Analysis Of College English Teacher Talk From The Perspective Of Translanguaging

Over the past decades,translanguaging has become a new research hotspot in international applied linguistics and has transformed from simply a language phenomenon in its early stage to a theory and an analytical framework at present.However,the existing research is mostly carried out in the English-speaking countries,and little research has been conducted in College English as a foreign Language(EFL)classes.Therefore,this paper investigates the teacher talk of four college English teachers from a maritime university in China through translanguaging.This study selects a case study as the research method,aiming to observe and describe the translanguaging practice and performance of four sampled teachers in depth.The present study thus addresses the following questions:(1)From the perspective of translanguaging,what are the teacher talk features for college English teachers?(2)From the perspective of translanguaging,what are the teacher talk functions for college English teachers?The findings of this study are as follows:(1)At the level of linguistic features,teacher talk is characterized as fluidity in named languages,presenting a flexible transition from Chinese to English and from English to Chinese.Another feature of the teacher talk features is the complexity between languages and multi-modality,embodying a complex matrix among four dimensions: from languages to body modes,from body modes to languages,from languages to non-body modes,and from non-body modes to languages.(2)At the level of language functions,teacher talk has both a pedagogical and an affective function.Specifically,pedagogical functions include explaining language knowledge,giving instructions or commands,asking for students’ understanding,and giving feedback.Affective functions involve making jokes,building rapport,sharing cultural values,and emphasizing career or future study.Joining the existing literature,the current study explores the feasibility and applicability of the translanguaging theory in the Chinese context,and advocates the study of teacher talk should develop from a static perspective to a dynamic perspective.It also provides a new perspective and analytical framework for future research and suggests that future studies can compare translanguaging practices of Chinese teachers’ languages other than English.