Creating Space for Dynamic Language Use: Cultivating Literacy Development through Translanguaging Pedagogy in EAL Classrooms

Abstract

With English as an Additional Language (EAL) classrooms increasingly becoming culturally and linguistically diverse, the use of the students' home language(s) (HLs) can equip emergent bilinguals/multilinguals with the essential accoutrements that optimize their learning experience. To meet the realities and demands of contemporary classrooms, current research encourages teachers to make use of the students' entire linguistic repertoires and create space for a fluid and dynamic oscillation between the HL(s) and the target language (TL), which has been labelled as translanguaging pedagogy. Despite the constraints imposed by today's education policies, translanguaging is believed to have the potential to enhance the teaching of these students. Through the description of activities, this chapter discusses how taking up translanguaging theory can contribute towards fostering meaningful and affirming ways of teaching and learning EAL literacy.