Translanguaging as EFL Teaching Method

Abstract

There has been a heated debate about which method of the two, monolingual or bilingual, is more effective in ESL classrooms. As societal demands are shifting upon learning foreign languages, new approaches to second language teaching are rejecting the monolingual norm and long-standing views about acquiring L2 are challenged. The article offers an overview of the literature on this issue and this overview serves as the basis for an updated framework that indicates necessary areas of change in conceptualization from monolingual to bilingual norm. It can help bring new light onto effective uses of linguistic resources in foreign language teaching, which may lead to the speeding up of the L2 acquiring process. The article also discusses the difference between code-switching and translanguaging and concludes that the two terms cannot be perceived as one and the same. The article suggests that teachers in English language classrooms should be taught ways to incorporate L1 in teaching L2 and offer intentional translanguaging pedagogies to their learners.