Abstract

This presentation divides into three parts. In the first part the focus is on bilingual pedagogic practice. Historically, bilingual schools have kept boundaries between languages, but more recently, schools are experimenting by using two languages concurrently within the same lesson. One of the most prevalent bilingual pedagogical practices in bilingual education in the 21st century is ‘translanguaging’, which switches the language mode of input and output in the same lesson and which has been adopted as a key modern concept in bilingual classrooms and communities. The practice of translanguaging has implications for assessment. The majority of assessments in schools emphasise assessing academic language proficiency, and this often creates inequitable assessment practices for emergent bilingual learners. One way to create more equitable assessments is to employ translanguaging practices within tests. The focus of the second part of the presentation will be on the literature relating to translanguaging as a mode of bilingual assessment. The concluding part will describe ways in which an international awarding body is attempting to build an understanding of the needs of bilingual learners in order to guide best practice and future developments.