Browsing by Author "Walker U"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemFrom target language to translingual capabilities. Harnessing plurilingual repertoires for language learning and teaching.(The Langscape Network c/o Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Collections in this community, 2021-01-26) Walker U; Abendroth-Timmer, DLanguage teaching in the 21st century has undergone a rapid transformation, marked not only by the impact of digital technology, but also by shifting ideas about language learning and the nature of language. Drawing on a case study of a New Zealand/German bilingual online exchange (telecollaboration), this paper introduces two teachers’ attempts to create new and authentic learning opportunities aimed to accommodate the curricular demands for the two ‘target’ languages German and English, along with a broader objective to foster plurilingual proficiencies. The idea of language learning as achieving “a monolingual-like command of an additional language” (Ortega, 2009, p. 5) may not serve the needs of contemporary learners, who are increasingly faced with fluid language practices, particularly in online encounters. This view is evident in the increasing recognition of language acquisition as a process of becoming bi/multilingual and, importantly, of learners’ plurilingual repertoires as a resource, rather than deficit (Narcy-Combes et al., 2019). The case presented here exemplifies how plurilingual practices can be facilitated and help leverage learner community building.
- ItemTRANSLANGUAGING: AFFORDANCES FOR COLLABORATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING(Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand (ALANZ), 2018-07) Walker UGlobalisation, digital technologies and mobile learning have created unprecedented opportunities for language learning across space and time, while various ‘turns’ in applied linguistics are impacting on traditional conceptualisations of language and language learning. The emergence of bi/multilingual perspectives in particular has led to a re-evaluation of dynamic and hybrid language practices in educational settings, resulting in new explanatory concepts such as translanguaging and calling into question monolingual underpinnings of language scholarship and practice. In the light of shifting thinking about language learners as emergent bi/multilinguals, what are the affordances of translingual language practices? Drawing on affordance theory and Galley et al.’s (2014) community indicator framework, this article presents a small case study of bilingual learners (English/German) in an international online exchange. An examination of translanguaging patterns in the learners’ online interactions demonstrates the affordance potential of expanded semiotic repertoires for the co-construction of meaning and building collaborative learner communities.