Which turn to take? Teachers’ Use of Translanguaging in Foreign Language Classrooms

Pedagogical translanguaging, the planned, deliberate, and flexible use of two or more languages in the same lesson, is a highly recommended practice in the foreign language (L2) classroom, but thus far there are no quantitative empirical studies supporting translanguaging behavior. To analyze the use of translanguaging, the present study analyzed L2 classroom interaction in 39 lessons in 2594 pairs of teacher questions and student answers, zooming in on the trade-off between (a) getting an answer and (b) getting an answer in the L2. A cluster analysis identified four types of lessons: (1) mainly L2 - low L2 response, (2) mainly L2 - high L2 response, (3) mainly L1 - low L2 response and (4) L2-L1 translanguagers – moderately high L2 response. Comparing cluster (1) in which teachers spoke English exclusively and students gave minimal responses in the L2 to cluster (2) in which teacher also used English exclusively but obtained high levels of L2 response from the learners, reveals mixed outcomes when teachers adopt a monolingual stance (L2 only as the language of instruction). Lessons in cluster 4, the “translanguagers,” reveal a significantly higher level of student responsiveness. This implies that teachers who ask many questions in the L2, but receive few answers, may increase students’ active classroom participation by adopting pedagogical translanguaging. A possible interpretation of the outcomes of this study is that using the foreign language as the language of instruction and pedagogical translanguaging are complementary, rather than competing, strategies in a language teacher’s repertoire.