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Invited Speakers: AILA-ASEAN Symposium
Dr. Robin de los Reyes
Linguistic Society of the Philippines (LSP)
Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Philippines
Robin Atilano De Los Reyes is Associate Professor and currently the School of Liberal Arts Dean at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University. He obtained his PhD in English language and literature from the Ateneo de Manila University. His research interests include translanguaging, linguistic landscape, and language planning and policy. He has published in the International Journal of Multilingualism, Journal of Language, Identity and Education, and Asian Journal of English Language Studies. He has collaborated with USAID and AUSAID as consultant and trainer for literacy and teacher development programs in Region IX and ARMM (now BARMM). As an educator and teacher trainer, he advocates linguistic equity in and outside the classrooms in multilingual settings.
Translanguaging in English language teaching and learning in linguistically diverse classrooms in the Philippines
While the monolingual ideology ‘English should be taught in English’ persists in Philippine classrooms, even with the implementation of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education, this is averted by the teachers’ and learners’ natural practice of translanguaging. Available studies on translanguaging in the country suggest that it is pedagogically beneficial in classrooms where learners come from different linguistic backgrounds, which is common in the Philippines. However, such practice continues to be denigrated for its threats to local languages as well as its impediments to the learning of other languages such as English. Thus, in this sharing, the translanguaging practices that are beneficial to English language teaching and learning based on available studies in the country will be discussed and some future directions for its optimal use will be proposed, in the hopes of developing a more positive attitude towards translanguaging as a necessary practice in multilingual classrooms.