Deep Dives

The Issue

Imagine traveling to a new country and hearing someone say “Pardon, waar is het toilet?” You may have recognized pardon as “excuse me,” waar as “where,” and toilet would be easy enough to understand from the context. Now this may not mean that you are now fluent in Dutch, but it does exemplify how people often rely on their knowledge of a language they do know to make sense of a language they don’t (unless, of course, you already spoke Dutch). Similarly, this is the experience of many multilingual students educated within the U.S. as they draw on all their language resources to make sense of the content presented in class.

It is well established that students are likely to have greater engagement, sense of belonging, and even improved academic achievement when their language and culture are valued (Ladson-Billings, 1995, 2014). However, these practices may not always be supported within many U.S. classrooms. Unconscious biases, a lack of knowledge on how to provide support, legislative mandates prohibiting multilingualism, and the pressure to ensure that students are meeting grade-level expectations in English can all impede teachers’ opportunities to support their multilingual students in making connections between their home language (or the language(s) used within a child’s home) and the language of school (which is largely General American English). Moreover, educators may not always know how to adjust instruction so that students are encouraged to draw on all of their language resources. Turning to the available research can provide some insight into how learning may look different in a translanguaging classroom.

What is Translanguaging?

Research on the role of translanguaging has grown in popularity as a means of incorporating all of a student’s language resources to support their overall language development.

Translanguaging refers to the way multilingual individuals access and use all of their language resources (also referred to as their full linguistic repertoire) as opposed to treating their languages as separate entities (Garcia & Li, 2014).

It is not a single instructional practice, but instead focuses on the ways instruction can be modified to engage all of the language resources students possess. This emphasis on all of the student’s language resources is key as early conceptualizations about multilingualism suggested that speakers were simply holding two or more separate language or dialect systems in their head (Volterra & Taeschner, 1978).

Put another way, it was thought that a multilingual Spanish/English speaker was equivalent to having a monolingual Spanish speaker and a monolingual English speaker in one body. Instead, more recent research has clarified that these languages do not exist as separate systems, but instead are well integrated and used purposefully depending on the context (Cummins, 1991; Flores & Garcia, 2017). In educational contexts, this understanding has resulted in several teaching approaches (also referred to as translanguaging pedagogy) that aim to leverage all of a student's language resources to support learning and meaning making (Hamman-Ortiz & Romero, 2025). However, within many U.S. classrooms, there is a requirement for a sometimes exclusive use of English, leaving many students to only access a portion of their language resources. If the emphasis is on English, then it may seem counterintuitive to use instructional time to strengthen a child’s home language; however, pulling on research from bilingual education suggests that developing literacy skills in a child’s home language is supportive of, rather than a hindrance to, growth in their secondary language (Cummins, 1991, 2007). As such, encouraging students to use all of their language resources, as opposed to an exclusive emphasis on English, may be more beneficial.

The Research

Importantly, the benefits documented within the research surrounding translanguaging are a byproduct of strategic implementation of several different practices as opposed to simply embracing the concept (Lang, 2019). For example, encouraging students to shift between languages during reading activities can have positive impacts on students’ vocabulary and comprehension skills. This is illustrated in a study where a student saw the word soil, but mistakenly associated it with the word oil. Since this student was encouraged to use both of their languages, they were able to ask if the word soil was the same as aceite [oil in Spanish]. The teacher was able to clarify the confusion, which helped the student’s comprehension of the text and helped establish a new vocabulary word in English (Hopewell, 2011).

For gains in engagement and motivation, another practice is for teachers to model the use of different dialects or languages during instruction, or even use explicit directives for students to use all of their language resources (de la Luz Reyes, 2012). Modeling multilingualism is not restricted to oral expression, but can also be done through the use of texts that use students’ home languages (Domke, 2024; Wald, 2023). The benefits to engagement are evidenced in a study where a student shared that being able to engage with multilingual texts motivated them to showcase “how beautiful” their languages were within their own writing (Zapata & Laman, 2016). These are sensible outcomes given that students are being encouraged to share the totality of what they know simply by acknowledging that their existing knowledge is not limited to one language or dialect.

Another practice includes promoting students to brainstorm and draft stories in their home languages before writing them in English as this has been tied to improved writing outcomes for students (Bauer et al., 2017; Velasco & Garcia, 2014).

Collectively, these examples highlight that translanguaging does not end with simply allowing students to use multiple languages, but depends on teachers facilitating and structuring specific opportunities (e.g., modeling multilingualism, clarifying definitions) for students to draw on all their language resources. 

The strategic integration of these practices may be why Hopewell (2011) concluded that contexts that promoted strict separation of languages stifled the language growth of the students. In these contexts, students had fewer opportunities to receive corrective feedback when they inferred incorrect meanings and were unable to draw connections from cognates. Conversely, in contexts that encouraged translanguaging, these opportunities were more readily available. Importantly, most of the evidence surrounding the use of translanguaging has been from qualitative research (Hamman-Ortiz et al., 2025), so no causal claims about the effects of translanguaging can be made. Instead, the evidence provided from these studies sheds an important light on the experiences and perceptions of the students and teachers engaging in translanguaging.

With the promise that translanguaging holds, it is crucial to acknowledge that it is not a one-stop-shop solution. Some concerns include that the benefits for high school students have been documented as limited and that it may necessitate professional learning to support educators with the implementation (Allard, 2017; Lang, 2019). However, most apparent is that many monolingual teachers may feel ill-equipped to support their multilingual students if they themselves do not speak the language. Promoted practices such as including multilingual texts and diverse literature, accepting and valuing responses from languages other than English, or modeling the practice of using more than one language (Michael-Luna & Canagarajah, 2007) seem useful until the reality of not knowing where to find diverse texts, pressures to prepare students for tests conducted in English, and not being able to model multilingualism if you only speak one language sets in.

Though limited, the research has begun to address these concerns and encourages the use of professional development to build knowledge about the different practices within translanguaging and other responsive practices. For example, teachers might learn more about strategies such as inviting students to serve as language liaisons that can help draw connections between the languages, build expertise in how to explain cognates, or build their knowledge about how the grammar may differ between students’ home languages and English. This reiterates the importance of teachers co-learning with their students on how to navigate a multilingual space, without the pressure to be multilingual (Desmond, 2024; Hamman-Ortiz & Romero, 2024; Hansen-Thomas et al., 2021; Ortiz et. al., 2025). Additionally, utilizing the strengths of the students within the classroom through strategic language pairings can help to minimize language barriers (Bauer et al., 2017).

In Sum

Instead of restricting students to an emphasis on English, or merely allowing students to use more than one language, classrooms that embrace translanguaging intentionally structure opportunities that encourage students to use all of their language resources. This can include practices such as allowing students to brainstorm in their home language, or using multilingual texts, as these activities have been associated with positive outcomes such as improved engagement, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. Though much of this evidence is based on qualitative research in contexts where teachers or researchers are familiar with the language that the students are using, emerging research has been done to support monolingual teachers interested in translanguaging. However, continued work is needed to address concerns of legislative pressures as well as the pressure to prepare students for exams conducted in English. Though translanguaging may not be a “cure-all” for supporting multilingual students, it shows promise as a responsive practice.

Questions we just don’t have the answers to:

1. Are certain translanguaging practices (e.g., bridging cognates, using bilingual books) more or less effective for supporting students’ reading achievement?
2. Is there a recommended percentage of time spent translanguaging to help the acquisition of English?
3. Do different translanguaging practices work better or worse for different languages?
4. How do factors such as grade level, English proficiency, and instructional setting influence the effectiveness of translanguaging practices?
5. How well do principles of translanguaging support students who are multidialectal, or those who use more than one dialect of English such as African American English and General American English?
6. Which translanguaging practices can monolingual teachers implement effectively?
   1. What knowledge or professional learning do they need to do so?

Additional Resources:

WWC | Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School

WIDA Home Page

NCIL | Effective Literacy & English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades