Tongue tied

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 that has been attracting attention for

decades is code-switching, or code mixing, the routine

switching between or mixing of different language

varieties. This pattern of flexible multilingualism is found

in many communities in everyday social interactions with

family members or friends from different backgrounds, at

wet markets, kopitiams and cha chaan teng, or on social

media and in hip hop.

Closely related to and a development of this is

translanguaging, a concept that emerged in the

early 2000s in the field of bilingual education. (The

phenomenon has different labels in different subfields

and studies, including code-switching.) Its name

highlights the view that language is a process of speakers

negotiating and producing meaningful output, rather

than 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 (going

beyond switching

between traditionally

distinct codes), and

the transformative

orientation that centres

and values multilingual

competence.

Code-switching/

mixing or translanguaging, however, has for a long time

been deemed inappropriate in educational contexts,

where it is viewed as a deficit mode of interaction, with

students considered incapable of mastering “proper”

“academic” language for needing to fill gaps with words

or phrases from another variety. This (ill-informed) view

tends to be bolstered by language policies informed by

pervasive monolingual ideologies.

In fact, multilingual practices occur in diverse

educational contexts worldwide, to positive effect.

Students – and teachers – have been observed using

spontaneous mixes or “blends” of Tamil and English,

Afrikaans and English and Xhosa, Cantonese and

Mandarin and English, or English and Singlish and

Mandarin and Hokkien. Integrating the diverse language

practices of students in the classroom affords a more

empowering and equitable learning space.

Nonetheless, prevailing dominant language policies

and ideologies present challenges. Scholars’ suggestions

include more explicit recognition of diversity – for

example, valuing varieties of English, such as AfricanAmerican

Vernacular English and Singlish – and the

inclusion of material that explores and builds on the

existing cultural and linguistic knowledge of students, to

reinforce how 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.