Abstract
Since its inception in the 1990s Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has transformed from an initiative to improve communicative competence in foreign languages into a complex language-aware construct in which translanguaging and curriculum integration are identifiable pedagogical practices. This shift of paradigm in its conceptualisation has run parallel to the inclusion of multilingual practices in education, and it has been influenced by the so-called multilingual turn. However, despite the conceptualisation of CLIL becoming more complex, and translanguaging making an interesting case for research in multilingual and CLIL scenarios, there is still a dearth of studies dealing with translingual practices in different contexts. This article reports the results of an exploratory qualitative study investigating CLIL teachers’ perceptions on the pedagogical use of translanguaging and the impact of those perceptions on their teaching practices in different trilingual schools in Kazakhstan. Findings (1) showed that teachers’ stance on translanguaging is rather ambiguous; and (2) led us to identify a set of teaching practices related to how teachers make use of translanguaging: exclusive use of the target language as an ideal (end-goal); translanguaging as a way of scaffolding content; translanguaging as a transitional practice (temporary fix) and code-switching; and translanguaging as a way to counter teachers’ own language proficiency limits.