Multimodal translanguaging

Abstract

This note reviews the methodologies related to language learning as a multimodal linguistic experience — specifically, the simultaneous use of sign and oral languages to improve the communicative competence of deaf and hearing-impaired people. The role of the mother tongue in the learning of other languages is currently under revision with the emergence of concepts such as ‘translanguaging’, which assumes that speakers possess a single linguistic system whose characteristics are fully integrated rather than being associated with a single language. This review, additional to the current context promoting multilingualism and respect for diversity that educational administrations disseminate in schools across Europe, provides an exceptional framework for contributing to the normalization of sign languages in society and incorporating a multimodal perspective on communication in the study of language development.