Translanguaging: A Perspective From the Global South

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Translanguaging in Action: Exploring Language Practices Across Diverse Classrooms (Table 1)

Abstract

This paper explores translanguaging from a Global South lens where the language of instruction is a foreign, colonial language (namely, English) with the majority language (i.e., Urdu) being taught only as a subject. Using qualitative data from a case study conducted in Karachi, Pakistan, this paper shows how translanguaging gives pre-primary students the confidence to start incorporating English into their formal classroom interactions. However, the general practice of language separation in higher grades leads students to dichotomize their language usage: English in the classroom, Urdu outside of the classroom. While translanguaging in the Global North has gained traction in the context of bilingual education, the paper discusses its implications in the Global South in terms of resource-rich, literacy-rich, English-medium schools.

Author

• Saulat Pervez, International Institute of Islamic Thought