Purpose of the Book

The purpose of this book is to promote the value of translanguaging in EFL teaching contexts. To date, translanguaging has been discussed mostly in regards to US and European contexts. This book will examine the teaching beliefs and practices of teachers within a South Korean elementary school context to evaluate the practices of current teachers who use translanguaging strategies when teaching. This examination utilizes sociological theories of pedagogic discourse to discuss the consequences of language exclusion policies on the peninsula. Using these theories, it presents an argument for why EFL contexts like South Korea need to reevaluate their current policies and understandings of language learning and teaching. By embracing translanguaging as an approach, the author argues, they will transform their traditional notions of language learning and teaching in order to view teachers as bilinguals, and learners as emerging bilinguals, rather than use terms of deficiency that have traditionally been in place for such contexts. This book's unique use of sociological theories of pedagogic discourse supports a need to promote the translanguaging ideology of language teaching and learning.