The Center for Language Acquisition presents Jeff MacSwan (University of Maryland), who will deliver his presentation, “ Integrated Multilingualism:  Translanguaging and Linguistic Social Justice.”

Abstract

Drawing on empirical research in linguistics, this talk outlines the integrated nature of bilingualism, stressing that bilingual speakers have broad access to diverse linguistic resources to navigate teaching and learning as well as everyday life. The history of translanguaging theory from its modern inception to its deconstructivist turn is outlined, with a critical focus on the deconstructivist repudiation of codeswitching, second language acquisition, (individual) bilingualism, and language learning. Finally, far-reaching consequences of deconstructivism for linguistic social justice are examined, with the conclusion that an integrated perspective on bilingualism is both empirically grounded and consistent with pluralist language ideologies, in contrast to deconstructivism.

Biography

Jeff MacSwan is professor of applied linguistics and language education, neuroscience and cognitive science, and affiliate professor of linguistics at the University of Maryland.  His research program focuses on the linguistic study of bilingualism, translanguaging and codeswitching.  Recent books include Multilingual Perspectives on Translanguaging (Multilingual Matters, 2022) and Codeswitching in the Classroom: Critical Perspectives on Teaching, Learning, Policy, and Ideology (Routledge, 2020). He is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from AERA's Bilingual Education Research SIG and the Leadership through Scholarship Award from AERA's Second Language Research SIG, both in 2021. He is the editor of the International Multilingual Research Journal. He previously worked as a teacher of multilingual students in Los Angeles Unified School District.

This event is co-sponsored by Penn State University Libraries. See a curated list of publications by all 2026–27 CLA visiting speakers.