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You're kindly invited to our next virtual Plurilingual Lab Speaker Series event with Dr. Marianne Turner of Monash University.

Promoting Multiliteracies Through Translanguaging Pedagogy

In countries such as Australia, language attrition amongst second generation immigrants is very common, and by the third generation it is almost complete (Eisenchlas, Schalley & Guillemin, 2013). Cross-generational language practices can thus shift towards the dominant language until the minoritized language practices fade away. Translanguaging pedagogy, or leveraging students’ linguistic repertoire holistically for learning, seeks to counteract this shift by disrupting a deficit view of diverse language practices. However, the standardising forces of formal education are such that translanguaging can be interpreted primarily as a scaffolding tool for learning (through) the dominant variety of the dominant named language. In this presentation, I will discuss how the promotion of multiliteracies through translanguaging pedagogy might be a way to increase students’ linguistic repertoire as an end in itself, rather than solely as a means to scaffold standardised language practices at school. I will draw on a study investigating the professional learning of in-service primary teachers in Australia as they incorporated a translanguaging pedagogical approach into their teaching of emergent bi/multilingual students, and will discuss how they were able to promote the students’ multiliteracies. I will conclude by exploring the significance of focusing on multiliteracies in translanguaging pedagogy.

Reference: Eisenchlas, S., Schalley, A., & Guillemin, D. (2013). The importance of literacy in the home language: The view from Australia. SAGE Open, 3(4), 1-14. .

Bio

Dr. Marianne Turner is a Senior Lecturer in the Education Faculty at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. She researches context-sensitive approaches to the integration of language and content and her work has been published widely in both language education and general education journals. Her interests include the leveraging of students’ linguistic and cultural resources for learning, and the language production of students from different language backgrounds in bilingual programs.

When: May 26, 2022 (Thursday)

Time: 5pm-6:30pm (EDT, Montreal)

Mode of delivery: synchronous via Zoom