ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I will explain how researchers can deploy Multimodal Conversation Analysis (MCA) to understand how translanguaging is constructed through talk-in-interaction. MCA offers a detailed analysis of classroom interaction which allows researchers to get at the question of ‘how’ from the participants’ perspectives, that is, how teachers and students organise their talk through the use of multiple linguistic, multimodal, and spatial resources. Moreover, MCA is proved as an efficient tool for analysts to document the interactional norms, such as the norm of language alternation, that speakers orient to in interaction.
I will first explore the key interactional structures which MCA research has illustrated, including adjacency pair, repair, and turn-taking. These interactional structures are not only the ways that participants employ to organize their talk, but they are also the building blocks that guide MCA analysts’ empirical analysis of conversation. I will then explain the research process of utilizing MCA for analysing translanguaging practices. This includes the process of data collection, transcription, and analysis. I will also refer to a small body of literature which utilizes MCA to explicate the nature of translanguaging in multilingual classrooms. Finally, the chapter will consider some criticisms and limitations of using MCA.
