Abstract
This article seeks to develop Translanguaging as a theory of language and discuss the theoretical motivations behind and the added values of the concept. I contextualize Translanguaging in the linguistic realities of the 21st century, especially the fluid and dynamic practices that transcend the boundaries between named languages, language varieties, and language and other semiotic systems. I highlight the contributions Translanguaging as a theoretical concept can make to the debates over the Language and Thought and the Modularity of Mind hypotheses. One particular aspect of multilingual language users’ social interaction that I want to emphasize is its multimodal and multisensory nature. I elaborate on two related concepts: Translanguaging Space and Translanguaging Instinct, to underscore the necessity to bridge the artificial and ideological divides between the so-called sociocultural and the cognitive approaches to Translanguaging practices. In doing so, I respond to some of the criticisms and confusions about the notion of Translanguaging.
Highlights
The term Translanguaging seems to have captured people’s imagination
It has been applied to pedagogy, everyday social interaction, cross-modal and multimodal communication, linguistic landscape, visual arts, music, and transgender discourse
I am primarily concerned with everyday language practices of multilingual language users, and I want to show, in this article, that Translanguaging as a practical theory of language offers better interpretations of the kinds of language practice that I am interested in and the kinds of theoretical questions it can raise in relation to some of the most central issues in linguistic science
Summary
The term Translanguaging seems to have captured people’s imagination. It has been applied to pedagogy, everyday social interaction, cross-modal and multimodal communication, linguistic landscape, visual arts, music, and transgender discourse. There is considerable confusion as to whether Translanguaging could be an all-encompassing term for diverse multilingual and multimodal practices, replacing terms such as code-switching, code-mixing, code-meshing, and crossing. 10 TRANSLANGUAGING AS A PRACTICAL THEORY the term Translanguaging and its added value, respond to some of the questions raised by researchers who are either sympathetic or critical of the term, and clarify some of the confusion that has been caused by the proliferation of its usage. I will do so by framing Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. The article is structured as follows: I begin by outlining the kind of practical theory of language that I believe applied linguistics needs, and the kinds of linguistic practice that I am interested in investigating through a Translanguaging lens.
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