ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to revisit tandem learning principles through a translanguaging lens. It reports on a study conducted at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris, France involving 13 English and French initial language speakers who participated in tandem learning programmes. It seeks to determine students’ beliefs about translanguaging and to what extent they take up or resist translanguaging in their tandem practices. We review research on translanguaging and tandem learning. Then the qualitative data derived from interviews (6 hours and 29 minutes of audio recordings) are presented and discussed. Results indicate diversified beliefs about translanguaging and that while translanguaging is a naturally occurring phenomenon outside the institutional context for these students, within the tandem learning setting it is curtailed. We examine the implication of these findings for tandem learning and make suggestions to enable the evolution of teachers’ stance and pedagogical practices.
