■2021/01/30
Prof. Li Wei（University College London）, ‘The issues and directions of Translanguaging research’
The aim of this note is to report on the special online lecture given by Prof. Li Wei on January 30th, 2021, for teachers and students in this Academic Project (AP). Prof. Li Wei is currently Director and Dean of the University College London (UCL) Institute of Education which hosts a large interdisciplinary Centre for Applied Linguistics, covering areas of research in applied linguistics and language education.
The term translanguaging has been used in association with (post-) Multilingualism, (post-) Multiculturalism, Transnationalism, or super-diversity, beyond divides of disciplines in social sciences. And yet, translanguaging is rather elusive, sometimes hard to grasp. Is it a pedagogical approach? Is it an analytical perspective to capture peoples’ communicative practices and/or language experiences? Is it a theory of language and human communication? In fact, translanguaging encompasses all of these dimensions! This was discussed in detail by Prof. Li Wei, a pioneer of the concept, during his lecture.
He has been my external supervisor for PhD thesis/project since the fall semester (2020) as a “Guest Professor (Global)” at Keio University SFC (which is as a part of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)’s Top Global University Project). Additionally, Prof. Li Wei kindly accepted our request, formed by Prof. Sugihara and me, to give us the lecture. Thus, in welcoming Prof. Li Wei as a lecturer, we formed a study group consisting of some teachers and students in AP; we studied his articles/book chapters and had a meeting during the summer break to share what we learned. The readings included, for example, Linguistic (super) diversity, post-multilingualism and translanguaging moments (2018), Translanguaging as a practical theory of language (2018), and The multilingual challenge: cross-disciplinary perspectives (with Zhu, 2016). The lecture lasted over an hour and it was a comprehensive explanation of translanguaging including issues for future research. Following the lecture, there was a Q & A session, which generated a vibrant conversation. Prof. Li Wei seemed to be truly enjoying the time with us, and indeed, expressed his willingness to continue engaging with our AP. This school year, we are planning to conduct workshops with him (i.e., proposing research plans and executing the research).
The lecture has provided prior and post learning opportunities; above all, it has been such an enjoyable experience for me to spend this time with the teachers and students in AP. Translanguaging is not only the concept that provides us with a possible lens in envisioning a society of true coexistence in the 21st century (the ultimate aim of this AP). But, I believe, such a learning process individually and collectively is inspiring and helpful in deepening our knowledge relevant in respective research to some degree.（文責：Yaeko）