Translanguaging: Conceptual underpinnings of equity-oriented instructional and assessment practices with adolescent multilingual learners

Abstract

The empirical papers in this Special Issue operationalize translanguaging in the context of diverse instructional and assessment practices with adolescent multilingual students. The different conceptualizations that guide their research questions, analyses and interpretations are described and connections between them and the current literature on translanguaging and other relevant fields are made. Additional aspects of the translanguaging construct as it relates to both equitable educational practices and the specifics of adolescent learners are then raised. These considerations include the reciprocal relationships between developments during adolescence and translanguaging practices, and how a translanguaging lens can help reveal the ways instruction and assessment can be asset-based, authentic and valid for adolescent multilingual learners.