Plurilingual pedagogy through mediated translation: case studies from Korea and Japan

This study explores the pedagogical potential of plurilingual education through the use of recipe translation tasks in two undergraduate language classrooms: an English-medium class in South Korea and a Japanese-medium class in Japan, where students translated recipes from their first languages (L1) into the classroom’s target language, even when their L1 was not shared by the teacher or peers. Thematic analysis of written reflections revealed key findings relating to students’ awareness of linguistic variation, cultural specificity, and audience considerations. The tasks encouraged learners to engage with their linguistic and cultural identities and to develop strategic approaches to intercultural communication. Students demonstrated the ability to make informed linguistic and cultural decisions when adapting their L1 recipes for new audiences, highlighting the role of plurilingual tasks in fostering mediation skills and metalinguistic reflection. Allowing learners to draw on their L1 also supported confidence and agency, particularly for those whose home languages were otherwise invisible in the classroom environment. Overall, the study argues that plurilingual translation practices provide an inclusive and enriching pedagogical approach in linguistically diverse classrooms. Offering empirical evidence from Asian higher education contexts, it extends plurilingual pedagogy research beyond European settings and demonstrates a replicable classroom model.