Translanguaging

Translanguaging can be understood in a variety of senses, referring to (1) a type of language practice, (2) a theory of language, or (3) an orientation to language. As a type of language practice, it generally refers to the fluid use of language resources across linguistic boundaries. While conventional concepts such as code-switching and code-mixing are predominantly premised on the clear delineation of named language boundaries (e.g., movement between languages as “codes”), translanguaging generally attempts to conceptualize language irrespective of such boundaries. As a theory of language, it aims to understand and represent the lived realities of communication. In other words, translanguaging tries to understand how everyday people, particularly in linguistically and culturally diverse contexts, engage in a variety of communicative practices. This bibliography provides an overview of the preliminary descriptions of translanguaging. It afterwards surveys various cognate theorizations of the concept. It is followed by treatments of translanguaging as a form of communicative social interaction first generally and then specifically in educational contexts, digital contexts, in relation to language policy/planning, and then in the linguistic landscape. Next, it provides a survey of texts that describe methodological implications of translanguaging. Although it is undeniable that translanguaging has been most influential within applied linguistics, this entry also acknowledges and provides an overview of how translanguaging has been taken up in composition studies, where it has also been impactful. It concludes with a series of texts that represent critical approaches to translanguaging. Though there are a number of concepts related to translanguaging, in order to make this bibliography a useful resource for researchers, it does not include references that are closely related, including the wealth of texts on the theory and practice of translation, bilingualism, multilingualism, and bi-/multilingual literature.