THE VALUE OF FEEDBACK IN TRANSLANGUAGING: STUDENTS’ INSIGHTS FROM AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE AT LONDRINA STATE UNIVERSITY O valor do Feedback na Translinguagem: Percepções dos Alunos de um Curso de Inglês da Universidade Estadual de Londrina

The recognition of plurilingualism in Brazil has drawn attention to the phenomenon of translanguaging, which has been gaining more advocates around the world. Translanguaging is a conceptual and ideological framework that seeks to account for communicative practices constructed out of diversity of linguistic and cultural repertoires. It has been used and discussed for more than two decades, mainly in the field of bilingual education and in the study of modern foreign languages. In order to contribute to the discussion about translanguaging in Brazil, this study provides a perspective for exploring the value of feedback in the translanguaging theory in higher education; namely, as observed in an academic course at Londrina State University in the State of Paraná. The use of a single focus group discussion, as data collection, and of Thematic Analysis for coding allowed the researcher to identify themes for the description of both implicit and explicit ideas within the data. Results showed that students value feedback under three main themes. Feedback was valued as a task established by the professor, with clear goals. Such goals positioned feedback as a guideline for students to internalize their own learning. Finally, providing an environment of collaboration where they felt motivated to take academic risks was also perceived as valuable.


ABSTRACT:
The recognition of plurilingualism in Brazil has drawn attention to the phenomenon of translanguaging, which has been gaining more advocates around the world. Translanguaging is a conceptual and ideological framework that seeks to account for communicative practices constructed out of diversity of linguistic and cultural repertoires. It has been used and discussed for more than two decades, mainly in the field of bilingual education and in the study of modern foreign languages. In order to contribute to the discussion about translanguaging in Brazil, this study provides a perspective for exploring the value of feedback in the translanguaging theory in higher education; namely, as observed in an academic course at Londrina State University in the State of Paraná. The use of a single focus group discussion, as data collection, and of Thematic Analysis for coding allowed the researcher to identify themes for the description of both implicit and explicit ideas within the data. Results showed that students value feedback under three main themes. Feedback was valued as a task established by the professor, with clear goals. Such goals positioned feedback as a guideline for students to internalize their own learning. Finally, providing an environment of collaboration where they felt motivated to take academic risks was also perceived as valuable. KEYWORDS: Translanguaging; Feedback; English Language.

INTRODUCTION
Research and publications seek to break with the vision of Brazil as a Portuguese monolingual country (CAVALCANTI, 2013;FINARDI, 2017). Although Portuguese is the official national language, the country is indeed multilingual, with a wide spectrum of languages ranging from indigenous to immigrants. In the last few years, Brazil has seen the emergence of research focused on its great linguistic and cultural diversity in the educational realm. In this scenario, addressing linguistic diversity in education is perceived as fundamental for understanding diverse cultures, which consequently fosters appreciation for human diversity (LIBERALI; MEGALE, 2016). As a result, some scholars, like those mentioned above, encourage an understanding of the teaching-learning process from a plurilingual 1 perspective, since it can help shed light on a variety of important issues in education such as language ideologies, language norms and power, and the identities and feelings of speakers (GARCIA; FLORES, 2014). Consequently, the rise of bilingualism or plurilingualism advocacy has drawn the attention of academics and instructors to various phenomena that have been observed in multilingual speakers around the world (PARK, 2013). Current research is interested in languages in relation to the interlocutors involved in the conversation, the topic of the conversation, and the social context. One of the current interests for research has been translanguaging, which has gained a lot of followers worldwide, and is gaining a lot of attention in Brazil as a good approach for discussing bilingualism or plurilingualism in language education in Brazil.
The term 'translanguaging', from the Welsh trawsieithu, is a practice in bilingual environments where speakers make use of their known linguistic repertoires in a creative way (GARCIA; LIN, 2017). According to Garcia (2009), it is a process of meaning making through the utilization of languages, their varieties, and any other semiotic, multimodal and cognitive resource that goes beyond code-switching. Translanguaging theories seek to shift the analysis focus on named languages to the interactions of the speakers who are the ones making meaning and constructing new and complex discursive practices (LIN, 2019). Due to the large body of research on translanguaging, scholars in Brazil have also begun to explore the theory in diverse areas. The areas of study have ranged from the influence of Portuguese in sign language to the theory as a pedagogical tool in bilingual schools. In order to contribute to the increasing discussion about translanguaging in Brazil, this study explores feedback in the translanguaging theory in higher education: namely in an academic course at Londrina State University, in the State of Paraná.
The discussion of the concept of bilingual or plurilingual spaces in higher education involves pedagogical and sociopolitical issues, and it challenges us to think about the role of language(s) in the construction of academic knowledge (GAJO; BERTHOUD, 2018). At the university level, knowledge of an additional language is a given fact but not openly recognized. For entrance into government-funded universities, students are required to demonstrate basic reading skills in a foreign language (FL) 2 .
Many entrance exams specifically mention knowledge of the English language as a requirement for admission (BOHN, 2003). Furthermore, most universities require students to study a FL for a period of time during their university studies, with requirements ranging from optional courses, to the full semester for the entire program of study. Some master's and doctoral programs around the country require not only to use spoken English but also to read and write effectively in that language (PAIVA; PAGANO, 2001).
The extent to which a better recognition of diversity in society could produce spinoffs in educational settings is yet to be investigated. In an attempt to explore the close relationship between translanguaging and feedback, this study invited a group of undergraduates (emergent bilinguals) from an English language course as research participants, during the 2017-2018 academic year. The study followed a qualitative approach centered on action research. It was experimental in nature, working with undergraduate students from Lingua Inglesa II in the program Secretariado Executivo.
The source of data collection for the study was a single focus group discussion, specifically related to feedback and its value, for later data analysis and discussion. The main study objective was to establish the value of feedback within the realm of translingual spaces 3 , as a support for the teaching and learning of the English language, from the perspective of the learners. It is important to note that the data used for this article forms part of a larger study connected to the researcher's doctorate thesis on translanguaging.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Translanguaging has been used and discussed for more than two decades, mainly in bilingual education and in the study of additional languages. It is a conceptual and ideological framework that seeks to account for communicative practices constructed out of a diversity of linguistic and cultural repertoires. It is believed that the term was coined for the first time in Welsh by Cen Williams (1994) as trawsieithu (GARCIA; LIN, 2017).
At that time, students were consciously alternating between their well-known linguistic repertoires (Welsh and English) to assist themselves with their academic work, using both their mother tongue and the target language to become balanced bilinguals. Since then, there has been a growing body of research on the extension of the benefits of translanguaging in language teaching, and/or plurilingual instruction (BLOCK, 2007;SCHMITZ, 2012;GARCIA, 2009;GARCIA, FLORES, 2014;WEI, 2018;. As defined by Garcia (2009, p. 140), "translanguaging is the act performed by bilinguals of accessing different linguistic features or various modes of what are described as autonomous languages, in order to maximize communicative 2 The terms additional languages and foreign languages (FL) are used interchangeably in the study. However, FL is used to describe the development of a foreign language (e.g. English) as part of an educational program. 3 I am using the term 'translingual spaces' to refer to that space where two or more languages coexist not only orally, but around written material too. Canagarajah (2018) encourages opening. up translanguaging spaces in the higher education classroom to examine the process of constructing and communicating potential".
The theory of translanguaging over the years has taken two main perspectives; a socio-political stance to support minority groups often socially marginalized or a linguistic stance for language and content engagement in education. Translanguaging as an approach in education can serve many purposes: for classroom content demands, interpersonal relationships, and in the construction of knowledge for students with any linguistic proficiency (GARCIA, 2009). In a project carried out by researchers including professors and undergraduates of an English language program from Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, the researchers sought to explore translingual and multimodal practices in organized workshops with participants from a public school. In such organized workshops, in conjunction with secondary students, participants worked on ascribing meanings to texts in relation to migration, using translanguaging (e.g. English-Portuguese) and multimodality (e.g. memes, videos). The report showed that students' existing knowledge about Brazilian history enhanced their engagement, creativity, and critique related to social issues, and expanded their comprehension of language and society (TAKAKI, 2019).
From a translanguaging lens, linguistic repertoires are invited, included, recognized, and accepted in the learning process, which goes beyond a division between languages (OTHEGUY et al., 2015). According to the aforementioned scholars, translanguaging has practical and political implications in a culturally and linguistically diverse society, which can lead to the recognition of the positive role of the native language, or home language, of students to support and facilitate the acquisition of any standardized language (GARCIA; WEI, 2014). In academia, for example, articles like "Students' Right to Their Own Language: The Retrospective" (SMITHERMAN, 1995) show that translanguaging is used strategically and creatively. In this article, the author, a black sociolinguist, combines AVVE 4 with Standard American English to give voice to the AVVE language in mainstream society. In other studies, students' writing

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN TRANSLANGUAGING
English has become a dominant language worldwide. How English came to be a prevailing language can be discussed from a wide variety of perspectives, for example, from colonial dominance to globalization and/or pop culture influences. The supremacy of the English language has not come without criticism. Some scholars such Phillipson (2013) and Skutnabb-Kagas (2000) have been very vocal about the overpowering influence and use of English at the expense of other languages. Phillipson coined the term 'linguistic imperialism' to describe English language dominance, and Skutnabb-Kagashas called the language a killer, a means of 'linguistic genocide'. Whether or not one agrees with the expansion of the English language and its supremacy, this language has changed the face of its instruction, dealing with how to teach and learn it effectively. Additionally, the great variety of Englishes, and the reasons for learning it, have unquestionably been shaped by the cultural needs of speakers. As in many countries around the world, students in Brazil are now much more exposed to the international usage of English, and to the different representations of communication.
Data on the percentage of Brazilians who speak English is scarce. However, Gimenez (2013) reported that Brazil ranked 46 th for proficiency in the English language from a list of 54 countries. In the year 2018, the English Proficiency Index (EPI) 6 ranked Brazil as number 53 among a list of 88 countries, still considered low. In November 2019, EPI, in its 9th edition, ranked Brazil as 59 th in a list of 100 countries, with a low score of 50.10. However, such proficiency is hard to grasp, in terms of actually knowing the number of people who are fluent in the language . Canagarajah, (2013) argues that with the changing status of English, we need to replace native-speaker models with a paradigm that centers on current uses of English and its diverse users. Therefore, there should be a redefinition of what language proficiency entails in world Englishes. Seidlhofer (2011) argues that what we should all be focusing on is how language engages the learners' reality and activate the learning process.
Nonetheless, the Ministry of Education (MEC) in Brazil has tried to shed light on this issue through the offering of the TOEFL ITP test to all universities participating in the program 'Languages Without Borders' 7 . Both staff and students can take the test for various purposes: to diagnose the English proficiency level in higher education, to participate in international academic exchanges, and to foresee the internationalization capacity of national universities. Based on all this previous discussion of English use and proficiency, there seems to be a general belief that Brazilians need and want to learn English both in private and public realms. Around the country, there is a huge number of private language schools. In the public realm, although 'Languages Without Borders' was recently canceled, MEC has stated that it will open other venues to promote language learning such as in the project Future-se. 8 It is important to note that such a project is still debated within universities, as to whether to voluntarily support or oppose it, as various universities consider elements of the project as a threat to university autonomy.
Although translanguaging is not limited to any one language, research has focused largely on how diverse languages mesh with English. This meshing suggests that translanguaging means English+ (CANAGARAJAH; GAO, 2019). Although translanguaging is not restricted to English plus some other language, the present study is centered on English for a couple of reasons: my background in TESOL 9 and the fact that English is still the dominant foreign language in language education in developing countries. In most developing countries, English is still perceived as a means of advancing in society. In Brazil, people believe they need the English language either for personal or professional development. Finardi (2014)  language courses. One of the challenges in the teaching of modern foreign languages (e.g. English), either here in Brazil or in any other country, is understanding its educational purposes. For the older learner (e.g. college learner), he or she intentionally pursues learning a foreign language based on a clear instrumental intention. In other words, the learner wants to do something with the language such as traveling, communicating with English speakers, or being able to read and write for academic purposes. This instrumental intention is undoubtedly a challenge in language pedagogy, as the teaching/learning needs to be carefully structured to achieve a specific goal. In order to assist learners in the development of their translanguaging competence, feedback is important, as it can help learners improve their overall learning and can motivate them in different situations.

FEEDBACK
In addition to helping us to understand new perspectives in language use and practice, individually and collectively, the theory of translanguaging can also help us understand language feedback and assessment based on students' needs. More importantly, it can help us understand the value of language feedback which can contribute to the educational development of students' personal growth. In an article about corrective feedback in the learning of a foreign language in Brazil, the authors highlight the importance of relating the precepts of sociocultural theory to corrective feedback (BATTISTELLA; LIMA, 2015). Such sociocultural theory was, especially, related to teachers' beliefs, and to the significant participation of knowledge exchanges between teachers and students. These authors point out that we need to remain mindful of the fact that learning is socially and dialogically situated, and that learning (and improvement) occurs in the interaction between the teacher and students and the student with other students.
Research on feedback is not something new in the educational field. In the beginning of the 20 th century, Thorndike's 'Laws of Learning' paved the way for the movement of feedback research spearheaded by B.F. Skinner (SELIGMAN, 1970;BURKE;PIETRY, 2010). Following Skinner's research on programmed instruction 10 , 9 Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. 10 Programmed instruction is typically distinguished by sequences of individual frames which contain elements such instruction text, questions over text, student response requirements, and feedback on the researchers began regarding feedback as an enhancer and a motivator. Over the years, especially in the 70s, that idea shifted towards an emphasis on process, examining the basic functions of feedback and how this influences learners' cognitive and metacognitive processes (KULHAVY; WAGER, 1993). Feedback, therefore, was viewed from an information-processing perspective; that is, how students processed the feedback messages about their strengths and weaknesses, and how they acted upon such messages.
Current feedback research still builds on the information-processing theory to determine the types of feedback that are most effective for learning. Lee (2017) points outs that quality feedback involves students. In the classroom, feedback includes teacher, peer, and learning. Some of these strategies could involve using explicit explanation, metalinguistic cues, or elicitation (MAZZAFERRO, 2018). Feedback is provided on the grounds of constructive alignment; that is, "in constructive alignment we systematically align the teaching/learning activities, as well as the assessment tasks, to the intended learning outcomes" (BIGGS; TANG, 2011, p. 11). Feedback is normally given as a response to students' performance, and such performance is an attempt to show mastery of a learning goal. Therefore, clearly stated learning goals for any assessment is where feedback should begin. This approach emphasizes the importance of the learner's understanding of the learning goals. The learner requires to understand the purpose of the provided feedback in order to be effective.

METHODS
The method performed in this study was action research, which is a method that response (KULHAVY, WAGER, 1993).
investigates teaching/learning environments with the purpose of improving practice and knowledge in order to benefit all players in education. The use of Action Research allows to gain deeper insights into the classroom context which includes students, teaching practices, and classroom management (CHEVALIER; BUCKLES, 2013). As researcher, I was involved with the research participants as a guest professor for one of their courses.
Since I was an active participant in the teaching process, I was able to decide what additional material to use, which included student's life experiences and suggestions. The goal was to improve the teaching-learning process in the classroom.

DESCRIPTION OF CONTEXT AND PARTICIPANTS
Following ethical guidelines, three key issues were attended when conducting the focus group discussion; consent, confidentiality, and anonymity. Printed consent was signed by each one of the participants, with clear information about the study. Any disclosure of personal information was kept anonymous, deleting any information that could identify participants or a third party. Finally, privacy was ensured by having the information, gathered, secured, and handled only by the researcher.
The participants in the focus group were students from the Secretariado Executivo program at Londrina State University. Specifically, students from the discipline 11 Língua Inglesa II which is a discipline intended to enable students to develop tasks related to the Secretariado Executivo position. Students ought to develop comprehension and production of oral and written texts in the English Language, connected to their area of study by the end of the course. In the case of Secretariat students, the professionals perform duties for governmental or private institutions, related to administrative or management responsibilities, where English language skills are required. Participants were selected based on accessibility, since the researcher worked with the students as a guest professor. The participants were college students, largely emergent bilinguals, speakers of Portuguese and learners of English, and some of them used other languages at a lower level of proficiency (e.g. some knowledge and use of Japanese, sign languages). The researcher worked with the students from this course from September 2017 to February of 11 I am using the word discipline here instead of course as it is understood in higher education in Brazil. 2018 as part of her practicum 12 .
The translanguaging work carried out with the group involved the use of students' native language (L1) and the target language (TL) in or around written texts for the purpose of broadening or deepening knowledge. It is important to stress that when talking about L1 in language education, we are not simply talking about the usage of the native language, we are talking about the learner's linguistic map (e.g. literacy, knowledge, learner identity). In order to do this translanguaging work, the researcher worked with students, analyzing didactic material (textbooks) related to 'Business English' in general, but mainly on the development of communication skills for public speaking. As the final project involved formal oral presentations, it was deemed valuable to use students' life experiences as topics for those presentations to help them feel at ease with the content.
Since feedback was an important part of every lecture, and of the project development, students were sent an e-mail invitation to participate in a focus-group discussion about the feedback received during the joint work for Língua Inglesa II. Out of the six students who were part of Língua Inglesa II, three of them decided to participate in the discussion.
Hearing students' insights with regard to feedback was considered meaningful for understanding how students construct understanding in an academic context in a translingual space.

DATA COLLECTION
The main method of data collection during the focus group discussion was audio recording. It was decided to use mainly audio-recording since it presented advantages for both the researcher and participants. Via the e-mail invitation to participate, a date and time to meet that worked for everyone was negotiated: August 2018. The length of the discussion recorded was 47 minutes and 58 seconds. This discussion was later transcribed completely for data analysis and discussion. Three main issues were discussed and expanded during the meeting: What was their understanding of feedback? What were their thoughts about feedback in a classroom where people used Portuguese and English around English business texts, with the goal of improving communication in the target language? 12 It is a mandatory graduate level course, also known as placement work or internship, to implement the learned skills during my study in a specialized field of study (English language teaching).
And what were their thoughts about professor-student feedback and peer-peer feedback?

DATA ANALYSIS
Written permission to record the focus group discussion was obtained, in accordance with ethics guidelines (e.g. informed consent). The transcription of the entire recording ensured the protection and anonymity of each participant. In order to better analyze the data based on transcripts, Thematic Analysis (TA) was performed as a procedure for data reduction and organization. This approach allowed me, as a researcher, to read and reread the data looking for codes, themes, or concepts that could help me frame the analysis and final discussions. TA is a method that has gained great recognition for its practicality in distinguishing themes and patterns of meaning across data collection in relation to research inquiries CLARKE, 2006CLARKE, , 2013. TA proved very useful for me to identify the points at issue (e.g. value of feedback) through pattern recognition.
Additionally, it helped me navigate the complexity of meaning within the dataset, identifying and describing both implicit and explicit ideas within the data, that is, detailed themes (GUEST; MACQUEEN; NAMEY, 2012). The following table illustrates for the reader how TA was performed for this study to distinguish codes and themes.

Exemplary quotes from transcription
First stage: generation of categories Sometimes the professor expects the work or the task to be done certain way, and then we do it another way, or it does not meet the goal he wanted. Even the lack of this feedback sometimes brings some discomfort to the students, because we just don't know what he wanted, so we end up getting a grade, let's say for a work and we don't even know why that grade?

EXCERPT 3 Participant 3:
For me the feedback is really a response, really a help for the person who is receiving it, and stating it like that, 'look, what you did is cool, this here you can improve, this is ok, you can continue, or I don't understand!' It serves as a guide for you to follow in what you are doing. And I see that that was very important even in our 'lecture' project, because we were very nervous, we already had a proposal of this before with professor 2, and we couldn't develop the 'lecture'. First, because we were nervous to present it, to talk, and then because we didn't even know how to do it, the structure, and with the feedback, doing part by part, and getting feedback in each part, we were able to do the structure and then this part of the structure was solved. It was only the part of the talking that had to do with ourselves. From a linguistic perspective of language learning and as stated by Kohonen (2012), learning something entails noticing it. Feedback, which is used as a basis for improvement, is an important part of that holistic learning experience, to help students construct understanding in the academic context, for both language and classroom didactic content. The value of feedback has been largely documented from a pedagogical view.
However, hearing the voice of students is also important as they are co-creators of the learning environment in a classroom. Feedback in translanguaging spaces is very important, as it is a space where learners are supposed to be valued, not only for them to improve linguistically or academically but also to hear their voices as part of any learning experience. Based on the formative and corrective feedback provided to the group, hearing students' voice allowed to understand better the position of feedback in translingual spaces.

RESULTS
As mentioned, Thematic Analysis allowed me to read and re-read the data looking for codes and themes to describe the value of feedback from the perspective of the student.
Following the coding procedure presented beforehand, the following table illustrates the codes and main three themes identified in the study. The sample extracts provided in the EXCERPT 10 Participant 2: I think also that feedback, during this process of creating a project, ends up bringing the student closer to the professor.

EXCERPT 11
Participant 3: One of the things the girls told me was that I spoke too low, so that was shameful, and I also spoke a lot 'ahh'; In the transition from one thing to another I spoke 'éé', so I had to adopt a methodology of not having to memorize everything,

DISCUSSION
The results showed that feedback was regarded by the students as an enterprise that was facilitated by the professor; as resource for scaffolding learning; and as a collaborative space to support each other's learning. Students perceived that it was important to know what were the goals in each classroom assignment to make the necessary and corrective changes for such a task or activity. Although corrective feedback is not exclusive of translanguaging, the kind of feedback provided for this group was designed to provide strategies for the students to represent information in ways that they could find personally meaningful. Receiving that feedback provided them with a guideline to follow; enabled them to solve problems regarding language and content in order to carry out the task; and helped them to achieve the established goal. All of these steps happened gradually. Having these guidelines, established not only by the professor, but also with the support of their peers, was regarded as equally valuable. Students' perceived that there was a joint effort to reach set goals, and to feel confident about undertaking lectures in the English language and about projects carried out during the course.
As stated previously, translanguaging nurtures in bilingual spaces. I am using the word bilingual spaces to refer to this environment where linguistic and cultural repertoires coexist. Departing somewhat from this previous concept (bilingual spaces) feedback was a holistic process of learning involving everyone in the classroom. Understanding classroom objectives allowed students to make the necessary changes for self-repair to enhance the probability of success in subsequent task. Having feedback as guideline, and not as prescriptive changes to be made, allowed students to choose what worked for them in specific contexts and to individualize their learning, becoming more independent. Lastly, having a system in which everyone collaborated gave the message that there was a support system to count on, and it helped the students to get out of their comfort zone by allowing their peers to provide insights in their own learning.
Understanding how feedback is perceived by students can help educators better understand the value and significant implications of translanguaging in the classroom, specifically in higher education. One of such implications to think about is the importance of academic risk-taking. Feedback used for academic risk-taking has been recognized as beneficial to raise the interest level of higher education students regarding language in academic context. "Academic risk-taking is the student selection of school achievement tasks that vary in probability of success and are accompanied by feedback or the expectation of feedback" (CLIFFORD, 1991, p. 276-277

CONCLUSION
This study was aimed at providing information about the value of feedback for emergent bilinguals in an academic course, where participants' language learning and biliteracy 13 development were being addressed. Feedback, using a translanguaging lens, can dependably assist students with academic risk-talking, allowing them to take risks in terms of both target language practice and learning in general. In order for them to be willing and able to take more risks, they need to have clear expectations about their performance, a consistent support that allows them to self-correct, and an environment where they feel comfortable to use language freely. I would like to add, though, that in this study feedback went beyond assessment in terms of grading. Feedback was utilized as a relational space where both professors and students constructed learning, and where everyone participated towards a common goal.