Developing Translanguaging Knowledge in TESOL Teacher Education: A SOLO Analysis of Theoretical and Pedagogical Understanding

This study investigates how TESOL postgraduate coursework students developed knowledge and understanding of translanguaging through a 5-week professional development program. Responding to concerns that teachers often interpret translanguaging as code-switching, translation, or general first language use, the study examines the structural complexity of participants’ theoretical and pedagogical understanding of translanguaging. Data were collected from 12 participants through preprogram group interviews, postsession written reflections, a postprogram knowledge test, and follow-up interviews. Analysis was guided by the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome taxonomy, supported by hybrid thematic analysis. Findings show that participants’ initial understandings were largely surface-level, typically associating translanguaging with the use of multiple languages in communication or teaching. After the program, most participants developed relational-level theoretical knowledge, particularly in distinguishing translanguaging from code-switching and understanding it as the mobilization of a unitary linguistic and semiotic repertoire. Pedagogical knowledge also deepened, with most participants linking translanguaging principles to classroom design, although flexible transfer to unfamiliar contexts remained challenging. The study argues that translanguaging constitutes troublesome professional knowledge because it requires conceptual and ideological reorganization, not simply the addition of new teaching techniques. Implications are offered for TESOL teacher education and professional learning.