This public lecture, hosted by the Language, Interculturality and Literacies (LIL) Thematic Hub, is part of the Stewart Alan Robertson Lecture Series funded by the Robertson Endowment.

Presentation title: Translanguaging: what does it really mean?

Speaker: Professor Jeanine Treffers-Daller is Em.Professor of Multilingualism at the University of Reading.

About this event

Translanguaging is a very popular term in the field of multilingualism, as it has been studied in over 3000 papers. But what does it really mean? It seems that, like Humpty Dumpty, when researchers use the term, ‘it means just what they choose it to mean — neither more nor less.' While it is good that the translanguaging literature has opened up discussions about the advantages of using more than one language in the classroom, particularly in contexts where learners are multilingual themselves, we need diagnostic criteria that enable us to identify multilingual practices that are beneficial for learners. On a theoretical level, a number of claims have been made in the translanguaging literature that are untenable in the face of overwhelming counterevidence from a range of fields. The key proponents of translanguaging claim, for example, that languages are not psychologically real and that there are no boundaries between language systems. In the talk, I will review the evidence from a range of studies, with a specific focus on vocabulary, and argue that translanguaging can offer a helpful complementary perspective on multilingual practices, once neuroscientific, structural, psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives on multilingualism have been integrated into its conceptualization.

About the speaker

Jeanine Treffers-Daller is Em.Professor of Multilingualism at the University of Reading. She has published widely on language contact, and vocabulary knowledge in multilinguals, including language dominance and lexical diversity. She has published on multilingualism in a variety of contexts, including Belgium, Turkey, Malaysia, India and the UK, and is Editor-in-Chief of Languages, and on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Bilingualism and of Bilingualism, Language and Cognition.

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