Fostering an ecological synergy of learning-research-practice with pre-service Languages Other Than English teachers in China: A translanguaging lens

Abstract

Pre-service language teachers continue to be a major focus of language teacher education. Despite efforts to bridge the gap between professional training and actual pedagogical practice, research has largely centred on pre-service English teachers, leaving their Languages Other Than English (LOTE) counterparts understudied. Concurrently, the importance of multilingual resources in language education has gained recognition, challenging traditional monolingual approaches in classrooms. Although some research has explored LOTE teachers' classroom discourse from a translanguaging perspective, overall output remains limited. This study adopts a translanguaging lens to examine how a ‘learning-research-practice’ cycle shaped three pre-service LOTE teachers' perceptions of using multilingual and multimodal resources in classroom teaching and their practices in doing so. Data collected through participants' reflective journals and semi-structured interviews provide insights into how they benefited from learning translanguaging theory in their postgraduate course, how they engaged with this knowledge in empirical research, and how they applied translanguaging practices in their teaching to facilitate comprehension, promote classroom interaction, and enhance learning. We contend that fostering a synergy between learning, research, and practice can transform teacher candidates' mindsets, raise awareness, and facilitate the provision of effective pedagogical support. This study highlights the importance of integrating a ‘research’ element into pre-service LOTE teacher education to bridge theory and practice through reflective practice.