“no, professor, that is not true”: First attempts at introducing translanguaging to pre–service teachers

This chapter considers the complexities of conceptualizing and introducing translanguaging to pre-service teachers by analyzing the first author’s experiences as a teacher educator in her initial effort at discussing translanguaging and its pedagogical implications in a second language learning course. Discussions about translanguaging were marked by respectful but contentious debate, in which students differed strongly from their teacher in their responses and opinions related to translanguaging and its relationship to code-switching. This study’s purpose, conducted in the spirit of teacher inquiry, is to examine the reflections of both the instructor and her students in seeking to understand and interpret the literature on translanguaging. We found that this process can pose significant challenges for teacher educators and their students and raises important questions about the relationship between scholarly and practitioner communities in the language education field.