Translanguaging in the classroom : a strategy for English first additional language learning

Abstract

This article explores learners’ experiences of using translanguaging as a strategy for learning English as a First Additional Language by examining the opportunities and barriers associated with it. We followed a qualitative research design and conducted six focus group discussions with 44 multilingual learners who participated in after-school peer-tutoring programmes. These learners came from township schools in Gauteng province, South Africa. An inductive thematic approach was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study indicate that translanguaging acts as a tool for meaning-making and identity construction, thereby affirming learners’ linguistic fluidity. However, mismatches between teachers’ and learners’ home languages and monolingual school practices were identified as barriers to translanguaging. We argue that failure to include indigenous languages in educational systems is an act of curricular inequality that causes alienation as learners struggle to find their voice in a monolingual learning environment. The promotion of indigenous languages is a vehicle for inclusion of all learners in the school system as multilingualism facilitates greater opportunity for these learners to have their voices heard. We maintain that the valorisation and acknowledgement of all languages as legitimate sources of knowledge could have far-reaching benefits for education and could enhance nation building.