Translanguaging That Works: Professional Development for English Teachers of Immigrant Learners


Özmen K. S., Bağcı D.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, cilt.36, sa.2, ss.1-12, 2026 (AHCI, SSCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 36 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1111/ijal.70157
  • Dergi Adı: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-12
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study designs and evaluates a 12-h professional development (PD) intervention operationalizing translanguaging for primary English teachers in Türkiye’s state schools, where Turkish-dominant classes enroll immigrant learners. Using a sequential, qualitative-dominant design, 132 teachers were surveyed, and 21 purposively selected participants took part in the PD. Data were collected through immediate and three-month post-PD interviews, three-week reflective journals, and critical incident analyses. Findings coalesce into five practice-ready themes: linguistic scaffolding for meaning-making; affective attunement and socioemotional safety; resource curation and materials-design competence; curricular adaptation with principled alignment; and collaborative agency within professional learning communities. Teachers shifted from monolingual habits to translanguaging- aligned task design, strategic interactional moves (elicitation, revoicing, and bilingual recap), and equitable assessment practices decoupling content knowledge from English accuracy, with reported gains in student comprehensibility and participation. The study offers a replicable PD framework aligned with state materials and practice-proximal evidence demonstrating how sustained PD can effectively implement translanguaging in immigrant, multilingual classrooms.