A Space for Myself and My Language: University Students' Translanguaging Practices and Agency

• Main Author: Perfecto, Marianne Rachel G
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: Arts and Humanities; Education; English Language and Literature; Higher Education; Language and Literacy Education
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/english-faculty-pubs/211; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8589-0_4
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

For many years, multilingual learners have been taught writing using native speaker norms that focus either on the process or product of writing, which is devoid of any context. Recently, however, the social dimensions of writing have been emphasized; thus, writing is no longer just regarded as a systematic process, but as a “form of social activism driven by students’ agencies” (Kalan, 2014, p. 10). This study furthers this argument by describing how translanguaging can provide multilingual university students this sense of agency in their writing if they are given the space in the classroom. Data used in the study come from the students’ activities and answers to the reflection questionnaire they answered after working on the activities. Results show that the translingual practices of the students enact their agency. The translanguaging done by the students, however, does not just show the meshing and switching of codes. Two participants in the study claim that thinking happens in one language, and the writing is done in English, thus supporting Cummin’s argument that languages are “experientially and socially real” (Cummins, 2021, p. 17). Implications for the teaching of writing in a multilingual classroom are discussed.