Pedagogical Applications of Translanguaging in the Context of French for Spanish Speakers

Making Connections: Pedagogical Applications of Translanguaging in the Context of French for Spanish Speakers and the Linguistically Diverse French Language Classroom

Talk by Dr. Maryse Mijalski, Ed.D.
Friday, March 7, 2025

How to integrate translanguaging into your French course? How to encourage students to make connections between the target language and their native language(s)? Translanguaging encourages students to value their native language and culture; it leverages the language skills they already have while promoting comparative thinking and cultural exchanges in the classroom. In this presentation, the speaker will introduce her French for Spanish Speakers course. She will share strategies and resources that facilitate making comparisons between French, Spanish, English and other languages. She will offer specific examples such as collaborative translation, skill sets for reading comprehension using the translanguaging approach, as well as activities that encourage students to access their full linguistic repertoires. At the end of the presentation, participants will be able to integrate some form of translanguaging into their French course.

About the speaker:
Maryse Mijalski is Senior Lecturer and French Language Program Director in the Department of European Languages and Studies at the University of California, Irvine. She received her Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration at the University of Southern California. At UCI, she oversees the French Language Program and teaches beginning and intermediate-level French language courses, French for Spanish Speakers, French for Reading, and Business French. She has previously presented papers at ACTFL and AATF National Conventions on telecollaboration and the development of intercultural competence, reading proficiency and interpretive skills, French for Spanish Speakers, and how to approach the history of French colonization at the intermediate French level. Her presentation focuses on the pedagogical applications of the translanguaging approach in the context of French for Spanish Speakers and in the linguistically diverse “traditional” French classroom.

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This talk is part of the Spring 2025 Professional Development Series organized by the Center for Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California.

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