ERIC Number: EJ1169301
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Feb
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0142-6001
EISSN: N/A
Translingual Practice as Spatial Repertoires: Expanding the Paradigm beyond Structuralist Orientations
Canagarajah, Suresh
Applied Linguistics, v39 n1 p31-54 Feb 2018
The expanding orientations to translingualism are motivated by a gradual shift from the structuralist paradigm that has been treated as foundational in modern linguistics. Structuralism encouraged scholars to consider language, like other social constructs, as organized as a self-defining and closed structure, set apart from spatiotemporal "context" (which included diverse considerations such as history, geography, politics, and society). Translingualism calls for a shift from these structuralist assumptions to consider more mobile, expansive, situated, and holistic practices. In this article, I articulate how a poststructuralist paradigm might help us theorize and practice translingualism according to a spatial orientation that embeds communication in space and time, considering all resources as working together as an assemblage in shaping meaning. I illustrate from my ongoing research with international STEM scholars in a Midwestern American university to theorize how translingualism will redefine the role of constructs such as language, non-verbal artifacts, and context in communicative proficiency.
Descriptors: Code Switching (Language), Translation, Multilingualism, Bilingualism, Linguistics, STEM Education, Communication Strategies, Postmodernism, Research, Language Usage
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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