Translanguaging: a paradigm shift for ELT theory and practice

Abstract Translanguaging theory and pedagogy have emerged as central to the recent multilingual turn in educational linguistics and language teaching, including ELT. This article will explore translanguaging from theoretical and practical perspectives, aiming to clarify what it is and is not claiming, and what types of pedagogic practice it advocates, both in its stronger and weaker forms. I argue that a paradigm shift is occurring in the field, parallel with the shift in understanding of the nature of language itself that underpins both translanguaging theory and integrationism in linguistics. Implications for practice in ELT are also explored, including a reorientation concerning the goals of language teaching, a recognition of English as a social construct with traditions of use rather than immutable rules, and a repositioning of the many translingual teachers around the world as the experts at the centre of the multilingual turn that is defining early twenty-first century language pedagogy.