Translanguaging in ELT Teacher Education in Türkiye: From Policy Silence to Pedagogical Possibilities

ABSTRACT This study investigates how translanguaging is conceptualized, enacted, and constrained within English language teaching (ELT) teacher education in Türkiye. Drawing on data from 18 teacher educators, 24 pre‐service teachers, classroom observations, reflective journals, semi‐structured interviews, focus groups, and institutional documents across four ELT programs, the research shows that translanguaging was widely practiced yet unevenly understood—ranging from pragmatic code‐switching to critical, identity‐oriented perspectives. From the lens of translanguaging pedagogy, such practices highlight its potential to scaffold comprehension, reduce anxiety, and foster inclusive learning environments. However, a critical applied linguistics perspective reveals that curricula and policies largely silence translanguaging, reflecting entrenched English‐only ideologies. Teacher cognition further explains the variation in beliefs and practices, shaped by prior training and exam‐oriented contexts. The Turkish case thus demonstrates how multilingual pedagogy persists through negotiation and resistance, offering insights for global ELT contexts where structural reform is needed to legitimize translanguaging as a core component of teacher education.