The resistance to translanguaging, spontaneous translanguagers and native speaker saviorism

Abstract

Translanguaging has been theoretically argued and empirically proven to have transformative and constructive potential because it provides language users with potential access to and opportunities for rich and equal educational and linguistic resources. However, we remind in this article that many ‘spontaneous translanguagers’–language users who are understood to have a translanguaging instinct and predisposition for natural translingual use–tend to resist translanguaging in certain institutional contexts in order to fit into the dominant Anglophone society. This resistance to translanguaging is deeply provoked by the impact of pervasive language ideology–native speaker saviorism– the longstanding assumption that people of color around the world need to speak like a native speaker of English in order to fully enjoy the social, cultural, linguistic, and financial status of Whiteness. While we stand in solidarity with applied linguists who advocate for the transformative potential of translanguaging, we also caution that many actual translanguagers in certain social scenarios still carry enduring skepticism about the benefits of translanguaging. If we continue to advocate for translanguaging, it is essential to deal with core issues that hinder its application in various social settings from the perspectives of various spontaneous translanguagers.