A positioning analysis of international graduate students' perspectives and practices of translanguaging at a Canadian higher education institution

Translanguaging effectively affirms international students' diverse language practices and linguistic and cultural identities. Although it may appear evident that their multilingual and multicultural identities and experiences inevitably influence their translanguaging experiences, few studies have examined how their identities affect their perspectives and practices toward translanguaging in the Canadian higher education context. Because the impact of identities on the linguistic decision-making process is often manifested in the positions individuals assign to themselves and others in social interactions, this study drew on positioning theory to investigate how the positions assigned by 17 international graduate students from the faculty of education during their studies in Canada shaped their translanguaging experiences. Analysis of the interview data indicated that the participants assigned multiple, fluid, and sometimes conflicting positions to themselves and others when participating in higher education discourses. Their evaluation of linguistic and cultural affinity with interlocutors, positioning in relation to the English language, and varied considerations as (future) teachers complicated their perspectives and performances of translanguaging. This report concluded with implications for Canadian higher education to implement an effective translanguaging-oriented pedagogy that is linguistically and culturally responsive to the increasingly diversified international student population.