TL-TS Event: Teacher–Researcher Collaboration in Translanguaging Research and Practice

[Zhongfeng Tian]

Teacher–Researcher Collaboration in Translanguaging Research and Practice

 

Live Stream Seminar/Interview with Dr. Robyn Tyler, Dr. BethAnne Paulsrud, Dr. Zhongfeng Tian, and Dr. Marianne Turner on

 

November 7th (Friday), 2025, 7:00 AM (Hong Kong time)

November 7th (Friday), 2025, 10:00 AM (Melbourne Time)

November 6th (Thursday), 2025, 3:00 PM (Vancouver Time)

November 6th (Thursday), 2025, 6:00 PM (Eastern Time)

 

ALL ARE WELCOME!

 

To join online, or to view it anytime afterwards, please click on the following link and open it on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdEyZSDJaM4

 

TL-TS Research Group

1400 subscribers

Teacher-researcher collaboration as a way to investigate the potential of translanguaging in the field of education has been increasing (e.g., Tian & Lau, 2023; Turner & Tour, 2025; Tyler & McKinney, 2024; see the suggested readings). A collaborative approach highlights the importance of educational context, given that teachers – and often school leaders – are engaged in determining the course of the research. In this presentation, we will discuss teacher-researcher collaboration in our contexts of South Africa, Sweden, the United States and Australia. We will focus on (1) how we started collaborating with teachers, (2) the ideological and implementational spaces in which we conduct our research, (3) what we find appealing in translanguaging theory in our work with teachers (and why), and (4) how we address any constraints and the inherent ‘messiness’ of mixing research with teaching. Given that translanguaging theory and pedagogies are now being applied across a wide variety of contexts internationally, we hope to continue to develop theory and practice in a nuanced way through an explicit focus on different educational settings.

Meet our speakers:

 

Dr. Robyn Tyler

Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research, University of the Western Cape

 

Dr Robyn Tyler is a senior researcher in the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research (CMDR) at the University of the Western Cape. Her research and teaching focuses on multilingual learning, translanguaging, school language policy, biliteracy, bilingual learning materials development, language across the curriculum and research methodology. Robyn leads the NRF-funded Bilingual Learning Materials Project (2024-2026) working on trialling bilingual learning materials in two Cape Town primary schools. She recently published a monograph with Multilingual Matters entitled: Translanguaging, coloniality and decolonial cracks: Bilingual Science Learning in South Africa (2023) and edited a special issue of Multilingual Margins entitled: Ukuzilanda within decolonial learning and teaching (2024). Robyn is also a founding member of the bua-lit language and literacy collective which advocates for multilingual education and rich literacies for South Africa’s children.

 

Dr. BethAnne Paulsrud

Department of Teaching and Learning, Stockholm University

 

BethAnne Paulsrud is a Senior lecturer of English Language Education and an Associate Professor of English Applied Linguistics at Stockholm University. Her work as a teacher educator and researcher is informed by her many years of experience as a preschool and primary school teacher, as well as a mother tongue teacher. Her research focuses on multilingualism in education policy and practice, teacher education, and English-medium instruction in Sweden. Her publications addressing translanguaging include three edited volumes (English-Medium Instruction and Translanguaging and New Perspectives on Translanguaging and Education, Multilingual Matters; Transspråkande i svenska utbildningssammanhang, Studentlitteratur) and two special issues (in Multilingua and Apples).

                                             

Dr. Zhongfeng Tian

Department of Urban Education, Rutgers University–Newark

Zhongfeng Tian is an Associate Professor of Bilingual Education at Rutgers University–Newark, USA. His research bridges bilingual education, TESOL, teacher education, and L2 writing through decolonial, translingual, justice-oriented perspectives. Using participatory design and reflexive methods, he co-creates equitable, multilingual practices with teachers, students, families, and communities across K–16 contexts. He has published 40+ peer-reviewed articles, 10 books and 10 edited special issues with leading presses and journals, including Journal of Second Language Writing, Journal of Language, Identity & Education, and Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. He serves as Associate Editor for International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 

 

Dr. Marianne Turner

School of Curriculum Teaching & Inclusive Education, Monash University

 

Marianne Turner is an Associate Professor in Bilingual Education and TESOL at Monash University, Australia. She researches the leveraging of students’ linguistic and cultural resources for learning, and context-sensitive approaches to the integration of language and content, with a particular focus on translanguaging. Her work has been published in journals such as Language Teaching Research, System and Teaching and Teacher Education, and she has written a book entitled Multilingualism as a resource and a goal: Using and learning languages in mainstream schools (Palgrave Macmillan). Her co-edited volume - Multilingualism as opportunity: An integrated perspective on English and languages education in Australia – has also just been published (Routledge).

 

Suggested reading

Tian, Z., & Lau, S. M. C. (2023). Translanguaging pedagogies in a Mandarin–English dual language bilingual education classroom: Contextualised learning from teacher–researcher collaboration. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 26(8), 960–974. Https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2022.2161815 

Turner, M., & Tour, E. (2025). Using a translanguaging multimodal approach to develop teachers’ language awareness in linguistically diverse classrooms in Australia. Teaching and Teacher Education, 153, 104835-. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104835

Tyler, R. & McKinney, C. (2024) Crossing the text frontier: teachers resisting African language texts for learning. Reading and Writing, 15 (1) https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v15i1.501 1-9

Zhongfeng Tian (田中锋), Ph.D. 

Associate Professor of Bilingual Education  

Department of Urban Education  

Rutgers University–Newark 

Past Chair, AERA Bilingual Education Research SIG

Associate Editor, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

(Faculty Webpage; ResearchGate; Google Scholar; LinkedIn; Scopus)