Paper short abstract:

We first compare translanguaging and plurilingualism and introduce two different telecollaborative projects in Japanese classrooms in the USA. Demonstrating how students enlist various semiotic resources to communicate, we discuss the merit of translanguaging/plurilingualism in language education.

Paper long abstract:

"Translanguaging," as defined by Garcia (2009), is "the act performed by bilinguals of accessing different linguistic features or various modes of what are described as autonomous languages, in order to maximize communicative potential" (p.140). It acknowledges the multilingual speakers' natural and flexible language practices that draw on whole linguistic resources as one single repertoire beyond linguistic boundaries (Garcia and Wei 2014). Recently, the idea of translanguaging has gained attention in the field of language pedagogy as a way to support dynamic bilingualism that facilitates cognitive development, nurtures positive identity, and develops communication repertoires (Kano, 2016).

The idea of plulilingualism that was born in Europe underscores the principle of taking advantage of one's multiple linguistic resources in order to maximize the communicative potential in a similar way as translanguaging conceives. However, as the suffix "plu-" suggests, it seems to assume that there exist separate languages that are distinct, bounded systems, which are possessed by individual persons.

In this presentation, we first overview and compare translanguaging and plurilingualism. We then introduce two different telecollaborative projects in Japanese college classrooms in the USA. Both projects were informed by the idea of translanguaging and were conducted in collaboration with Japanese university students. In both projects, students worked collaboratively with their Japanese partners and created visual products (videos and online magazines). By drawing on various semiotic resources available to them, students engaged in numerous types of communication via technologies and accomplished the tasks. From the analysis of video-recorded students interactions, the final products, and post-project interviews, it was revealed that how students recognize the potentials of translanguaging was strongly influenced by each student's beliefs about language and language practices.

Although the projects were carried out in the USA, the findings are applicable to language education in the European contexts and beyond. In the field of world language education, there are resistance and a negative view toward "mixing" languages (Vallejo & Dooly 2020). However, language education that advocates translanguaging and/or plurilingualism would contribute to the transformation of our own views on language and language practices rather than maintain conventional practices of language teaching.