This qualitative study explores translanguaging beliefs among translingual TESOL teacher educators in connection to broader sociolinguistic realities and ideological frameworks in Qazaqstan’s multilingual context. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with ten faculty members of two teacher education programs, the study identifies three distinct yet contradictory translanguaging belief categories: hegemonic, resistant, and transformative. While participants often viewed translanguaging as a natural and dynamic element of their linguistic repertoires, they expressed ambivalence about its pedagogical application. Hegemonic beliefs, rooted in monoglossic ideologies, led them to prioritize English-only instruction in line with systematically enforced native-speaker ideals and the monoglossic stance of the Qazaqstani trilingualism policy. Resistant beliefs treated translanguaging as an unavoidable crutch, reflecting negative affect and internalized deficit ideologies and racism. Conversely, transformative beliefs embraced translanguaging as a valuable pedagogical tool and leveraged its potential to scaffold learning, foster inclusivity, and affirm students’ multilingual identities. The study also underscores the need for professional development and policy reforms to promote critical reflexivity for ideological clarity and equip teacher educators with translanguaging strategies aligned with Qazaqstan’s translingual realities. By disrupting oppressive ideologies and shifting toward transformative translanguaging beliefs, translingual TESOL educators can model asset-based pedagogies to pre-service teachers, paving the way for socially just multilingual education grounded in heteroglossic language ideologies.
Serikbolsyn Tastanbek (Fri,) studied this question.