This book is a collection of studies on multilingual ideologies in higher education around the world. Through ethnographic case studies and historical analysis, the authors investigate the translanguaging practices facilitating language acquisition and intercultural communication at the tertiary level. In chapter 1, Catherine M. Mazak introduces the focus of each chapter and reviews the history of translanguaging, defining it as a language ideology, a theory of bilingualism, a pedagogical stance, a set of practices, and as being transformational (5). Leketi Makalela in chapter 2 proposes an Ubuntu translanguaging pedagogy (UTP) and reports the efficacy of UTP in teaching Sepedi in a South African University among preservice language teachers who are permitted to carry out classroom discourses in Sepedi, isiZulu, isiXhosa, SiSwati, isiNdebele, and English.
In Chapter 3, Petra Daryai-Hansen, Sonja Barfod, & Lena Schwarz introduce the language profiles at Roskilde University and the translanguaging policy. The authors examine the receptive and productive translanguaging practices in which French, German, Spanish, Danish, and English are used to facilitate students’ plurilingual and intercultural competences in order to achieve interactional and social aims. In chapter 4, Bridget A. Goodman explores translanguaging practices at a Ukrainian university among three groups of students and teachers who are observed using one or more languages such as Ukrainian, Russian, English, German, French, and Spanish inside or outside the classroom aligned with the pedagogical goals. In chapter 5, Mazak, Fiorelys Mendoza, & Laren Pérez Mangonéz investigate the translanguaging practices of three professors at a Spanish-English bilingual university in Puerto Rico. In chapter 6, Peichang He, Haiyan Lai, & Angel Lin explore the translanguaging and trans-semiotizing practices of a mathematics professor during his presentation at a higher math-education seminar in Hong Kong. Activating the multilingual and multimodal repertoires such as English, Chinese, pictures, mathematic symbols, and graphic organizers, the professor conducts intercultural communication and academic language development of bilinguals. In chapter 7, Cynthia Groff analyzes historically and ideologically the multilingual policies and practices in Indian higher education. Translanguaging between Hindi, English, Russian, and Kumauni is found to be commonly implemented.
Through interviews with professors and administrators, Kevin S. Carroll & Melanie van den Hoven (chapter 8) describe the strong monolingual ideology within higher education in the United Arab Emirates, where translanguaging between English and Arabic is not openly accepted. Aintzane Doiz & David Lasagabaster in chapter 9 explore professors’ beliefs about translanguaging in English-medium instruction courses at the University of the Basque Country, an officially Basque and Spanish bilingual community. Though translanguaging is believed to be useful in helping students understand the subject matter, it is not generally accepted in classroom interactions and assessment tasks, though it is commonly practiced outside of the classroom context.
Carroll concludes this volume and addresses the necessities of creating spaces for translanguaging in legitimizing languages and building the prestige of nondominant languages. He also critically analyzes the challenges for the increased use of translanguaging and puts forward suggestions on how to promote translanguaging practices.
Translanguaging in higher education is a truly diverse collection of globally contextualized research on translanguaging practices, demonstrating the advantages and the limitations of bi- and multilingual practices in higher education.
