparisons, translanguaging, translation for mediation, and pluriliteracies. Inductive analysis of weekly classroom observations (N = 15) and deductive analysis of individual teacher interviews were conducted to find similarities across the three language courses. Results show that digital plurilingual pedagogy mobilised students' entire repertoire (not L1 only), encouraged them to speak in the target language, awakened nonlinguistic semiotic resources, and enhanced plurilingual and pluricultural awareness beyond geographical boundaries. Given its multimodal nature, digital plurilingual pedagogy can facilitate oral engagement differently compared to face-toface instruction.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2022
The creative and dynamic practices that multilinguals perform with linguistic and non-linguistic ... more The creative and dynamic practices that multilinguals perform with linguistic and non-linguistic features such as the body, movement, senses, and space have been documented as integral to their repertoire. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature, this article advances the concept of the repertoire through translanguaging drama as a pedagogical practice and examines the resources that can be volitionally mobilised through language learners' perezhivanie, or the emotional, felt and lived through experience. Translanguaging drama was implemented in two English language programmes with adult learners in Canada. While these courses focused on improving English language skills, translanguaging drama was implemented to activate learners' perezhivanie while using their repertoire, which not only facilitated communication in the English language but pushed for agency in using non-linguistic resources. I examine learners' perezhivanie with a subset of data, which included observation notes and learner diary entries. In this article, I emphasize four main interrelated areas: (1) volition and empowerment, (2) meaning-making across languages, (3) embodiment of languagethrough voice modulation, facial expression, and body language-, and (4) language choice triggered by perezhivanie. Implications of the study for furthering the theorisation of language, language learning and the repertoire are discussed.
TESL Canada Journal, 2022
With the multi/plural turn in language teaching and education (Kubota, 2016; May, 2014), there is... more With the multi/plural turn in language teaching and education (Kubota, 2016; May, 2014), there is an urgent call for the development and implementation of pedagogical approaches that are linguistically and culturally inclusive. The turn challenges hegemonic and monolingual ideologies that not only marginalize linguistically diverse speakers of minority languages but continue to inform theories of second language acquisition and permeate language pedagogies. In the Canadian context, there are still few opportunities for developing students' plurilingual competence in the classroom, especially in non-official minoritized languages (Kubota & Bale, 2020). Instead, monolingual ideologies continue to be enacted thus ignoring the languages of Indigenous peoples and minority groups and separating English and French, Canada's two official languages, in educational policies and society, which Cummins refers to as the "two solitudes" (Cummins, 2007). In teacher education programs (e.g., TESL, Teaching FSL), the uncritical practice of endorsing monolingual language policies and implementing standard curricula in language classrooms can have detrimental effects on bi/plurilinguals' language development, use, and identities. With the multi/ plural turn, one-language-only policies and deficit views that validate hegemonic practices and forms of knowledge are being questioned (Galante et al., 2020) and language practitioners are in search of alternatives that empower and validate individuals' repertoires. Two of the most prominent language theories/pedagogies which align with the multi/plural turn and have direct application to language pedagogy are plurilingualism and translanguaging. In this special issue (SI), Plurilingualism and Translanguaging: Pedagogical Approaches for Empowerment and Validation, the authors engage in dialogues that contribute to the exploration of the possibilities for plurilingual and translanguaging theories/pedagogies. We maintain that these theories/approaches are vehicles for empowerment where spaces are created for individuals to negotiate and validate their plurilingual and cultural identities and for educators to experiment with plurilingual and multimodal tasks that resist monolingual discourses. As we
read these contributions, we invite you to focus on the overarching themes
of empowerment and validation that are central to the studies in this SI
and in the field at large, rather than on epistemological differences between
plurilingual and translanguaging theories/pedagogies. Before introducing
the SI, we highlight points of convergence between plurilingualism and
translanguaging that we believe are important for theory building.
TESL Canada Journal, 2022
De nos jours, nous vivons un tournant multi-et plurilingue en linguistique appliquée (Kubota, 201... more De nos jours, nous vivons un tournant multi-et plurilingue en linguistique appliquée (Kubota, 2016; May, 2014) qui met en valeur la nécessité de mettre en oeuvre des approches plurielles. Dans de nombreux contextes d'enseignement et d'apprentissage des langues, nous sommes plusieurs à remettre en question les idéologies hégémoniques et monolingues qui marginalisent des locuteurs de langues minoritaires et qui continuent à nourrir les théories d'acquisition de langues secondes. Dans le contexte canadien, il est rare pour les étudiants de pouvoir développer les compétences plurilingues dans la salle de classe, notamment lorsque les apprenants disposent de langues non-officielles minoritaires dans leur répertoire langagier (Kubota et Bale, 2020). Cependant, les idéologies monolingues continuent d'être promulguées, ignorant ainsi les langues des peuples autochtones et des groupes minoritaires. Ces idéologies créent une séparation entre l'anglais et le français, les deux langues officielles du Canada, dans les politiques d'enseignement et dans la société, ce à quoi Cummins fait référence comme « les deux solitudes » (Cummins, 2007). Dans les programmes de formation des enseignants (par ex. l'enseignement de l'ALS, du FLS), la pratique traditionnelle qui consiste à appliquer et reproduire des politiques linguistiques monolingues dans les classes de langues peut avoir des effets néfastes sur le développement des compétences dans les langues du répertoire, sur l'utilisation de ces langues et sur les identités des plurilingues. Avec le tournant multi-et plurilingue, les politiques monolingues qui valident les pratiques et les formes de connaissance hégémoniques sont remises en question (Galante et al., 2020) et les praticiens des langues sont à la recherche d'alternatives qui valorisent (empowerment) et reconnaissent la pluralité du répertoire des apprenants. Le plurilinguisme et le translanguaging font partie des théories et pédagogies des langues les plus importantes du tournant multi-et plurilingue et ont des implications directes pour la didactique des langues. Dans ce numéro spécial (NS), Le plurilinguisme et le translanguaging : approches pédagogiques pour la valorisation et la reconnaissance de la pluralité, les auteurs explorent ensemble des théories et pédagogies du plurilinguisme et du translanguaging. Nous maintenons que ces approches sont des véhicules de valorisation qui servent à créer des espaces pour que les apprenants se réapproprient et reconnaissent leur identité plurilingue et pluriculturelle. Elles créent également des espaces pour que les enseignants puissent mettre l’essai des tâches et des activités plurilingues et multimodales qui résistent aux discours monolingues. En lisant ces contributions, nous vous invitons vous concentrer sur les thémes globaux de la valorisation et de la reconnaissance de la pluralité, qui sont essentiels aux études de ce NS et dans le domaine en général, plutôt que sur les différences épistémologiques entre le plurilinguisme et le translanguaging.Avant de présenter le NS, nous soulignons les points de convergence entre le plurilinguisme et le translanguaging qui serviront à pousser nos réflexions futures.
ELT Journal, 2021
Pronunciation is a common topic of interest in ELT but teachers may be unsure of what features of... more Pronunciation is a common topic of interest in ELT but teachers may be unsure of what features of pronunciation to prioritise, especially in multilingual classes. While research calls for explicit pronunciation instruction that focuses on improving intelligibility and comprehensibility, implementation is still a challenge. This article presents pedagogical applications following the new CEFR descriptors for phonological control. We discuss a 40-hour pronunciation course for international ESL students from diverse L1s in a Canadian university. Pronunciation instruction was delivered through controlled speech practice and drama tasks for practice of extemporaneous speech. Students completed weekly audio recordings, received extensive feedback and completed selfreflections. Moreover, the teacher assessed pre-and post-course recordings to identify change over time. Results show that students developed awareness of pronunciation features that can contribute to more intelligible and comprehensible speech and that a listener's lack of familiarity with speech diversity can play a role in how speech is perceived.
Applied Linguistics, 2021
While calls have been made for a multi/plural turn in Applied Linguistics, there remains a paucit... more While calls have been made for a multi/plural turn in Applied Linguistics, there remains a paucity of research investigating instruction that addresses the turn and its effects on student learning compared with monolingual one-languageonly instruction. This study examines the effects of plurilingual instruction on students' plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC) relative to monolingual English-only instruction. Moreover, it investigates potential additional affordances. Seven teachers in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program in a Canadian university taught two intact groups for four months: treatment (plurilingual instruction, n = 79) and comparison (monolingual instruction, n = 50) groups. Results from pre-and post-tests of the PPC scale show that students in the treatment group had higher PPC levels over time relative to students in the comparison group. Moreover, analyses of diaries and focus groups with students in the treatment group show that plurilingual instruction offers affordances such as cognition, empathy, and criticality. These results are significant as they suggest that plurilingual instruction may be more effective than monolingual instruction in the development of PPC and it offers several additional affordances.
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2021
As plurilingual/multilingual research advances, factors that contribute to or hinder individual's... more As plurilingual/multilingual research advances, factors that contribute to or hinder individual's flexible language use are still underexplored. Questions such as Why do some people identify as plurilingual and pluricultural while others do not? and What factors contribute to high levels of plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC)? remain unknown. This article presents results of a mixed methods study with 250 plurilingual participants in the multilingual city of Montreal, Canada. Data was collected through a demographic questionnaire, the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Identity Questionnaire (PPIQ) and the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence (PPC) scale. Results show that a vast majority of participants identified as plurilingual and pluricultural, and seven reasons for shaping this identity were found: rich repertoire, lived experiences, awareness of differences and similarities, transculturalism, adaptation and integration, translanguaging, and openness. Moreover, there was a significant difference in PPC scores between Canadian-born participants and participants born outside of Canada, suggesting that speakers of minority languages in Canada have lower PPC scores compared to speakers of Canada's official languages. These results are significant as they enhance our understanding of language use and identity, suggesting that plurilingualism and pluriculturalism can be the new norm in multilingual contexts but minority languages need further recognition.
Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts, 2021
While translation has recently had a comeback in language pedagogy, its applicability in classroo... more While translation has recently had a comeback in language pedagogy, its applicability in classrooms with students from diverse linguistic backgrounds has been underexplored. In countries with increasing immigration and high intakes of international students, which is the case of Canada, language classrooms are intrinsically multilingual. This multilingual reality provides unique opportunities for students to use their linguistic repertoire while learning English-one of Canada's official languages-, but teachers may be hesitant to use translation as a pedagogical tool if they do not speak the languages of their students. This paper reports on the results of a qualitative study with three teachers and 40 adult learners of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in a Canadian university. All of the student participants had at least two languages in their repertoire, and 90% reported being plurilingual, that is, using several languages with varying levels of proficiency. With the exception of English, the language of instruction , the teachers did not share any of the languages spoken by the students. The study explored how the teachers used translation to engage students' plurilingual repertoires and investigated students' perceptions of translation practices. Data was gathered through student diaries and classroom observations. Results of deductive analyses show that translation, when used within a plurilingual approach, was helpful for making sense of English vocabulary. Moreover, students reported that translation across languages enhanced conceptual knowledge. The paper argues that translation as a process rather than an L2-L1 textual product can advance language learning in multilingual classes.
Contact Magazine, 2020
Recent theories in second language education have highlighted the learner as a social being, who ... more Recent theories in second language education have highlighted the learner as a social being, who has agency and takes an active role in the language learning process. One recent theory of the social turn in second language education that is of relevance to ESL teaching is Complexity Theory (CT). In this article, we briefly explain how CT and the concept of affordance relate to the role of the teacher and the learners in the ESL classroom. We then discuss what teaching ESL through a CT lens involves and argue that translanguaging as pedagogy can empower ESL learners and transform the ESL classroom into a more equitable and inclusive space.
TESOL Quarterly, 2020
Although recent calls have been made for a plurilingual shift in language learning, particularly ... more Although recent calls have been made for a plurilingual shift in language learning, particularly in countries with linguistically and culturally diverse populations, teachers are still unsure about how to apply plurilingualism in the classroom. There remains a paucity of studies investigating the disconnect between the theory and implementation of the plurilingual shift. This quasi-experimental study addressed these challenges by implementing plurilingual instruction in one English language program in a Canadian university and examining teachers' perceptions of this type of instruction compared to English-only. Seven teachers, all co-researchers of the study, taught two groups of students with different approaches: One group received plurilingual instruction, and the other group received English-only instruction. A deductive analysis of semistructured interviews with the teachers and an inductive analysis of classroom observations were conducted. Results show several affordances of plurilingual instruction , such as engaging students in language learning, advancing agentive power, and developing a safe space. Moreover, although none of the teachers had received training in plurilingualism, they unanimously reported preference for plurilingual instruction. Challenges resulted mainly from teachers' history with the English-only teaching tradition. This study is significant because it pioneered research aiming to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of plurilingualism, contributing pedagogical directions in TESOL.
System Journal, 2020
With the multi/plurilingual turn, translanguaging has been established as one of the most popular... more With the multi/plurilingual turn, translanguaging has been established as one of the most popular pedagogical approaches that is vehemently advocated by scholars. However, there is a paucity of studies examining the implementation of translanguaging in multilingual classrooms and potential challenges. This article reports a study examining the implementation of translanguaging in an English language program in a Canadian university. Seven teachers and 79 students participated in the study and four types of data were collected: researcher field notes, classroom observations, student diaries, and teacher interviews. Results reveal that while teachers were willing to implement pedagogical translanguaging, time to be familiar with the approach was necessary. Results also show that students engaged in spontaneous translanguaging outside of the classroom freely, but pedagogical translanguaging was more controlled and limited to the languages shared in the classroom. While the
theory of translanguaging suggests the use of students’ entire linguistic repertoire, they mainly relied on the L1. Moreover, it was found that naming languages, particularly minority languages, was important in multilingual classrooms so they were not deemed invisible. The article concludes with a
discussion of the unique challenges of pedagogical translanguaging in multilingual classrooms, pedagogical implications, and directions for future research.
International Journal of Multilingualism, 2020
As multi/plurilingual research advances understandings of plurilingual speakers’ fluid language u... more As multi/plurilingual research advances understandings of plurilingual speakers’ fluid language use, particularly in multilingual settings, new research methods and pedagogical orientations that address this complex phenomenon are needed. The present study considered the development, reliability, and validity of the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence (PPC) scale. Informed by sociolinguistics theories in educational linguistics, including plurilingualism and translanguaging, the PPC scale had its content validated by researchers, language teachers and learners. It was then implemented with 379 plurilingual speakers in two multilingual cities in Canada: 129 in Toronto and 250 in Montréal. Exploratory factor analysis examined the factors in the scale and whether PPC referred to language and culture as separate dimensions or, as theoretically suggested, a unidimensional construct. Results reveal PPC as one construct, suggesting that language and culture are interrelated. With 22 items on a 4-point Likert scale, the PPC scale is a new instrument that can be used in future multi/plurilingual research and pedagogy. Its significance lies in that the scale can gather overall trends among plurilinguals’ PPC levels, which can have implications for language education, curriculum and policy. Recommendations for future use are discussed.
TESL Canada Journal, 2019
Previous literature on higher education suggests the inclusion of pedagogy that is linguistically... more Previous literature on higher education suggests the inclusion of pedagogy that is linguistically and culturally inclusive in settings with increasing multilingualism , which is the case in Canada. Yet, little is known as to how the implementation of such pedagogy can take place, particularly in language programs. This article reports a researcher-instructor collaboration that aimed at implementing plurilingual practices, such as translanguaging, plurilingual identity, comparons nos langues, and intercomprehension over 4 months in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program at a university in Toronto, Canada. Seven EAP instructors collaborated with a researcher to implement weekly plurilingual tasks: They conducted an environment analysis, examined the logistics of implementation, and collaboratively examined the tasks. The article presents the process of implementation of the plurilingual tasks and proposes a framework for collaboration with four key elements: administrative support, openness to the use of languages other than English in class, weekly collaborative checks with the researcher, and the learner-centered nature of the tasks. Implications for the implementation of plurilingualism in English language programs in higher education are discussed.
Applied Linguistics Review, 2019
In many urban settings across the globe, English for Academic
Purposes (EAP) classes are inherent... more In many urban settings across the globe, English for Academic
Purposes (EAP) classes are inherently multilingual and provide unique possibilities to explore a wealth of languages and cultures as well as the interactions among them. Although the field of applied linguistics has historically followed monolingual ideologies, a plurilingual approach in EAP can provide insights into language practices that are situated, creative and contextualized. Raising students’ awareness of their own plurilingual and pluricultural repertoire is key to preparing them to make mindful decisions about culture and language use in real-life situations; plurilingual instruction includes translanguaging, validating plurilingual identities, as well as understanding pluriculturalism, all of which can open up possibilities for creativity in culture and language use. While research shows plurilingual-inspired pedagogies can benefit language learning, little is known about the extent to which they can enhance creative representations of language and culture. This article reports results from a study on the effects of plurilingual instruction on creativity in an EAP program. Seven EAP instructors delivered plurilingual tasks to adult students at a Canadian university. Data from demographic questionnaires, Language Portraits, student diaries (N=28), and classroom observations (N=21) were qualitatively analyzed and triangulated. Results suggest that the use of plurilingual tasks afforded a heightened awareness of plurilingual/pluricultural identity and validated the creative use of linguistic and cultural resources, including translanguaging. Suggestions for the inclusion of creative data collection instruments and plurilingual instruction in applied linguistics classroom research are made.
TESOL Applied Linguistics Forum, 2018
In the past decades, the field of TESOL has been primarily concerned with teaching English throug... more In the past decades, the field of TESOL has been primarily concerned with teaching English through a monolingual framework, that is, with the use of English as the only medium of instruction. This monolingual tradition has been based on assumptions that students would learn best if they were immersed in the target language and did not use other languages. Often, instructors who have taught EFL or ESL, including myself, have been asked to implement an " English-only " policy in the classroom and reward students who abide by it. Recently, however, applied linguistics research has called for a plurilingual turn in TESOL (see overview in Taylor & Snoddon, 2013), which encourages the use of students' languages and cultures in classroom practices to maximize the learning experience.
Drama is an educational approach that borrows from theatre techniques and has been mainly used in... more Drama is an educational approach that borrows from theatre techniques and has been mainly used in L2 learning for improving oral speech. A distinction between drama and theatre has been made but both can be used in the L2 classroom (Galante & Thomson, 2017). While drama is seen as a process-oriented approach, theatre is product-oriented: in drama tasks, students use language for negotiation, problem-solving, and presenting scenarios, all using non-scripted language (Moody, 2002); in theatrical tasks, language is used in a more controlled way, such as taking roles in scripted role-plays, repeating sentences for showing the intention of the message, and using body language to enhance oral texts (Kao & O’Neill, 1998). Traditionally, the term drama includes theatre techniques but it is important to note that both are useful in L2 learning.
Anxiety is a dimension of L2 speaking that has been heavily investigated over the past several de... more Anxiety is a dimension of L2 speaking that has been heavily investigated over the past several decades, but there is a paucity of research investigating instruction aiming at lowering anxiety. While research suggests drama lowers L2 learners' anxiety, it is unclear to what extent anxiety is affected by drama. This article reports results from a mixed methods study examining whether drama impacts foreign language speaking anxiety (FLA). Participants were 24 Brazilian adolescents who took part in two distinct 4-moth EFL programs: a drama and a non-drama program. An adapted version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was used as pre and post measures. Analyses from FLCAS indicate a significant reduction in FLA levels among learners in both groups over time, with a slightly better improvement among learners in the drama group. Further analysis provides evidence that drama can enhance comfort levels when speaking the L2. Implications for research and language teaching are discussed.
Although the development of second language (L2) oral fluency has been widely investigated over t... more Although the development of second language (L2) oral fluency has been widely investigated over the past several decades, there remains a paucity of research examining language instruction specifically aimed at improving this cognitive skill. In this study, the researchers investigate how instructional techniques adapted from drama can positively impact L2 fluency, comprehensibility, and accentedness— three frequently discussed dimensions of L2 speech. Following a pretest–posttest design, the researchers obtained speech samples from 24 adolescent Brazilian EFL learners before and after their participation in a 4-month drama-based English language program. The development of oral skills by this group was compared with that of a parallel group of learners who received 4 months of instruction in a traditional communicative EFL classroom. Thirty untrained Canadian native English speaker raters evaluated randomized recorded L2 speech samples and provided impressionistic scalar judgments of fluency , comprehensibility, and accentedness. Results indicate that drama-based instruction can lead to significantly larger gains in L2 English oral fluency relative to more traditional communicative EFL instruction; comprehensibility scores also appear to be impacted, but with a much smaller effect; accentedness scores do not seem to benefit from one type of instruction over the other. The authors discuss implications for teaching practice.
While the use of appropriate linguistic items is essential for successful communication in any la... more While the use of appropriate linguistic items is essential for successful communication in any language, sociocultural factors also play an important role. Intercultural communicative competence is one dimension of sociocultural awareness that has been recognized as integral for communicative competence, but its practical application remains a challenge, possibly due to the fact that language educators tend to have more knowledge about the target language than its related cultural aspects (Celce-Murcia, 2007). While cultural references are, even if implicitly, prevalent in textbooks, teacher discourse, and the media, they are often reduced to “American” or “British” while the culture of speakers of English from many other countries, including Brazil, are often ignored. Another important dimension that positively affects language and cultural learning is the representation of one’s identity (Norton, 2013). In this sense, implementing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in English Language Teaching (ELT) allows learners to express their identities while engaging in meaningful discussions about cultural views. This article provides a brief overview of communicative competence and draws on Byram’s (1997) model of ICC to suggest pedagogical applications aimed at validating student identity in English language classes, particularly but not exclusively, in Brazil.
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Articles by Angelica Galante
read these contributions, we invite you to focus on the overarching themes
of empowerment and validation that are central to the studies in this SI
and in the field at large, rather than on epistemological differences between
plurilingual and translanguaging theories/pedagogies. Before introducing
the SI, we highlight points of convergence between plurilingualism and
translanguaging that we believe are important for theory building.
theory of translanguaging suggests the use of students’ entire linguistic repertoire, they mainly relied on the L1. Moreover, it was found that naming languages, particularly minority languages, was important in multilingual classrooms so they were not deemed invisible. The article concludes with a
discussion of the unique challenges of pedagogical translanguaging in multilingual classrooms, pedagogical implications, and directions for future research.
Purposes (EAP) classes are inherently multilingual and provide unique possibilities to explore a wealth of languages and cultures as well as the interactions among them. Although the field of applied linguistics has historically followed monolingual ideologies, a plurilingual approach in EAP can provide insights into language practices that are situated, creative and contextualized. Raising students’ awareness of their own plurilingual and pluricultural repertoire is key to preparing them to make mindful decisions about culture and language use in real-life situations; plurilingual instruction includes translanguaging, validating plurilingual identities, as well as understanding pluriculturalism, all of which can open up possibilities for creativity in culture and language use. While research shows plurilingual-inspired pedagogies can benefit language learning, little is known about the extent to which they can enhance creative representations of language and culture. This article reports results from a study on the effects of plurilingual instruction on creativity in an EAP program. Seven EAP instructors delivered plurilingual tasks to adult students at a Canadian university. Data from demographic questionnaires, Language Portraits, student diaries (N=28), and classroom observations (N=21) were qualitatively analyzed and triangulated. Results suggest that the use of plurilingual tasks afforded a heightened awareness of plurilingual/pluricultural identity and validated the creative use of linguistic and cultural resources, including translanguaging. Suggestions for the inclusion of creative data collection instruments and plurilingual instruction in applied linguistics classroom research are made.
read these contributions, we invite you to focus on the overarching themes
of empowerment and validation that are central to the studies in this SI
and in the field at large, rather than on epistemological differences between
plurilingual and translanguaging theories/pedagogies. Before introducing
the SI, we highlight points of convergence between plurilingualism and
translanguaging that we believe are important for theory building.
theory of translanguaging suggests the use of students’ entire linguistic repertoire, they mainly relied on the L1. Moreover, it was found that naming languages, particularly minority languages, was important in multilingual classrooms so they were not deemed invisible. The article concludes with a
discussion of the unique challenges of pedagogical translanguaging in multilingual classrooms, pedagogical implications, and directions for future research.
Purposes (EAP) classes are inherently multilingual and provide unique possibilities to explore a wealth of languages and cultures as well as the interactions among them. Although the field of applied linguistics has historically followed monolingual ideologies, a plurilingual approach in EAP can provide insights into language practices that are situated, creative and contextualized. Raising students’ awareness of their own plurilingual and pluricultural repertoire is key to preparing them to make mindful decisions about culture and language use in real-life situations; plurilingual instruction includes translanguaging, validating plurilingual identities, as well as understanding pluriculturalism, all of which can open up possibilities for creativity in culture and language use. While research shows plurilingual-inspired pedagogies can benefit language learning, little is known about the extent to which they can enhance creative representations of language and culture. This article reports results from a study on the effects of plurilingual instruction on creativity in an EAP program. Seven EAP instructors delivered plurilingual tasks to adult students at a Canadian university. Data from demographic questionnaires, Language Portraits, student diaries (N=28), and classroom observations (N=21) were qualitatively analyzed and triangulated. Results suggest that the use of plurilingual tasks afforded a heightened awareness of plurilingual/pluricultural identity and validated the creative use of linguistic and cultural resources, including translanguaging. Suggestions for the inclusion of creative data collection instruments and plurilingual instruction in applied linguistics classroom research are made.
In fact, private sector EFL institutes are an industry in Brazil. Courses are generally costly and accessible only to the financially privileged. They are marketed with culturally attractive components alluding to America or Britain. For example, a prominent language school uses British decorations and imagery, such as the Union Jack and Big Ben. Instructors may even fabricate a British accent to appear more “authentic.” As a former English coordinator in one Brazilian language institute, I often heard comments from prospective students such as I want to learn American English and I don't want that teacher because she has a Brazilian accent. The overall picture of the EFL industry in Brazil limits pedagogy to American and British cultures (Galante, 2015) and is incongruent with the diverse Brazilian landscape.
For example, I am a speaker of Portuguese, English, Spanish and some French, and I access these languages any time I want for several different purposes. Sometimes I catch myself reading an article in Spanish while listening to the news in French. Other times I can be writing an email in Portuguese and singing a song in English. All of these languages interact in my brain, and they may even be used in one single sentence, especially if I am interacting with someone who knows the same languages. This is a phenomenon that happens with most bilinguals and multilinguals and is called translanguaging.
The theory of translanguaging posits the idea that people have one single linguistic repertoire from which they draw to communicate and make sense of the world (Otheguy, García & Reid, 2015; Wei, 2018). Rather than thinking about how we can effectively communicate in one language only, translanguaging goes beyond to suggest we can communicate using all linguistic resources we have (click here to know more). It is easy to think that a person who is fluent in many languages has the ability to translanguage, but how about someone who doesn’t have proficiency in two or more languages? Can they still translanguage?
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