Learning through the medium of a second or additional language is becoming very common in different parts of the world because of the increasing use of English as the language of instruction and the mobility of populations. This situation demands a specific approach that considers multilingualism as its core. Pedagogical translanguaging is a theoretical and instructional approach that aims at improving language and content competences in school contexts by using resources from the learner's whole linguistic repertoire. Pedagogical translanguaging is learner-centred and endorses the support and development of all the languages used by learners. It fosters the development of metalinguistic awareness by softening of boundaries between languages when learning languages and content. This Element looks at the way pedagogical translanguaging can be applied in language and content classes and how it can be valuable for the protection and promotion of minority languages. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core

In recent years new ideas about multilingualism and translanguaging have been widely debated in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics. A growing number of studies have investigated different aspects of translanguaging. Thus far only a few studies have focused on teachers’ beliefs, attitudes or ideologies. In an earlier study, we found monolingual assumptions to be strong among teachers in the Basque Country and in Friesland. In the current study in-service teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism and translanguaging are discussed in relation to the key role that teachers can play in changing educational practices. During a course of continuing professional development in-service teachers received training on multilingual approaches. Before, during and after the course data were collected on their beliefs about multilingualism and translanguaging. The outcomes reveal some important changes in the teachers’ beliefs about separating languages, mixing languages and languages supporting each other and the application of those beliefs in the classroom. The complex relationship between professional development and changes in teachers’ beliefs and practices is placed in a broader context of multilingual approaches to teaching.

Teaching English has traditionally been associated with a monolingual bias and the exclusive use of English in the classroom is highly recommended in different countries. Nowadays English is widely used to teach academic content and this strict separation of languages can be problematic because it prevents students from using resources they have previously acquired in other languages (Cenoz & Gorter, 2015; Kubota, 2018). In this article we discuss ‘pedagogical translanguaging’ understood as intentional instructional strategies that integrate two or more languages and aim at the development of the multilingual repertoire as well as metalinguistic and language awareness. Pedagogical translanguaging considers learners as emergent multilinguals who can use English and other languages depending on the social context. Their linguistic resources are valued and learners are not seen as deficient users of English but as multilingual speakers.

This article focuses on the development of morphological awareness in English as a third language. It analyses how the activation of previous linguistic knowledge can influence morphological awareness. Participants were 104 primary school students who were learning English as a third language and were already fluent in two other languages, Basque and Spanish. Participants in the experimental group took part in a pedagogical intervention aiming at the development of morphological awareness by using translanguaging pedagogies. The aim of the intervention was to enable participants to use their linguistic repertoire across languages and benefit from their multilingual resources. Results indicate that participants in the experimental group obtained higher scores in morphological awareness than the control group from the same school. In addition, participants in the experimental group perceived that the use of translanguaging strategies was useful for their learning and also enjoyable as a teaching approach.

The study of Second Language acquisition (SLA) has seen important developments in the last decades, including far‐reaching reflection processes that question its scope, method, and aims. One of the most influential articles was published by Firth and Wagner (1997) who highlighted the role of the social context. The Douglas Fir Group (DFG) article (2016) also highlights the role of the social context and proposes a new transdisciplinary framework for SLA in a multilingual world. In this commentary, we look at some of the ideas discussed in the DFG article as well as in the articles in this Special Issue regarding new perspectives and critical questions in SLA. Our ideas are obviously shaped by our own social context, which is European, and our type of multilingualism, which involves not only English but also minority languages.

Multilingualism is widespread in the world today and English is, in many cases, one of the languages in the multilingual speaker's repertoire. English as a lingua franca (ELF) is used by multilingual speakers who can also communicate in other languages and use their multilingual and multicultural resources in creative ways. This paper aims at exploring the relationship between recent trends in multilingualism, particularly the proposal ‘Focus on Multilingualism’ and ELF. After a brief presentation of multilingualism as related to globalization and super-diversity, there will be an examination of the new trends that bring together the study of multilingualism in education and ELF. Then, similarities and differences between the two are discussed as related to the emerging paradigm that takes into consideration a new vision of language, speakers and repertoires and has translanguaging as a key concept. Translanguaging pedagogies based on the multilingual learner's repertoire are also discussed. The last section looks at achievements and challenges presented by the synergies that have been created and reinforced.

Learning two or more languages at school is quite common all over Europe, but languages are often isolated from each other. This pedagogical practice is in contrast to the way multilingual speakers use their whole linguistic repertoire when communicating in social contexts. These multilingual solitudes are challenged when translanguaging pedagogies are used and multilingual students are allowed to use the resources in their linguistic repertoire. The specific focus of this article is to examine translanguaging as a pedagogical tool as related to a context wherein Basque is the main language of instruction, but a minority language in society. The article reports the characteristics of a pedagogical intervention based on translanguaging, which aims at developing language awareness, metalinguistic awareness, and communicative and academic competences in Basque, Spanish, and English. Our findings show that pedagogical translanguaging can be compatible with the maintenance and development of a minority language.

The aim of this article is to focus on university students’ attitudes towards English and their anxieties concerning the use of English in the Basque Country, a multilingual context where exposure to English is limited but internationalisation is an important aim. Participants were 360 undergraduate university students of business (N = 180) and education (N = 180) at the University of the Basque Country. The results of the questionnaires indicate that business students had a more positive attitude(s) towards English than education students. The findings also indicate that female business students have a relatively positive attitude in comparison to male business students but also a higher level of anxiety. The results are discussed as related to the situation of English-medium instruction in Southern European bilingual areas and previous studies on gender, attitudes and anxiety.

In this article we discuss the outcomes of a study into the languages of the workplace of internationally operating companies. Our aim is to contribute to studies of multilingualism in the workplace by adopting a holistic approach that focuses on several languages and relates the competences and attitudes of multilingual professionals to the repertoires used and learned in the workplace and the wider social context. The study is situated in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain, where the regional government has already developed a strong bilingual language policy to promote the minority language Basque and recently also supports a policy of internationalization of companies, implying the use of other languages. The tensions arising from the confrontation between these two policies are discussed. Based on interviews with 25 informants in managerial positions, we found that the default language of workplace communication is Spanish, there is limited use of Basque and for foreign trade English is dominant, although Spanish is used with Latin America. The language and cultural competence of professionals is lagging behind and should be further developed, although the younger generation has a better command of English. The wider social context has an important influence on the language practices inside the company. Multilingualism plays an important role in Basque companies that operate internationally, but the companies still have to overcome important language barriers. Our study confirms that language practices and language learning experiences are complex and highlights the need for a holistic approach that includes the repertoire of languages used in the workplace.

Traditionally, languages have been separated from each other in the school curriculum and there has been little consideration for resources that learners possess as emergent multilinguals. This policy is aimed at the protection of minority languages and has sought to avoid cross-linguistic influence and codeswitching. However, these ideas have been challenged by current multilingual ideologies in a society that is becoming more globalised. Within the field of multilingual education studies, there is a strong trend towards replacing the idea of isolated linguistic systems with approaches that take multilingual speakers and their linguistic repertoire as a reference.

This article focuses on translanguaging, a concept that was developed in bilingual schools in Wales and refers both to pedagogically oriented strategies and to spontaneous language practices. In this article, translanguaging will be analysed as related to the protection and promotion of minority languages. Examples from multilingual education involving minority languages will be shown in order to see how translanguaging can be at the same time a threat for the survival of minority languages and an opportunity for their development. A set of principles that can contribute to sustainable translanguaging in a context of regional minority language use will be discussed.

In this article, we establish direct links between language policy on the one hand and assessment in multilingual contexts on the other hand. We illustrate the bi-directional relationship with the examples of the USA, Canada, and the Basque Country. That comparison is placed in the context of the changing views about the use of languages in education where a shift can be observed away from an emphasis on separating languages to approaches that more closely suit daily practices of multilinguals. This concerns a shift from language isolation policies in language teaching and assessment towards more holistic approaches that consider language-as-resource and promote the use of the whole linguistic repertoire. However, the implementation of programs based on holistic approaches is limited and application in language assessment modest. Traditions and monolingual ideologies do not give way easily. We show some examples of creative new ways to develop multilingual competence and cross-lingual skills. The assessment of interventions with a multilingual focus point to a potential increase in learning outcomes. Multilingualism is a point of departure because in today's schools, students who speak different languages share the same class, while at the same time learning English (and other languages). We conclude that holistic approaches in language education policy and multilingual assessment need to substitute more traditional approaches.

In this article we analyze teachers’ beliefs about learning different languages in multilingual education, which include forms of immersion in the minority and the majority languages. In this study interviews were held with 51 primary school teachers from the Basque Country (Spain), and Friesland (The Netherlands). In both regions three languages are taught: majority, minority and English. Based on the teachers’ views we obtain interesting insights into the native speaker ideal, pupils as multilingual speakers, and the proficiency levels for each language. The teachers also expressed their ideas on teaching through the minority language and through English, as well as their beliefs on cross-linguistic use of languages and how that is related to the multilingual repertoire. The social context is believed to have an important influence through the parents, the media, and the status of the languages in society. The article concludes that beliefs are still largely monolingual and seem to only gradually change to more multilingual views.

This article looks at the characteristics of Content-Based Instruction (CBI) and Content land Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in order to examine their similarities and differences. The analysis shows that CBI/CLIL programmes share the same essential properties and are not pedagogically different from each other. In fact, the use of an L2 as the medium of instruction, the language, societal and educational aims and the typical type of child are the same in CBI and CLIL programmes. The use of both CBI and CLIL refers to programmes where academic content is taught through a second or additional language and the preference for one term over the other is associated with contextual and accidental characteristics. In this article, there are examples from Basque education where academic content is often taught through the medium of Basque and English to students with Spanish as a first language. The examples show that even if there are more subjects taught through the medium of Basque than through the medium of English, there are no essential differences between CBI (partial immersion in the Basque example) and CLIL (English-medium instruction in the Basque example). The need to share the research findings of CBI/CLIL programmes is highlighted.