An overview of translanguaging: 20 years of ‘giving voice to those who do not speak’

Over the last two decades, with the increasing bilingual population across the globe, it has become clear that we need to develop new approaches to language and education. Translanguaging is a term that was originally coined in Wales to describe a kind of bilingual education in which students receive information in one language, for example English, and produce an output of their learning in their second language, for example Welsh. Since then, scholars across the globe have developed this concept and it is now argued it is the best way to educate bilingual children in the 21st century. The present article offers an overview of translanguaging from its origins in Wales to recent developments in the UK and the US. It first presents the traditional approaches to bilingualism in education, which viewed the first and second language as separate entities. Next, it explores how bilingual education can be transformed through the use of translanguaging and outlines current research in the UK. Finally, it proposes some avenues for future studies.