Language Matters column, Post Magazine, South China Morning Post Code switching and translanguaging in pedagogy Pre-print, 3 May 2021 Lisa Lim Language matters in education. More precisely, languages matter – not just officially recognised ones, but, crucially, the multilingual repertoires and home language practices of students. One dimension garnering attention for some decades now is codeswitching or code mixing. This comprises the routine switching between or mixing of different language varieties in everyday social interactions – a pattern of flexible multilingualism that the majority of the world’s communities engage in. You might well do this with family members or friends from different backgrounds, at wet markets, kopitiams and cha chaan tengs, or on social media and hiphop. Closely related to and a development of this is translanguaging, a concept emerging in early 2000s in the field of bilingual education. (The phenomenon has different labels in different subfields and studies, including codeswitching.) Its name highlights the view of language being a process of speakers negotiating and producing meaningful output, rather than comprising a fixed set of abstract rules of pronunciation and grammar. The trans- prefix underscores both the fluidity of practices that transcend socially constructed categories of language (thus going beyond the switching between traditionally distinct codes), and the transformative orientation which centres and values multilingual competence. Codeswitching/ mixing or translanguaging however has for a long time been deemed inappropriate in educational contexts, viewed as a deficit mode of interaction, with students considered incapable of mastering ‘proper’ ‘academic’ language, needing to fill gaps with words or phrases from another variety. Such a(n ill-informed) view tends to be bolstered by language policies informed by pervasive monolingual ideologies. In fact, such multilingual practice occurs in diverse educational contexts worldwide, to positive effect. Students – and teachers – have been observed using spontaneous mixes or ‘blends’ of Tamil/ English, or Afrikaans/ English/ Xhosa, or Cantonese/ Putonghua/ English, or English/ Singlish/ Mandarin/ Hokkien. Such pedagogy integrating the diverse language practices of students in the classroom affords a more empowering learning space and equitable knowledge construction. Prevailing dominant language policies and ideologies nonetheless present real challenges for practice. Scholars’ suggestions include more explicit recognition of diversity (e.g. the value of different varieties of English, including e.g. African American Vernacular English, Singlish), and the inclusion of material that explores and builds on existing cultural and linguistic knowledge of students, to reinforce how content learning in school is not incompatible with home competencies. The recognition of multilingualism (and multiculturalism) as a resource, not a problem, is truly a cornerstone for inclusive, sustainable education for all. Published as: Lim, Lisa. 2021. Tongue tied. Language Matters. Post Magazine ~ Education issue. South China Morning Post. 9 May 2021. Lim, Lisa. 2021. Multilingualism at school is a cornerstone for inclusive, sustainable education for all. Language Matters. Post Magazine (special Education issue). South China Morning Post. 19 May 2021. https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3133924/multilingualism-school- cornerstone-inclusive-sustainable