Translingual Pedagogy in Multilingual Writing Education
Summary
Translingual pedagogy reconceptualises writing instruction by recognising learners’ dynamic negotiation of multiple linguistic resources rather than treating languages as discrete, bounded systems. It foregrounds students’ entire linguistic repertoires, including dialects, heritage languages and nonverbal semiotic resources, as valid tools for meaning-making. By challenging monolingual ideologies, this approach promotes linguistic equity, identity affirmation and critical awareness of power relations in educational contexts. In practice, translingual pedagogy integrates reflective tasks, creative writing prompts and digital media to enable learners to draw strategically on all their communicative competences. It emphasises the co-construction of knowledge, collaborative authoring and culturally responsive curricula that address local and global dimensions of multilingualism. The global significance of this paradigm is evident in diverse contexts—from second-language classrooms in Asia to writing centres in North America and Europe—where it has been shown to foster learner agency, deepen rhetorical flexibility and support decolonial aims in higher education.
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Technical terms
Translingual pedagogy: An instructional approach that treats language use as fluid and interactive, encouraging learners to integrate multiple linguistic and semiotic resources.
Translanguaging: The practice of alternating or blending languages and modes of communication to enhance meaning-making and learning.
Locus of enunciation: The sociohistorical and ideological standpoint from which a speaker or writer produces discourse, affecting their authority and interpretation.
Semiotic resources: Communicative tools beyond words—such as images, gestures and digital media—used alongside language to convey meaning.
Linguistic repertoire: The full range of linguistic varieties, registers and modes that an individual can draw upon in communication.
References
- Power dynamics in translingual practices for Chinese as a Second Language writing education. Language Teaching (2024).
- Assessment and creativity through a translingual lens: transdisciplinary insights. Applied Linguistics Review (2023).
- Emotional Landscape of Translingualism: Multilingual International Students Navigating Shame Through Translingual Digital Stories. TESOL Quarterly (2024).
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