Translanguaging and Bilingual First Language Acquisition

Translanguaging is a concept that offers a reinterpretation of bilingual language development theories and a novel pedagogical approach that affirms children’s language practices. As a transformative pedagogical approach, it contributes to the creation of inclusive, culturally affirming spaces for bilingual and multilingual children, while challenging traditional monolingual educational practices. According to translanguaging theories, all language users draw from a unified linguistic repertoire, which is unique to each individual. By viewing children as capable of drawing from their own unique idiolect in creative ways, translanguaging theories present a novel interpretation of child bilingualism which challenges language hierarchies and deficit models that see bilingual children as possessing an incomplete language system.