Chapter published in:
Conversation Analysis and Language Alternation: Capturing transitions in the classroom
Edited by Anna Filipi and Numa Markee
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 295] 2018
► pp. 83–106

Chapter 5
What is it in Swedish?

Translation requests as a resource for vocabulary explanation in English mother tongue instruction

The present chapter investigates teacher-initiated translation requests as spontaneous vocabulary teaching during English mother tongue instruction in Sweden. The collection-based analysis draws on a corpus of 30 hours (11 weeks) of video-recordings of compulsory school-age students. The analysis shows how the teacher routinely draws on the local availability of two shared languages to accomplish a variety of actions: to check students’ comprehension of topicalised vocabulary; to engage the entire cohort; to perform medium repair; and to prompt student production of the target language. The findings may be of relevance for numerous types of bi- and multilingual settings, where language alternation serves to augment the teaching and learning of languages as well as other subject matter.
Keywords: language alternation, mother tongue instruction, English as a heritage language, translation requests, conversation analysis, vocabulary teaching, transitions
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Background and previous research
    • Mother tongue instruction in Sweden
    • Language alternation and translation in the L2 classroom
    • Vocabulary
  • Data and method
  • Analysis
    • Translation as a means of performing comprehension checks
    • Trouble orientation: What’s x?
    • No trouble orientation
    • Translation requests to prompt production
    • Trouble orientation
    • No trouble orientation
  • Discussion and conclusion
Published online: 01 November 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.295.05sto
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Filipi, Anna
2019.  In Multilingual Education Yearbook 2019 [Multilingual Education Yearbook, ], ► pp. 25 ff. Crossref logo
Ro, Eunseok
2021. Using PowerPoint slides as a resource for coordinating understanding during presentation consultations at an L2 speaking center. Applied Linguistics Review 0:0 Crossref logo
Stoewer, Kirsten & Nigel Musk
2019. Impromptu vocabulary work in English mother tongue instruction. Classroom Discourse 10:2 ► pp. 123 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 31 march 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.