translation of terminology was found mostly in the secondary school for
pupils aged 11 to 16. However, translation for L2 learner was mostly, but not
exclusively, observed in the primary school. Combinations of concurrent two
language use were evident in all age groups.
The next section will present an analysis of the language arrangements
in the classroom compared with the subject content of the lesson.
Classroom language arrangements compared with subject
content of lesson
The data (see Table 7.7) points to the tendency for translanguaging to be
a more prominent feature for some subjects than others. Whereas translan-
guaging featured in only 16.7% of Mathematics and Science lessons, 5.6% in
both Vocational and Practical and Inter-disciplinary (3–7 years), the percent-
age rose to 72.2% in the Arts and Humanities. This is a significant but not a
surprising result as it can be argued that translanguaging is essential to com-
plete specific tasks within some subjects, for example, L1 Welsh pupils inter-
preting English medium internet evidence in a geography lesson. Regarding
the allocation of languages in the curriculum it is relevant to refer to Baker
(2010: 69) who explained that ‘curriculum areas such as history and geogra-
phy are often regarded as best taught through the heritage language. In con-
trast, science and technology may be seen as international, with its literature
and research dominated by English’.
A secondary school history teacher referred to the fact that history con-
tent is readily available online in English and this resource is used to promote
pupils’ translanguaging skills as they discuss and record the content in Welsh.
Rydan ni’n gallu defnyddio taflen Wikipedia [yn Saesneg] ar frwydr y Somme... ac yna dewis a dethol gwybodaeth ohono fo... maen nhw yn defnyddio’r
ddwy iaith yn hollol naturiol... dydy o ddim yn issue iddyn nhw... maen
nhw’n llithro o un iaith i’r llall yn rhwydd...
[We can use a page from Wikipedia [in English] about the battle of the
Somme... and then select information from it... they use both lan-
guages completely naturally... it is not an issue for them... they trans-
fer easily from one language to the other... ]Models of Translanguaging Pedagogies
During this study (as reported in Lewis, 2008, and Jones, 2010) two
models of translanguaging became evident (see Table 7.8): the first being
teacher directed translanguaging (which can be classified as a planned
activity by the teacher for both emergent and more competent bilinguals)
Language Arrangements within Bilingual Education 155