Translanguaging in research interviews: social practice, discursive transpositioning, and methodological challenges

Abstract This article examines translanguaging in the context of research interviews, considering translanguaging as a social practice process. Drawing on metalinguistic data from a research project which focuses on Vietnamese international students in Taiwan, we suggest that in doing translanguaging, the participants reflexively transpositioned themselves from a Vietnamese language user to a range of other roles such as: English/Chinese language expert, language manager, language acquirer, or language bargainer. At the same time, they interactively transpositioned the other person from a Vietnamese language insider to an English language insider or a Chinese language outsider in their process of meaning-making through language choice practices. This somewhat challenged the authority of the researcher who is expected to play a major role in this process. We also indicate how translanguaging may create constraints for researchers in managing interview data before providing recommendations in relation to these issues.