Conflicting Translanguaging Beliefs Among ESL Teacher Educators in Saudi Arabia

This qualitative study examines the complex and often conflicting beliefs held by multinational English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher educators in Saudi Arabia regarding translanguaging. Despite the growing theoretical advocacy for translanguaging as a prospective pedagogical approach centered on students’ full linguistic repertoires, significant ideological and practical impediments appear to exist. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document reviews revealed four major areas of tension: the gap between theoretical acceptance and practical applicability; cultural and national divides surrounding notions of linguistic purism versus pragmatic multilingualism; monolingual institutional policies as constraining factors; and the process of individual “ideological becoming,” differentially laden with identity. This finding revealed that educators’ beliefs are shaped by their cultural backgrounds, professional experiences, and institutional contexts, resulting in contradictions between their stated ideologies and their actions in the classroom. The pressing need for appropriate professional development, critical reflective practices, and policy reforms to establish frameworks that bring multilingual pedagogies in synchrony with the Saudi educational goals under Vision 2030 is highlighted by this research. This study offers a perspective on language teacher cognition and the implementation of translanguaging in global multilingual contexts.