Use of translation and plurilingual practices in language learning

Here we will present a pedagogical framework for the implementation of an Integrated Plurilingual Approach (IPA) to language learning that has emerged from research and observation of best practices in primary, secondary, and higher education. Researchers, teachers, and students collaborated in three interconnected projects (2012–2015; 2015–2019) whose main aims were to help teachers and learners move towards acknowledging and explicitly connecting their linguistic repertoires to reframe their current classroom practices and engage in new ones. This implied a reformulation of their pedagogical practices, including the use of translation to acquire interlinguistic, intercultural and mediation skills in contexts other than professional translator training (TOLC). Two instruments resulted: one to help the teachers transform their perceptions and, so, their performance, regarding the plurilingual paradigm, a four-phase collaborative reflective cycle; and another to guide their instructional design, the five-dimensional instructional framework (IPA-5DIF). Some classroom examples will be presented here, with special reference to a high-complexity secondary school context (118 students, 4 teachers).