Translanguage in Higher Education:
for a critic linguistic education that values the student’s voice
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/2237-4876.2022v25n2p92Keywords:
Translanguage, Higher Education, Critical Linguistic EducationAbstract
This article, situated within Applied Linguistics (AL), especifically in Indisciplinary AL
(MOITA LOPES, 2006) and in decolonial studies (MIGNOLO, 2018; QUIJANO, 2007;
WALSH, 2018) aims to discuss the discursive functionality of translanguaging in the context
of university students of Portuguese as an Additional Language in the Portuguese Flagship
Program program of the University of Georgia (UGA/USA). After presenting a brief
definition of translanguaging (GARCÍA 2011; CANAGARAJAH, 2013, among others), we
address the intertwining between translanguaging and decoloniality. The data discussed in this
paper are part of the ongoing doctoral thesis of the first author, under the supervision of the
second author, and were collected during her Visiting Scholar program (Doutorado Sanduíche
PSDE/CAPES), through a critical-collaborative methodology (NININ; MAGALHÃES,
2017). The research corpus comprised the observation of 13 classes, which ranged from 3 to
10 students per session, during the months of September/2021 to March/2022. Data analysis
indicates that translanguaging is a relevant pedagogical resource, playing an important role in
complex and interdependent areas of the student’s life, namely: social, academic, linguistic and personal areas.
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