Translanguaging in Agricultural ESP: Conceptual Boundaries and Linguodidactic Relevance

Abstract

This article examines the theoretical and linguodidactic relevance of translanguaging in professionoriented English language teaching, with particular attention to agricultural English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The study treats translanguaging not as unrestricted use of the first language, a synonym for codeswitching, or a renewed form of the Grammar-Translation Method, but as a theoretical perspective on how multilingual learners mobilise linguistic, semiotic and disciplinary resources for meaning-making. A conceptual-comparative analysis of key works on translanguaging, multilingual pedagogy, language transfer, ESP and the CEFR Companion Volume is used to distinguish pedagogical translanguaging from spontaneous multilingual practices and from adjacent concepts. The analysis shows that its relevance to agricultural ESP lies particularly in the asymmetry between students' existing subject knowledge and their still-developing ability to express that knowledge through English terminology and professional discourse. Rather than proposing a competence model or a set of classroom procedures, the article clarifies the conceptual scope, potential and limitations of translanguaging for agricultural ESP. It argues that multilingual resources may support the activation of prior disciplinary knowledge, cross-linguistic awareness and the mediation of specialised meaning, while English remains the target language for increasingly independent professional communication. The article also identifies conceptual limitations, including the risk of reducing targetlanguage exposure and the continuing debate over unitary versus differentiated linguistic repertoires.