TRANSLANGUAGING: CO-CONSTRUCTING MEANINGS IN A MULTILINGUAL SETTING

Abstract

Being an expatriate teacher in Brunei made me consider different strategies and techniques in language teaching. This paper attempts to discuss my reflections on the use of translanguaging as a pedagogical tool in a student-centered learning environment with multilingual learners whose native languages are beyond my linguistic repertoire. Translanguaging has gained a lot of attention since its coinage in Southeast Asia, but there appears to be a paucity of this concept in language research specifically in Brunei context. In the same vein, Barr and Tagg’s learning paradigm was used to frame the discussion and expound on how translanguaging as a pedagogy could be a powerful tool in an environment where students are expected to co-construct knowledge with their teacher. In doing so, I posit that translanguaging empowers both teachers and students in constructing meanings however, if the teacher is not in any way familiar of their first language, students’ communicative competence might also be at risk.