Collaborative translanguaging in Indonesian–Thai EFL co-teaching: Negotiating linguistic resources in multilingual classrooms

Abstract

English language teaching in multilingual contexts often requires flexible pedagogical approaches to accommodate learners’ diverse linguistic resources. In Southeast Asian EFL classrooms, translanguaging has increasingly been recognized as a strategy that enables teachers and students to integrate multiple languages to facilitate learning. This study investigates how translanguaging functions as a collaborative pedagogical practice in an EFL classroom involving an Indonesian pre-service teacher and a Thai teacher. Using a qualitative retrospective case study design, the study collected data through reflective dialogue sessions with the two teachers following their collaborative teaching experience. The dialogues were analyzed thematically to identify patterns of translanguaging practices and teacher collaboration during classroom interaction. The findings reveal two analytical dimensions. First, translanguaging practices emerged through instructional translation, multimodal explanation, orthographic mediation, phonological mediation, and affective support for learners. Second, translanguaging was collaboratively negotiated through complementary linguistic roles, spontaneous language switching, teacher-teacher mediation, collaborative classroom management, and professional confidence support. These findings suggest that translanguaging functions not only as an instructional strategy but also as a collaborative pedagogical process that enables teachers to coordinate their linguistic resources in multilingual classrooms. The study highlights the importance of collaborative teaching and reflective practice in supporting translanguaging pedagogy in EFL contexts.