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1.
INTRODUCTION
Scholars in sociolinguistics have recently developed a range of ways of describing and analyzing language use in late modern societies. Rather than assuming that homogeneity and stability represent the norm, we look at how mobility, mixing, political dynamics, and historical embedding are now central concerns in the study of languages, language groups, and communication (Blommaert & Rampton, 2011). As large numbers of people migrate across multiple borders, and as advances in digital technology make available a multitude of linguistic resources, so communication is in flux and in development. Given these conditions, the notion of separate languages as bounded systems of specific linguistic features may be insufficient for analysis of language in use and in action (Jørgensen, Karrebæk, Madsen, & Møller, 2011). The idea of a language therefore may be important as a social construct, but it is not suited as an analytical lens through which to view language practices. This article considers the limitations of an approach to understanding linguistic diversity that relies on the naming and separation of languages--that is, an approach that relies on the concept of multilingualism to describe the language competence of speakers in the context of language contact. In this context, we investigate the relationship between language(s) and identity, arguing that in a world in which language is mobile and complex, identities may be performed through the deployment of certain linguistic resources in certain ways, but a language does not necessarily equal an identity. Finally, we consider the implications of these arguments for education: If languages are no longer viewed as separate entities, (how) should educators develop pedagogy that incorporates the complex, mobile language repertoires and identities of their students? To answer these questions, we consider the potential of translanguaging as pedagogy and practice.
2.
LANGUAGE
Sociolinguistic study of multilingualism has moved away from a view of languages as separate, bounded entities to a view of communication in which language users employ whatever linguistic features are at their disposal to achieve their communicative aims as best they can (Jørgensen et al., 2011). Blommaert and Rampton (2011) argued that languages are ideological constructions historically tied to the emergence of the nation-state in the 19th century. Rather than taking the named language as...