to manage it’ (Bruner, 1983: 60). Baker’s (2006: 303) reference to ‘scaffold-
ing languaging’ is relevant in this context and refers to teacher–student
cooperation when the ‘teacher supports the student by a careful pitching
of comprehensible language’. Rather than over-simplifying a task, ‘the
teacher provides the “scaffolding” so that the student is working within
their “zone of proximal development”. Scaffolding is thus a temporary
device to enable understanding of content. When learning is successful,
that support is removed as the child can then complete the same task inde-
pendently’. Language scaffolding is often needed to support bilingual
pupils in the early stages of using the second language in a mainstream
classroom. García (2009a: 329) maintains that ‘the core of bilingual peda-
gogical strategies especially for emergent bilinguals in the beginning stages
is “scaffolding”...’
Thus scaffolding translanguaging involves the teacher adopting a piv-
otal role to enable pupils to complete the translanguaging activity.
Scaffolding translanguaging includes features of pedagogical scaffolding as
identified by van Lier (2004), in particular the contextual support (where
exploration is encouraged in a safe, supportive environment) and flow (as
pupils are focused on the task and collaborate closely with each other). This
is particularly the case when translanguaging activities are initially intro-
duced in the classroom. The teacher analyses the language demands and
learning activities in order to provide cognitive challenge as well as lan-
guage support. Scaffolding is paramount when translanguaging is intro-
duced to young pupils or older pupils who need additional input with the
second language.
Emergent translanguaging skills is demonstrated in the following case
study involving a mix of L1 and L2 Welsh pupils who attempted to com-
plete a translanguaging task with teacher support. The Jewish festival of
Hanukkah was the context of a Religious Education lesson in a Key Stage
2 (7–11 years) classroom. There were 12 pupils in the classroom including
8 pupils between the ages of 7–9 years and 4 pupils between the ages of
9–11 years. The pupils were grouped according to their age range (one Year
3 group (7–8 years), one Year 4 group (8–9 years), one Year 5/6 group (9–11
years)). Only one pupil spoke Welsh at home but all members of the class-
room were fluent in Welsh and had been immersed in Welsh medium edu-
cation up to the age of 7. Mathematics and Science were taught through
the medium of English in Key Stage 2. The teacher had prepared a work-
sheet in English about ‘Hanukkah’ (Figure 7.2) for the Year 3 and 4 pupils
(7–9 years).
The pupils were asked to read the worksheet in English and write five
facts based on its contents in Welsh. The teacher supported the pupils with
the English reading work. (English instruction had been introduced in Year
3.) The teacher read with the pupils and provided models of sentence pat-
terns in Welsh for the writing task, thus providing appropriate language
Language Arrangements within Bilingual Education 161