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Translanguaging as a Pedagogical Tool in Multilingual Education

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Language Awareness and Multilingualism

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Language and Education ((ELE))

Abstract

This chapter looks at the development of language awareness within the context of multilingual education by focusing on translanguaging as a pedagogical tool. The origin of translanguaging in the context of Welsh-English bilingual education is discussed as well as its spread to other contexts. The focus of the article is on the use of translanguaging in language and content teaching. It highlights the importance of considering the learner as a multilingual speaker who has a multilingual repertoire and uses it in a social context is highlighted. The original concept translanguaging based on the alternation of the languages used in the input and output have developed so as to use other possibilities of relating the different languages. Several projects aimed at developing metalinguistic awareness by activating the relationships between the languages in the multilingual learner’s repertoire are discussed. Some of the challenges of using translanguaging as a pedagogical tool are also addressed. Among them the concept of translanguaging and the spread of monolingual ideologies are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the funding by MINECO/FEDER EDU2015-63967-R and the Basque Department of Education, Research and Universities for the Donostia Research Group on Multilingualism and Education (DREAM IT-714-13; UFI 11/54).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Faculty of Education, Philosophy and Anthropology, Tolosa Hiribidea, 70, 20018, Donostia – San Sebastián, Spain

    Jasone Cenoz

  2. Ikerbasque, University of the Basque Country UPV/HU, Faculty of Education, Philosophy and Anthropology, Tolosa Hiribidea, 70, 20018, Donostia – San Sebastián, Guipuzkoa, Spain

    Durk Gorter

Authors
  1. Jasone Cenoz
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  2. Durk Gorter
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Correspondence to Jasone Cenoz or Durk Gorter .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept Res Methods Education, University of the Basque Country Dept Res Methods Education, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain

    Jasone Cenoz

  2. UPV/EHU - IKERBASCQUE, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU - IKERBASCQUE, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain

    Durk Gorter

  3. Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, School of Critic, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stephen May

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Cenoz, J., Gorter, D. (2015). Translanguaging as a Pedagogical Tool in Multilingual Education. In: Cenoz, J., Gorter, D., May, S. (eds) Language Awareness and Multilingualism. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02325-0_20-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02325-0_20-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02325-0

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