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“I make my students' assignments bleed with red circles”: An autoethnography of translanguaging in higher education in Pakistan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2022

Hassan Syed
Hassan Syed*
Affiliation:
Sukkur IBA University, Department of Education
*
*Corresponding author. Email: hassan.ali@iba-suk.edu.pk
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Abstract

In this paper, I discuss the tension between official monoglossic language ideologies and the heteroglossic classroom realities in higher education in Pakistan. Pakistan has maintained an English as the only medium-of-instruction policy in higher education since independence in 1947, while the everyday classroom practices have been characterized by translanguaging, that is, a hybrid and fluid use of plurilingual resources for communication. Using an autoethnographic lens, I discuss the intuitional processes and discursive practices within which my own experiences with deficit ideologies were shaped as an English language teacher and as I journied into translanguaging. Based on my experiences, I argue that while translanguaging shows great promise to confront monoglossic language ideologies inside the classroom, it offers fewer tools to resist unjust linguistic and social structures.

Keywords

Translanguagingbilingual educationmonoglossic language ideologieshigher educationlanguage policy
Type
Research Article
Information
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics , Volume 42 , March 2022 , pp. 119 - 126
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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