Translanguaging and Multilingual Texts as a Resource in Superdiverse Classrooms

Abstract

This contribution draws on the preliminary results of a project that uses translanguaging and plurilingual texts during an intervention (of six months) in one primary and one lower secondary school class in Vienna. Although Viennese pupils’ linguistic repertoires are highly diverse, pupils usually barely get a chance to use their respective repertoires at school, because of a focus on highly prestigious languages, such as German or English. We assumed that pupils would positively experience the use of their plurilingual competences to gain self-efficacy. Moreover, we expected that group dynamics would improve due to the use of translanguaging. Results of the ethnographic observations and interviews we conducted with one teacher at each school at the end of the intervention are discussed in this article. They support the conclusion that school classes that are linguistically diverse benefit from intervention at the socioemotional level. However, it is crucial that teachers pay particular attention to the integration of less dominant languages.

Keywords: translanguaging pedagogy, plurilingual texts, linguistic superdiversity, self-efficacy, dominant languages