College English Jan 2011

Opinion: Language Difference in Writing: Toward a Translingual Approach

Bruce Horner ; Min-Zhan Lu ; Jacqueline Jones Royster ; John Trimbur

Abstract

Arguing against the emphasis of traditional U.S. composition classes on linguistically homogeneous situations, the authors contend that this focus is at odds with actual language use today. They call for a translingual approach, which they define as seeing difference in language not as a barrier to overcome or as a problem to manage, but as a resource for producing meaning in writing, speaking, reading, and listening.

Journal
College English
Published
2011-01-01
DOI
10.58680/ce201113403
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
writing pedagogy translingualism
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (52)

  1. Barajas (2025)
    Writing for Perspective: A Case Study of Literacy Practices and Personal Agency…
    College Composition and Communication
  2. Izquierdo (2025)
    And Gladly Teach: Teaching the Renaissance: Don Quixote and Translation in the …
    College English
  3. Walker (2025)
    Machine Learning’s Unintended Curriculum: The Impact of Large Language Models o…
    College English
  4. Aguilar (2025)
    Building Translator Repertoire Across a Humanitarian Translation App: Transling…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Fu et al. (2025)
    Translanguaging Space Construction in Five Chinese EFL Learners’ Collaborative …
    Written Communication
Show all 52 →
  1. Özer (2024)
    College Composition Instructors’ and Students’ Orientations toward Translanguag…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  2. Frandsen et al. (2024)
    Challenging the Myth of the Traditional Grad Student: A Case Study about Academ…
    College Composition and Communication
  3. Ramirez (2024)
    Digging the Archives in Composition Stretch Pedagogies: Reclamation of Historic…
    College Composition and Communication
  4. Reifman (2024)
    Reading the reader through raciolinguistic ideologies: An investigation of the …
    Assessing Writing
  5. Özyeşilpınar et al. (2023)
    A Rhetoric of Accent Fear and the Experiences of Multilingual Teachers of Writing
    Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  6. Özyeşilpınar et al. (2023)
    A Rhetoric of Accent Fear and the Experiences of Multilingual Teachers of Writing
    Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  7. Özyeşilpınar et al. (2023)
    A Rhetoric of Accent Fear and the Experiences of Multilingual Teachers of Writing
    Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  8. Raign (2023)
    Decentering the History of the Writing Center: A Case for the Mesopotamian Edub…
    College Composition and Communication
  9. Sanders et al. (2023)
    Making Good on Our Promises to Language Justice: Spheres of Coalitional Possibi…
    College Composition and Communication
  10. Ruecker (2023)
    Unique supporters of multilingual writers in rural high schools
    Writing and Pedagogy
  11. Zhang-Wu (2023)
    Supporting Superdiverse Multilingual International Students: Insights from an E…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  12. Lotier et al. (2023)
    Antiracist Protest Pedagogy
    Pedagogy
  13. Sun et al. (2023)
    Pedagogical values of translingual practices in improving student feedback lite…
    Assessing Writing
  14. Park (2023)
    Agency, Identity, and Writing: Perspectives from First-Generation Students of C…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  15. Zhang-Wu (2023)
    Rethinking Translingualism in College Composition Classrooms: A Digital Ethnogr…
    Written Communication
  16. Shapiro et al. (2022)
    Translingual Praxis: From Theorizing Language to Antiracist and Decolonial Pedagogy
    College Composition and Communication
  17. Shepley (2022)
    Spatial Knowledge Making from Writing about Appalachia outside Appalachia
    Pedagogy
  18. Wang et al. (2022)
    Encouraging Student Advocacy in Social Justice Classrooms
    Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  19. Davila (2022)
    White Language Supremacy in Course Descriptions
    College Composition and Communication
  20. Milu (2022)
    Hip-Hop and the Decolonial Possibilities of Translingualism
    College Composition and Communication
  21. Seltzer (2022)
    “A Lot of Students Are Already There”: Repositioning Language-Minoritized Stude…
    Written Communication
  22. Veeramoothoo (2022)
    Social Justice and the Portrayal of Migrants in International Organization for …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  23. Feigenbaum (2021)
    Welcome to “Failure Club”
    Pedagogy
  24. Milson-Whyte (2021)
    Re/Engaging Street to Address Multiplicity in Composition Classrooms
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  25. Barrón et al. (2021)
    Misguided Expectations: The Ideological Framework of the Autonomous Model
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  26. Watson (2021)
    The Inevitable Mess of Translingualism
    Pedagogy
  27. Santos et al. (2020)
    Revealing the Educational Experiences of Los Otros DREAMers
    College Composition and Communication
  28. Mosher (2020)
    Ideology, Expectation, and Evaluation
    Pedagogy
  29. Walker (2020)
    Lifeworld Discourse, Translingualism, and Agency in a Discourse Genealogy of Cé…
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  30. Martorana (2020)
    The Muted Group Video Project: Amplifying the Voices of Latinx Immigrant Students
    Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  31. Horner et al. (2019)
    Defining Translinguality
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  32. Flowers (2019)
    Writing Studies’ Concessions to the English-Only Movement: Revisiting CCCC’s Na…
    College Composition and Communication
  33. Hodges et al. (2019)
    Writing in Transnational Workplaces: Teaching Strategies for Multilingual Engineers
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  34. Wang (2019)
    Tracing Connections and Disconnects: Reading, Writing, and Digital Literacies a…
    College Composition and Communication
  35. Martín et al. (2019)
    Pedagogies of Digital Composing through a Translingual Approach
    Computers and Composition
  36. Wang (2019)
    Observing literacy learning across WeChat and first-year writing: A scalar anal…
    Computers and Composition
  37. Willard-Traub (2019)
    Learning Resilience from Multilingual Students
    Pedagogy
  38. Ruecker et al. (2018)
    “Language Difference Can Be an Asset”: Exploring the Experiences of Nonnative E…
    College Composition and Communication
  39. Engelson (2018)
    “To Whom Do We Have Students Write?”: Exploring Rhetorical Agency and Translang…
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  40. McNamara (2018)
    Diminishing Returns at Corporate U: Chinese Undergraduates and Composition’s Ac…
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  41. Schneider (2018)
    Learning How to Support Multilingual Writers
    Pedagogy
  42. Lovejoy et al. (2018)
    Linguistic Diversity as Resource
    Pedagogy
  43. Hartline et al. (2018)
    Brokering Tareas and Community Literacies en Confianza
    Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  44. Davila (2016)
    The Inevitability of “Standard” English: Discursive Constructions of Standard L…
    Written Communication
  45. Kang (2015)
    Tensions of Local and Global: South Korean Students Navigating and Maximizing U…
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  46. Arnold et al. (2015)
    Recognizing and Disrupting Immappancy in Scholarship and Pedagogy
    Pedagogy
  47. Ray (2013)
    AProgymnasmatafor Our Time: Adapting Classical Exercises to Teach Translingual Style
    Rhetoric Review

References (0)

No references on file for this article.

CrossRef global citation count: 326 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Composition Forum Oct 2025
    Review of Julia Kiernan, Alanna Frost, and Suzanne Blum Malley’s Translingual Pedagogical Perspectives: Engaging Domestic and International Students in the Composition Classroom ↗
    writing pedagogy graduate education multilingual writers translingualism book reviews
  2. Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric Aug 2025
    Ann Konekte Legliz ak Konpozisyon: Multilingual Literacies in the Haitian Church of God ↗
    Shewonda Leger
    writing pedagogy translingualism literacy studies
  3. Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric Aug 2025
    Cookin’ Up a Multimodal Story: Community-Engaged Writing and a Cultural Rhetorics Cookbook ↗
    Clara Lechowski; Alexander Slotkin
    rhetorical criticism cultural rhetorics writing pedagogy multimodality translingualism
  4. Written Communication Apr 2025
    Translanguaging Space Construction in Five Chinese EFL Learners’ Collaborative English-Language Culture-Introduction Videos: Patterns and Influential Factors ↗
    Xuehua Fu; Lawrence Jun Zhang
    writing pedagogy collaborative writing multimodality social media translingualism
  5. Research in the Teaching of English Feb 2025
    Heteroglossia and Community Translanguaging in an English-Medium Classroom: Multilingual Elementary Students’ Use of Multiple Voices in Digital Texts ↗
    Lindsey W. Rowe
    writing pedagogy teacher development qualitative research translingualism literacy studies