Building translanguaging spaces: CLIL planning tools for the Australian New Arrivals Program

Pedagogical translanguaging offers a well-established orientation for supporting multilingual learners, yet teachers in intensive English programs often struggle to operationalize these principles within curriculum structures prioritizing rapid language acquisition. This study examines how key concepts from Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), the 4Cs Framework and Language Triptych, can serve as practical planning tools to help English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers to operationalize pedagogical translanguaging within the constraints of Australian New Arrivals Programs (NAP). Drawing on qualitative data collected across two school terms with two NAP teachers, and using expansive learning theory as an analytical framework, we trace teachers’ transformation through structured collaboration with university researchers. Findings reveal CLIL concepts enabled teachers to move beyond translation-focused activities toward comprehensive integration of students’ meaning-making repertoires, reconceptualizing culture as ‘culture of learning’ and creating genuine spaces for student agency. We argue CLIL planning tools provide a structured pathway for operationalizing pedagogical translanguaging, enabling EAL teachers to establish culturally sustaining practices within existing institutional constraints. The study has implications for EAL teacher education seeking practical approaches to enacting translanguaging principles.