New Books in Language and Translation Translanguaging: A Discussion with Ofelia Garcia
Feb 16, 2024
Ofelia García, bilingual education scholar known for translanguaging research, reflects on her Cuban roots and academic journey. She explains how translanguaging differs from code switching. She traces its Welsh classroom origins and discusses using it as a pedagogical tool. She addresses critics worried it distracts from language proficiency and reframes bilingualism as a full communicative resource.
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Bilingual Upbringing Sparked Theoretical Rethink
- Ofelia García describes growing up bilingual after moving from Cuba to New York at age 11 and feeling existing sociolinguistic theories didn't fit her life.
- Her lived experience prompted rethinking concepts like maintenance and shift toward more dynamic models.
Language Sustainability Reframes Shift
- García critiques static concepts like language maintenance and shift and proposes language sustainability as an ecological alternative.
- She argues languages are used dynamically rather than preserved as museum artifacts.
Key Reading Changed Her Approach
- Reading MacSweeney and Pennycook's work was a watershed for García and forced her to revise her own book's chapters.
- That encounter shifted her approach to translanguaging and theoretical framing.
