L1 Use and Translanguaging in ELL Peer Interaction: A Problem or a Useful Tool?

Discussing the recent findings within language education scholarship, the chapter offers a strategy for teachers to incorporate students’ knowledge of other languages, including their first language(s), while learning the second language to support them linguistically, academically, and socially. The authors highlight how translanguaging, the intermixing of students’ available linguistic and cultural resources, can support learners’ acquisition of English by completing an assortment of task-based activities such as consensus, conversation, spot-the-difference, interview, and role-playing activities. In understanding how and why translanguaging can support language learners, the chapter offers ways in which teachers can create peer-interactive tasks that tap into students’ translanguaging abilities. The chapter concludes with a lesson plan focusing on an interview activity.