JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching https://e-journal.undikma.ac.id/index.php/jollt/index Email: jollt@ikipmataram.ac.id & jollt@undikma.ac.id DOI: https://doi.org/10.33394/jollt.v%vi%i.4826 April 2022. Vol. 10, No, 2 p-ISSN: 2338-0810 e-ISSN: 2621-1378 pp.199-210 JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, April 2022. Vol. 10, No.2 | 199 A MULTILINGUAL TURN: TRANSLANGUAGING BY DESIGN ACTIVITY IN AN EFL CONTEXT Kufakunesu Zano Department of Basic Education, South Africa Corresponding Author Email: kufazano@gmail.com Article Info Abstract Article History Received: February 2022 Revised: March 2022 Published: April 2022 Translanguaging can be the latest all-embracing approach in language policy and assessment needed to substitute previous linguistic practices that treated languages as separate entities in a globalised world. This study is based on translanguaging by analysing activities that involved two cartoons in a multilingual classroom. This research was conducted to determine the opinions of Grade 12 EFAL learners on translanguaging by design activity in a multilingual setting. Grade 12 EFAL were chosen for their rich exposure to analysing cartoons. The class had 35 learners who were put in 5 focus groups to analyse the two cartoons. The 2017 cartoon had five questions and the 2018 cartoon had four questions, which learners answered in groups. The results indicate that translanguaging is an empowering tool that gives the learners a sense of ownership and belonging as they manipulate their previous linguistic knowledge to explore the given task. The teacher needs to alert the learners that they are free to use their home languages together with English to do an activity. This helps learners realise that there is not much difference between English and their home languages as they answer the questions. Teachers need to be multilingual so that they remain culturally and linguistically relevant to the learners. Keywords English First Additional Language; Translanguaging; Multilingualism; Codeswitching; How to cite: Zano, K. (2022). A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging by Design Activity in an EFL Context, JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, 10(2), pp. 199-210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33394/jollt.v%vi%i.4826 INTRODUCTION With the arrival of independence in 1994 in South Africa, the new administration set out to address historical injustices, aiming to implement the necessary social, political, and neoliberal policies in order to re-enter the world market (Potgieter & Anthonissen, 2017). In South Africa, language reform has long been a contentious topic tied to nation-building, social integration, and civil liberties; as a result, when the democratic state took office in 1994, it established a language policy to tackle these challenges. As an example of such a constitutional instrument, the South African language policy is cited. Latest breakthroughs in language planning, policy, and implementation in South Africa have led to the conclusion that language policy is a discourse that is often productive, and it is constantly changing and transforming. It has been suggested elsewhere that the processes of concession that resulted in the foundation of a young state were instrumental in the development of a new language policy (Ngcobo, 2009:181), which has had disastrous ramifications for the language policy's enforcement in South Africa. The development of different languages cannot be separated from socio-economic and sociopolitical factors (Edwards, 2012). This can certainly be seen with minority languages that have often been associated with shame and backwardness but that can also acquire a higher social status because of these factors (Cenoz & Gorter, 2017). Language is perhaps the only realm in education in which a learner’s knowledge is often not credited. It would be unthinkable in Mathematics or Science education to take no account of a learner’s previous https://e-journal.undikma.ac.id/index.php/jollt/index mailto:jollt@ikipmataram.ac.id http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1366476729&1&& http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1524725326&1&& Zano A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging ……….. JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, April 2022. Vol. 10, No.2 | 200 knowledge in teaching the subjects. Yet confining an English language classroom, however multilingual, to one language of instruction can have just that effect (Brutt-Griffler, 2017). The most significant issue for quality in education is “the all-pervasive and extremely powerful influence of language which is unambiguously implicated in learning ... and the need for pupils to have as good a grasp of the language of teaching and learning as possible (Taylor, Müller & Vinjevold, 2003:65). Language and learning cannot be separated because all teaching is done through language. This is because language is indispensable in education as it can grant passages to new opportunities, or promote inequality. The major hurdle in today’s classroom is to meet the needs and expectations of the linguistically diverse populace that most who have low proficiency in the language of instruction (UNICEF, 2016). Some researchers in South Africa tackled multilingual practices in the classroom. These researchers include Malebese et.al. (2019), Nthulana (2018) Spaull (2016) and Tshuma and Le Cordeur (2019). Their findings show that reality is contextual and knowledge is socially- created. It is important to use learners’ home languages; it is their capital of knowledge originating from their culture that they can use to boost the teaching of English first additional language (EFAL) to learners in a multilingual context. This study is about determining the opinions of Grade 12 EFAL learners on translanguaging by design activity in a multilingual setting. It differs from the above cited studies in that it focused on translanguaging or multilingual practices at high school whereas the cited ones focus on multilingual pracices in primary school. This study is important in that it matches with the South African language in education policy that is meant to promote additive and functional multilingualism, sociolinguistic as well as cultural integration. This policy advances multilingual education and translanguaging is one approach to multilingual education globally and South Africa in particular. Literature Review Hawkins and Mori (2018) note that the ―trans‐ prefix as seen in transnational, transcultural, translocal, transpatial, transmodal, translanguaging and translingual forces us to grapple with change, with movement, with fluidity and perhaps with conflict. In most cases, the ―trans‐ turn challenges established orthodoxies and understandings and creates intense debates and disagreements. As it intends to suggest here, however, the ―trans‐turn also has the potential of providing us with new directions and new answers to important questions that have engaged both scholars and practitioners in the field of second language learning (Leung & Valdes, 2018). Languages have traditionally been thought of as existing in separate compartments, or as “two solitudes” (Cummins, 1979), within bi/multilingual learners’ minds (Deroo & Ponzio, 2019). In his theory of Linguistic Interdependence, Cummins posited that linguistic or metalinguistic practices learned in one language could be transferred to another (Cummins, 1979). For example, if a child is familiar with finding the main idea of a text in one language, that child will be able to transfer that competency to a new language. While this theory destabilises the idea that languages are stored completely separately in the brain, it relies on the assumption that a bilingual person has a dual linguistic system and transfers competencies between those systems (García & Kleyn, 2016; Vogel & Garcia, 2017). Translanguaging theory, in relying on a conceptualisation of bilingualism as dynamic, argues that there are not two interdependent language systems that bilinguals shuttle between but one semiotic system integrating various lexical, morphological linguistic features besides social practices and features individuals “embody (e.g., their gestures, their posture), as well as those outside of themselves which through use become part of their bodily memory (e.g., computer technology)” (García, 2016). Rather than turning one language “off” and turning another “on,” translanguaging suggests that we creatively integrate all semiotic resources to communicate (Wei, 2017). Translanguaging, therefore, provides opportunities for individuals Zano A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging ……….. JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, April 2022. Vol. 10, No.2 | 201 to conceive of languages not as independent but as facets of the same adaptive system (Creese & Blackledge, 2010; García & Li, 2014). It can be understood as bilinguals’ ability to navigate social spaces in ways that transcend named languages (Fallas Escobar, 2019). That is, translanguaging goes beyond common understandings that describe bilingualism as double monolingualism and instead construes multilingual speakers ‘not so much as the sum of two (or more) complete or incomplete monolinguals but rather as specific and fully competent speaker-hearers who have developed a communicative competence that is equal but different, to that of monolinguals’ (Grosjean, 1996:21). Translanguaging was used to create moments of less language separation, as the alternation of languages in different phases of one single language class. Baker describes this process in the following way: ‘To read and discuss a topic in one language, and then to write about it in another language, means that the subject matter has to be processed and “digested (2011:289). The principle chosen by the teachers for this was to provide new input in the language in which pupils were less proficient and then have pupils discuss content and language with peers in another language (Duarte & Jellema, 2017:23). This is a departure from previous conceptualisations of bilingualism. The traditional cognitive theory of bilingualism called the “Separate Underlying Proficiency” model, argued that bilinguals had two separate language systems in their minds that corresponded to nationally sanctioned, standard, named languages, such as English, Sesotho, Shona, etc. The theory posited that only exposure to and instruction in a second language (L2), and not instruction in a first language (L1), would lead to proficiency in L2 (Cummins, 1980; Vogel & García, 2017. Similar to metrolingualism, plurilingualism and code-switching, translanguaging emphasises language users’ strategic movement between meaning-making resources. However, while the aforementioned perspectives are beneficial, they do not fully disrupt monolingual paradigms of language separation (García & Li, 2014). Though MacSwan (2017) argues that translanguaging is limited in its consideration of bilingual mental grammar as a unified system, he acknowledges the efficacy of translanguaging to disrupt conventional perspectives of language separation and validate the dynamic practices of multilingual children and families. While translanguaging resonates with other asset-based orientations toward multilingualism, it also represents a paradigmatic shift in how we conceptualise language systems and practices (Deroo & Ponzio, 2019). Theoretical Framework For our purposes in this study, the researcher draws upon “The Translanguaging Classroom Framework” put forth by García, Johnson and Seltzer (2017) with a specific focus on the development of teachers’ “stance” as a part of their translanguaging pedagogy. García et. al. (2017:27) define stance as “the philosophical, ideological, or belief system that teachers can draw from to develop their pedagogical framework,” arguing that without this stance, teachers cannot leverage learners’ full linguistic repertoire as a part of translanguaging pedagogy. Adopting a translanguaging stance requires teachers to question the monolingual bias inherent in school-based language practices and position students’ language practices as fundamental resources rather than as deficits that work together or “juntos.” Furthermore, García et al. (2017:50) outline three underlying beliefs of teachers’ translanguaging stance, where they (a) recognise that students’ language and cultural practices “work juntos and enrich each other,” (b) view students’ families and communities as resources to be leveraged for learning, and (c) perceive classrooms as “a democratic space where teachers and students juntos co-create knowledge, challenge traditional hierarchies and work toward a more just society”. Zano A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging ……….. JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, April 2022. Vol. 10, No.2 | 202 García, et.al. (2017) identify four purposes for the strategic use of translanguaging in the classrooms: Supporting students as they engage with and comprehend complex content and providing opportunities for students to develop linguistic practices for academic contexts, making space for students’ bilingualism and ways of knowing and supporting students’ bilingual identities and socio-emotional development. Then, these four translanguaging purposes work together to advance social justice. The Translanguaging Classroom Framework is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Translanguaging Classroom Framework from García, Johnson and Seltzer (2017) The translanguaging classroom is built by weaving together the two dimensions –the students’ linguistic performances and the teacher’s pedagogy. It is the translanguaging corriente that creates the dynamic flow, the movimiento, between these two dimensions (García, et.al., 2017). Stance is one of the three strands of the translanguaging classroom and it implies ‘the philosophical, ideological, or belief system that teachers draw from to develop their pedagogical framework’ (p27). Second, design ‘…intentionally connects bilingual students’ home and community language practices and identities to the language practices and identities deemed appropriate for school settings’ (p61). This implies that there is a need for a translanguaging design for the classroom, the instruction and the assessment. Third, shift implies ‘…those unplanned moment-by-moment decisions that teachers make in response to the flow of the translanguaging corriente in their classrooms’ (p77). It takes a teacher willing to keep meaning-making and learning at the centre of all instruction and assessment to go with the flow of the corriente (García, et.al., 2017). García, et.al. (2017) suggest some ways of leveraging the corriente in the classroom. These steps include communicating a juntos stance to students in your classroom and making space for translanguaging within programmatic language structures. Third, there is a need to supplement curricula with multimodal texts that are culturally sustaining and normalise translanguaging. Last, the teacher needs to create classroom designs that actively and purposefully leverage students’ bilingualism/biculturalism and encourage translanguaging. Zano A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging ……….. JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, April 2022. Vol. 10, No.2 | 203 This study is on learners’ perspectives, whereas seemingly only theories on teachers’ beliefs are addressed in the theoretical section. It is important to note that the two dimensions, design and shift, are based on the teachers’ decisions on behalf of the learners, hence this theory becomes befitting for this study. RESEARCH METHOD This study aims to determine the opinions of Grade 12 English First Additional Language (EFAL) learners on translanguaging by design activity in a multilingual setting. In groups, learners were asked to attempt 9 questions. The idea was to let learners use their linguistic resources to analyse the cartoons and not just restrict themselves to using English in answering the questions. A follow up focus group discussion, with two research questions, follows. The two research questions addressed by the participants are: Which bi/multilingual speakers’ observable practices did you notice as you interact with your classmates?; and What do you think is ideal in promoting the use of your language repertoire when learning a second language? This study was designed as a qualitative research project. It took place in a multilingual Grade 12 EFAL classroom. None of the participants was a native speaker of English. For this qualitative study, only 35 EFAL learners in Grade 12 were used as participants. The participants comprised 26 girls and 9 boys and were aged 17-20. The researcher requested parental consent for their children to participate in this study. The researcher also requested assent from learners to participate in this research. These learners were stationed at one high school in South Africa. In 5 groups of 7 each, they shared their opinions on translanguaging by design activity. In this study, it is an activity based on two cartoons extracted from national examination papers. These planned activities are two cartoons from two Grade 12 English first additional language paper 1 past national examination question papers (NCS English FAL Paper 1, DBE/November 2017 & 2018). The 2017 cartoon had 5 questions and the 2018 cartoon had 4 questions, which learners answered in groups. The participants had I hour 20 minutes of classroom interactions as they worked in groups. The following day, still, 1 hour 20 minutes were devoted to making follow up focus group interviews, which culminated in the data used for this study. Before the participants took part in the study, they were informed of the aim of the study, which is, ‘to determine the opinions of Grade 12 EFAL learners on translanguaging by design activity in a multilingual setting’. Before the follow-up interview, the participants were also introduced to the interview guide form with open-ended questions used as a data collection instrument. The participants were assured of confidentiality and anonymity for participating in this study; hence, they were numbered using pseudo-names L1-L35. The qualitative data for this study were analysed using the content analysis method. The content analysis reduced the volume of information and identified significant patterns. The researcher analysed the participants’ responses to translanguaging by design activity closely, finding links and similarities in the responses and coded them appropriately. Then, the researcher abridged and positioned the results into themes. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Research Findings The results of this study are meant to address two research questions for this study notably: Which bi/multilingual speakers’ observable practices did you notice as you interact with your classmates? What do you think is ideal in promoting the use of your language repertoire when learning a second language? Each research question has a theme subscribed to it. For research question one, the theme is: bi/multilingual speakers’ observable practices in Zano A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging ……….. JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, April 2022. Vol. 10, No.2 | 204 a multilingual context. For research question two, the theme is: translanguaging in second language learning. Theme 1: bi/multilingual speakers’ observable practices in a multilingual context One of the major findings under observable practices is non-verbal communication. Fabri, Moore and Hobbs (2015) describe the term ’nonverbal’ as human interaction events that transcend the spoken or written word. Fatemeh, Samaneh and Ali (2014) describe nonverbal interaction as the process of one person using cues such as gestures and facial expressions to stimulate meaning in the mind of another person using nonlinguistic features. Non-verbal interaction may take place primarily through several ways like non-verbal vocalisation, types of clothes, bodily contact, how a teacher or learner expresses the face, gaze, types of gesture, one’s body posture. Therefore, non-verbal interaction can be equal to or more effective than oral interaction. This applies to the current study because the participants point to the gestures as important paralinguistic features for communication that have a shared meaning. In line with this, the participants had this to say: We love using gestures because they have a shared interpretation; in our communities, we use the same gestures for the same meaning. They’re part of our culture and tradition and are so useful in accompanying words. No one will misinterpret a presenter’s gestures unlike a statement that can be subjected to different interpretations L25. Another finding that emerged from the theme is language and identity. Since communication is the most important part of defining and structuring our identities, linguistic identities have emerged Hozhabrossadat (2015). As the name suggests, there is no single identity in terms of communication and interaction. The question is how our linguistic identities are formed and by what means or linguistic devices we identify others or ourselves. Multiple identities are being constructed, revised and shaped. Identity is fluid and is linked to language. Linguistic devices, which include code-switching and code-crossing, tend to be (un)consciously used in multilingual communities as with the current study. For this reason, in the current study, some learners reported shuttling between languages without mindful thought, communicating instinctively in language the circumstances mandated although efforts to restrain their communication to monolingual practices or conform to monolingual English-only classroom language policies. The participants had this to say: Although it was an English lesson, however, the task had to be done orally; the temptation is always to reference our mother tongue more often than not. Even if the teacher had not given us the privilege to use any languages of our liking, we’d have secretly ‘smuggled’ our home languages during these discussions L6. The influence of the home language on the second language is another finding under observable practices. Madriñan (2014) reports that in the second language acquisition process, it may be useful for teachers to teach the new language using the mother tongue as support to develop not only the target language but also the cognitive development required to be academically and professionally successful. It is a very important aspect in education because second language teachers in bilingual schools need to ensure that their students acquire a level of proficiency that will allow them to deal with academic content during the school year. It has been found that the use of the first language in the second-language classroom helps students make connections with their existing knowledge of the mother tongue, facilitating the process of understanding (Madriñan, 2014). Research suggests that the first language should not be banned in the second-language classroom but that neither should its use be constantly encouraged; otherwise, the mother tongue may replace the target language rather than support it (Madriñan, 2014). Similarly, in the current study, the influence of one’s home language cannot be underestimated. Learners use many home language terms when they are Zano A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging ……….. JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, April 2022. Vol. 10, No.2 | 205 writing notes for informal purposes. They regard this as one of the most efficient ways of meaning-making. This resonates with the following response from the participant: We need to remember that even in our English language WhatsApp group chat, because we are naturally expected to express more in English; we always fail to do this. Instead, if you go through our chats, you might be tempted to think it’s a Sesotho or isiZulu group chat. Group contributors punctuate their contributions with just fewer English words and more home language terms. Similarly, when we write personal notes, which we’re sure the teacher won’t check, we’re hugely tempted to use a lot of mother tongue words L1. Another finding from the theme is constructivism. Irungu, Nyagah and Mugambi (2019) report that teachers should shift from the old traditional beliefs that learners are blank vessels and come to school to be fed with knowledge. Constructivist views show that learning involves building on what the learner knows so that the learner brings it to the current situation, restructure it and create new knowledge (Roberts & Billings, 2008). Therefore, interactive or social learning becomes very effective because it involves the sharing of experiences from different background knowledge and interests of different learners. It is a common practice that people move from the known to the unknown, from the simple to the complex. Likewise, in the current study, the participants replicated this by citing known examples or references to make understanding easier during the group discussions. The idea is to make the subject under discussion relatable to their experiences: The physical examples given by the group members are never remote but based on our cultural, historical, economic and political experiences. One can even ask the group to look through the window for a physical reference. We noticed that many of the example references used by the group members are community-shared. They cited famous community people, historical experiences and shared practices L19. Theme 2: translanguaging in second language learning This theme was derived from the second research question which goes: What do you think is ideal in promoting the use of your linguistic repertoire when learning a second language? In the current study, the participants have acknowledged translanguaging as a theme. Translanguaging theory, in relying on a conceptualisation of bilingualism as dynamic, argues that there are not two interdependent language systems that bilinguals shuttle between but one semiotic system integrating various lexical, morphological linguistic features besides social practices and features individuals “embody (e.g., their gestures, their posture), as well as those outside of themselves which through use become part of their bodily memory (e.g., computer technology)” (García, 2016). Rather than turning one language “off” and turning another “on,” translanguaging suggests that we creatively integrate all semiotic resources to communicate (Wei, 2017). Translanguaging, therefore, provides opportunities for individuals to conceive of languages not as independent but as facets of the same adaptive system (García & Li, 2014). For the learners to appreciate translanguaging in the classroom, teachers need to translanguage frequently. However, this can only happen if the teachers are bi/multilingual and appreciate the role of translanguaging in facilitating language awareness in a multilingual setting: If our teacher can speak many languages, certainly, we’ll learn some terms from them which have their English equivalence. Also, in case, I didn’t get it right in English, the teacher can use our home language to make us cope with ease L22. The translanguaging classroom is built by weaving together the two dimensions –the students’ linguistic performances and the teacher’s pedagogy. In most cases, translanguaging just ‘sprouts’ in a multilingual classroom without the teachers’ initiatives. Teachers should make the use of multilingual practices conscious attempts at improving comprehension in a Zano A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging ……….. JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, April 2022. Vol. 10, No.2 | 206 given linguistic task. It is incumbent upon the teacher to promote deliberately multilingual practices in an EFAL classroom by letting the learners exploit their home languages to understand an additional language: The teacher needs to announce to the learners that they’re free to use their home languages together with English to do an activity. This will help us realise there isn’t much difference between English and our home language as we answer the given questions based on, say, a cartoon L30. The relationship between content and an assessment tool is one of the noted findings of the current study. Schissel, Leung, López-Gopar and Davis (2018) use the continua of biliteracy lenses to weave theories and pedagogies of translanguaging and translingual practices with task-based language assessment approaches that regard purposeful language use as a manifestation of the language practices of a community that may be multilingual. This approach has powerful implications for language assessment and responds to calls by Otheguy, Garcıa and Reid (2015) to embrace the language resources of learners in assessments. The current assessment tools do not cater for multilingual scenarios in the classrooms. There is a need for multilingual assessments so that no learner feels excluded on linguistic grounds. However, the challenge with multilingual assessment is that the assessor (teacher) has to be multilingual so that they give the assessee (learners) detailed and age- appropriate feedback: We’re likely to do much better when assessed in our mother tongues though the lesson delivery was done in both English and our home languages. The challenge we’ve is difficult subject content and a second language as a medium of communication, English, which we hardly speak at home. Then, we’re assessed when conditions are so unfavourable to us like that. We’re likely to get just average marks L16. Creese and Blackledge (2010) link language and identity, arguing that identity construction matters in learning. They suggest that translanguaging affords opportunities for the learner to make links—often in ways not available to their teachers—between their experiences outside the classroom and those within. The link between language and identity reminds me of the following quote, ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his mother language, that goes to his heart.’ Nelson Mandela. Similarly, the participants had this to say: The teacher needs to give us activities that show that we can still rely on our home language to attempt an English task. We should identify ourselves through such activities, meaning they must be culturally relevant to us so that we remain motivated. Such activities can help us see these similarities say in sound or even spelling L18. Discussion This study is meant to address two research questions namely: Which bi/multilingual speakers’ observable practices did you notice as you interact with your classmates? What do you think is ideal in promoting the use of your language repertoire when learning a second language? The potential limitation to the study is that only 35 learners in Grade 12 were used as participants in this study. Perhaps, if the researcher had used more participants in Grade 12 and in the lower grades, the results could have been different. To address the first research question, the participants note that learners use different translingual practices as they interact with their classmates. These practices include codeswitching as an approach to translanguaging. The study highlights that any activities selected for learners need to be culturally relevant to them. Culture is language and vice versa. It is undeniable that culture gives one an identity. This echoes Vygotsky’s (1978) view when he described human development as enculturation in which learning takes place by adopting the cultural practices and the language used in that specific culture. Additionally, Axelsson (2013) highlights the significance of getting attention and recognition of multilingual Zano A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging ……….. JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, April 2022. Vol. 10, No.2 | 207 students’ mother tongue and culture as crucial for students’ progress and self-confidence in learning. The participants have high regard for translanguaging. They recommend it because it complements the linguistic ‘efforts’ of the language of instruction –English. This complementary role augurs well with Saville’s (2019) finding that translanguaging plays a scaffolding role, offering temporary bridges between languages that allow pupils to build links between official instruction languages and between home and school languages. These scaffolding moments acknowledge all different languages by giving them the same role and relevance in daily classroom routines. Another finding is that teachers need to be multilingual so that learners can benefit from them when they want clarity on certain terms and concepts. This finding is in line with Otwinowska (2014) who reports that a multilingual pedagogical approach in the classroom requires competent teachers; teachers who are multilingual themselves appear to be more multilingually aware than teachers who have less language learning experience. Based on the discussions by Haukas (2016) and Otwinowska (2014), language teachers should ideally be able to meet several, if not all, of the following requirements. They should be multilingual themselves and serve as models for their learners. They should have highly developed cross- linguistic and metalinguistic awareness. They should be familiar with research on multilingualism. They should know how to foster learners’ multilingualism. They should be sensitive to learners’ individual cognitive and affective differences. They should collaborate with other (language) teachers to enhance learners’ multilingualism. The participants reported that they ‘honoured’ the teacher’s directive that they needed to use all multilingual practices at their disposal to attempt the given task. Specifically, it meant the teacher planned to let learners use any linguistic collections they had to do the task. This mirrors Fallas Escobar’s (2019 sentiments that the use of multilingual practices should be deliberate. By engaging students in translanguaging by design, the intent is to transform translanguaging from furtive and clandestine practice to a more purposeful and planned practice: a much-needed step forward in challenging language separation ideologies and in disrupting the trend in English Foreign Language (EFL) education to view students as learners and not as emergent bilinguals (Fallas Escobar, 2019). The study highlights the need for assessment, which caters for all the learners because they have different linguistic backgrounds. The current ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach disadvantages a majority of the learners whose home language is not the medium of communication. This finding resonates with Gorter and Cenoz’s (2017) view that an 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). This study recommends that when assessing learners, teachers need to consider the learners’ previous knowledge in the subject under discussion and language of instruction. This finding is similar to Cenoz and Gorter (2017) and Menken and Shohamy (2015) view that in cases where languages are evaluated separately, language proficiency is usually compared to that of a monolingual native speaker without taking into account the student’s background knowledge of other languages and content at hand and penalising the influence and use of other languages. They recommend that teachers should stop assessing content with tests that have been designed for native speakers in a language that non-native speakers are learning. CONCLUSION In this article, the researcher has looked at translanguaging by analysing two cartoons in an EFAL setting. The researcher made it deliberate for the participants to use all linguistic Zano A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging ……….. JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, April 2022. Vol. 10, No.2 | 208 collections they had to attempt the given activities. In much as there are challenges in the implementation of translanguaging, the study has highlighted that hope is still plentiful. The fact that teachers can plan for translanguaging in the classroom makes it an implementable multilingual practice. It just calls for the teachers who recognise the importance of translanguaging in constructing relationships with their learners that nurture mutual empowerment. The study has shown that translanguaging helps in addressing the linguistic imbalances, which have been dogging the language arena by making certain languages, appear static and indispensable. The study has shown that no language is superior to others. What is required is the need to treat all languages in a complementary manner and this can be achieved through multilingual assessment practices. Translanguaging makes it a requirement that a language task is aligned to the user’s culture and linguistic experience. In such a scenario, no child will feel excluded from the teaching and learning process. It gives the learner a sense of ownership and belonging. Translanguaging has been highlighted as one of the best educational interventions that can lead to a potential increase in language learning. It is common knowledge that monolingualism was useful in the past when a majority of the schools’ populations were homogeneous. With globalisation, translanguaging becomes a linguistic safety net to cater for multilingual practices in today’s classrooms where learners who speak diverse languages share the same class, whereas learning English and other languages is a goal to be achieved by all, despite their home languages. The study has shown that translanguaging can be the latest all-embracing approach in language policy and assessment needed to substitute previous linguistic practices in a globalised world. It is the researcher’s fervent hope that more studies of this nature are conducted to explore how and to what extent translanguaging can be enhanced by analysing any language-related tasks in an EFL setting. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their positive feedback and the learners who participated in this study. REFERENCES Axelsson, M. (2013). Flerspråkighet och lärande [Multilingualism and learning]. In K. Hyltenstam & I. 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