Use of translation and plurilingual practices in language learning
A formative intervention model
Here we will present a pedagogical framework for the implementation of an Integrated Plurilingual Approach (IPA) to
language learning that has emerged from research and observation of best practices in primary, secondary, and higher education. Researchers,
teachers, and students collaborated in three interconnected projects (2012–2015; 2015–2019) whose main aims were to help teachers and
learners move towards acknowledging and explicitly connecting their linguistic repertoires to reframe their current classroom practices and
engage in new ones. This implied a reformulation of their pedagogical practices, including the use of translation to acquire
interlinguistic, intercultural and mediation skills in contexts other than professional translator training (TOLC). Two instruments
resulted: one to help the teachers transform their perceptions and, so, their performance, regarding the plurilingual paradigm, a
four-phase collaborative reflective cycle; and another to guide their instructional design, the five-dimensional
instructional framework (IPA-5DIF). Some classroom examples will be presented here, with special reference to a high-complexity
secondary school context (118 students, 4 teachers).
Article outline
- 1.Introduction: The integrated plurilingual approach (IPA) to language learning
- 2.IPA: The pedagogical framework
- 2.1Instructional design: The IPA five-dimensional instructional framework
- 2.2Formative intervention: The four-phase collaborative reflective cycle
- 3.The IPA projects: Secondary education
- 3.1The IPA project in a secondary school setting
- Phase 1.Starting off. Focus group 1. Questioning and analysing: Where are we now? What do we do? How do we do it? Why do we do it?
- Embracing an IPA
- The impact of IPA on cognition and metacognition
- The socio-affective dimension
- Phase 2.Inquiry seminars. Analysing and modelling new perspectives. Contrasting our starting point with other proposals related to an integrated plurilingual approach
- Phase 3.Designing and implementing plurilingual didactic sequences and/or projects. Examining and testing the new model. Moving from reflection to action.
- Home languages used in the classroom
- Teacher’s use of languages
- Students’ use of languages
- The impact of IPA on the learning process
- Students’ perception of IPA
- Phase 4.Reflecting on the process and consolidating the new model. Focus group 2. Final assessment of the IPA project and future lines of experimentation
- Teachers’ empowerment
- Embracing IPA
- Teachers as school changemakers
- The impact of IPA on students’ cognition and metacognition
- The socio-affective dimension
- 4.IPA procedures: Use of translation and natural plurilingual practices to promote effective translanguaging
- 4.1Didactic Sequence: Word and image
- 4.2Project work: TV news
- 4.3Project work: Linguistic landscapes
- 5.Conclusions
- Notes
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References