Multilingual approaches to English language teaching

Multilingual approaches to English language teaching: what does this mean for assessment? 

In today’s classrooms and workplaces, English often acts as a bridge; a common language that connects people from different linguistic backgrounds. This is what we call English as a Lingua Franca (ELF): English used for communication among speakers who don’t share the same first language. It’s not about ‘perfect’ grammar or sounding like a first-language speaker; it’s about making meaning together. And that’s powerful. 

Translanguaging: embracing all language resources

But communication rarely happens in one language alone. People draw on all the languages they know, mixing and switching to express themselves fully. This is translanguaging. Translanguaging is a natural, creative way of using language resources to learn, collaborate and connect, which does not see languages as separate but mixing with each other in harmony. Instead of seeing this as ‘wrong’ or ‘confusing,’ we can embrace it as a strength. In fact, multilingual approaches to English language teaching are gaining ground, making learning more inclusive. 

Rethinking assessment in multilingual realities

So, what does this mean for assessment? Traditional tests often assume a monolingual, ‘standard English’ ideal. But real-life communication isn’t like that. If we want fair and meaningful assessment, we need to consider multilingual realities. Can learners show understanding through multiple languages? Can they demonstrate skills in ways that reflect how they actually communicate? These questions also push us to rethink what success looks like. 

But considering multilingualism for assessment is like opening Pandora’s Box! On one hand, there is a multilingual turn in conceptualising English language education whereby teachers use a multitude of learners’ home languages and/or mother tongues to scaffold content learning and initiate communication and peer interaction in class. Teachers employ such language mixing strategies on a needs basis and mostly spontaneously. On the other hand, teachers are also aware that proficiency in English as the target language is an important learning goal . Hence, assessment is mostly done in and through the target language. However, what needs to be recognised is that if learners get to use multiple languages to express their comprehension and interact with peers using home languages in alternation with English, they should also get a chance to be assessed in a similar multilingual manner, at least for classroom-based achievement tests. This would strengthen children’s English and multilingual competence as well as build confidence and interest to use the target language (and its various registers) creatively by using their multilingual resources.  

Multilingual and multimodal assessment in practice

One example of positive impact of using multilingual and multimodal assessments is included in a series of University of Cambridge led projects. The first was funded by British Council ELTRA UK (2021-2023) and conducted in collaboration with The English and Foreign Languages University, India.  The second was funded by British Council India as the MultiED in India project (2023-2026).  In these projects, learner performance is measured through reading assessments with texts presented in English and the questions in Telugu, Hind, Assamese and English. The texts and the questions are read aloud to support grade four and five children’s print comprehension. Using both oral and print modes alongside the alternation of languages in presenting the comprehension questions resulted in significant improvement in learner performance. Free responses were also accepted in the learners’ preferred language (Telugu, Assamese, Hindi, Dakkhini or English).  

Impact on learners and teaching practices

Replacing a monolingual (English) reading assessment with home and regional languages helped children process content and flexibly produce a response that reflected their true understanding in an authentic and reliable manner. Consequently, it allowed teachers to reflect upon and distinguish between challenges children face in content as opposed to (English) language learning. Children’s increased engagement and interest levels demonstrated the usefulness, ecology and equity achieved through multilingual multimodal assessments for classroom purposes.     

Celebrating multilingualism isn’t just about inclusion—it’s about preparing learners for the world as it is: diverse, interconnected and dynamic. By valuing ELF, translanguaging and multilingual approaches to assessment, we move closer to education that reflects real communication needs and empowers every learner.  

Our December 2025 webinar attempts to discuss the necessity of assessing ELF competence in real life contexts and ideas to design multilingual assessments as well as the critical challenges involved in using such assessments and making valid interpretations about learners English language and multilingual competences.   

Authors

Professor Lina Mukhopadhyay 

Professor Lina Mukhopadhyay is a professor at the Department of Training and Development, School of English Language Education, The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, India. Her areas of expertise are bi/multilingual education, second language acquisition, language assessment and academic writing. She is also the Director of the Research and Development Cell and the Director of All-India English Language Testing Authority (AIELTA) at EFLU.

Dr Alessia Cogo

Dr Alessia Cogo is Editor-in-Chief of ELT Journal. She researches English diversity, English as a Lingua Franca and translanguaging from a sociolinguistic perspective and in relation to teacher education and critical language pedagogy.