Effective implementation of translanguaging pedagogy in TESOL classrooms
Dr Kelly Shoecraft
Thursday, 9 March 2023 from 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Summary
Dr Kelly Shoecraft’s inspiring presentation encouraged us to reframe our ideas around language. She focused on the removal, or softening, of strict boundaries between languages and emphasised fun, fluidity, play and experimentation. Kelly drew on a wealth of professional experience and knowledge as an applied linguist, lecturer and TESOL educator, as well as her own personal experiences of language acquisition and living abroad. Kelly encouraged us to empower students by ‘building bridges’ between languages and positioned plurilingualism as a ‘superpower’. She gave us a range of practical examples of how we can employ plurilingual strategies in the classroom to draw on learners’ existing resources and help students develop their social and linguistic capital.