%0 Journal Article
%T Translanguaging in Self-Access Language Advising: Informing Language Policy
%A John Adamson
%A Naoki Fujimoto-Adamson
%J Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal
%D 2012
%I 
%X This study investigates language advising in a self-access center (SAC) with the purpose of informing language policy. This center is located in a new Japanese university and has shifted from an initially teacher-imposed ¡®English-only¡¯ language policy into one which encourages ¡°translanguaging¡± (Blackledge & Creese, 2010, p. 105) between the students¡¯ and center advisors¡¯ (termed as mentors in this center) L1 (Japanese) and their L2 (English). Data from audio-recordings of interaction with advisors and students and between students themselves, interviews with mentors, and student questionnaires all reveal how translanguaging occurs in practice and how it helps to create a learning space in which the ¡°local, pragmatic coping tactics¡± (Lin, 2005, p. 46) of code-switching offer a more viable approach for learning than under its initial monolingual policy. Mentor interviews and student questionnaires indicate generally positive attitudes towards translanguaging; however, some students still favor an ¡®English-only¡¯ policy. Conclusions reveal that a looser language policy in the center is emerging in which mentors now guide students towards their own individualized language policies. It is argued in this paper that this ¡°code choice¡± (Levine, 2011) in language use is therefore aligned more closely to the principles of student-direction in self-access use.
%K self-access
%K translanguaging
%K language policy
%U http://sisaljournal.org/archives/march12/adamson_fujimoto-adamson/