A Multilingual Turn: Translanguaging by Design Activity in an Efl Context

This article reports on pedagogical practices in teaching SiSwati as a first language (SL1) in diverse linguistic settings of Eswatini. In response to educational research indicating the vital role played by a learner’s first language in learning, the Eswatini government embarked on an exercise of decolonising the curriculum in 2011 by using SiSwati as the medium of instruction and learning in the foundation and middle phases and a core subject throughout primary and senior secondary school. However, arguably, research on African language pedagogy is scanty, let alone teaching of SiSwati, as the little available research has been on issues of policy, thus leaving a knowledge gap on the pedagogy in SiSwati first language (SL1). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore pedagogical practices that are used in the SL1 class in compliance with the policy, which provides for SiSwati to be a compulsory subject and a vehicle for teaching and learning in early primary schools.. This qualitative case study involved eight teachers who taught SL1 in the foundation and middle phases. Data were generated through interviews. The findings indicated that teachers’ practices were anchored in the understanding that teaching SL1 meant equipping learners with functional language skills, such as productive and receptive skills, essential for studying across subject curricula. However, a lack of pedagogical knowledge thwarted teachers’ practices to teach language in general, let alone to multilingual learners as expository pedagogy dominated SL1 classrooms, as opposed to curriculum requirements that learner-centred pedagogies anchored in social practice be used. Besides, these findings advocate for culturally responsive pedagogies appropriate to teach SL1 to learners from diverse linguistic backgrounds.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Pedagogical Practices in Teaching SiSwati as a First Language in Diverse Linguistic Settings

Mngometulu¹,

Makgabo

2023

“…Studies have revealed that translanguaging has several advantages in an additional language context (Sefotho 2022, Zano 2022a). According to Zhou and Landa (2019), translanguaging emphasises dialogic learner-centred instruction that always puts the learner first.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Helping students bring to mind prior knowledge can have a strong positive impact on learning. Similarly, helping students relate new information from peers to the knowledge that they already have aids them to understand and organise information in meaningful ways (Zano 2022a;Zano 2022b;Zano 2020a;Zano 2020b). The respondents noted thus:…”

Section: When Teachers Allow Learners To Use Their Home Languages In ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Instructional Design to Promote Translingual Practices in an English First Additional Language Context

Zano

Mbirimi-Hungwe

2023

Languages are not set, autonomous, bounded entities whose nature cannot be disrupted; they are flexible entities that can be reformed, re-arranged and recreated to fit into new contexts of communication. This study was driven by the need to explore the instructional design used to promote translingual practices in an English first additional language context in the Further Education and Training phase. For this qualitative study, eight (8) English first additional language teachers in the Further Education and Training phase were used as respondents. These teachers were stationed at four (4) high schools in one district of South Africa, meaning two (2) teachers per school were selected. The researchers used telephone interviews to collect data. The results revealed that translanguaging can be used in conjunction with collaborative activities like co-teaching, peer tutoring and group work in the English first additional language classroom. Besides, all learners have prior knowledge gained from schooling and life experiences and English first additional language teachers can build on those experiences. Also, based on the findings, it is indispensable to take advantage of modern technological facilities like WhatsApp in aiding the task of teaching English first additional language.

“…However, recent translanguaging literature has paid attention to teachers' deployment of multiple linguistic resources for scaffolding. The findings of the studies (e.g., Zano, 2022;Zano, 2021;Zano, 2010;Vogel & Garcia, 2017) typically indicate that the teachers encourage learners to draw on their multilingual and multimodal resources in the classroom, which consequently can facilitate the learners' development of multilingualism.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accommodating Learners’ Multilingual Capabilities in an English First Additional Language Classroom

Zano¹

2022

Self Cite

Debatably, in South Africa, there is an absence of a consensus about a teaching method that can inform multilanguage usage for English first additional language learners in the Further Education and Training phase. This study argues that translanguaging can be the latest all-embracing approach in language policy and assessment needed to substitute previous linguistic practices that treated languages as separate entities in a globalised world. The study aims to determine how group work promotes learners’ different multilingual capabilities among learners in an English first additional language context in the Further Education and Training phase. It took place in a multilingual Grade 11 classroom. For this qualitative study, only 24 Grade 11 learners were used as participants in 4 focus groups for data collection. The results indicate that engaging in group work increases the time English first additional language learners spend actively using their home languages with their peers. Learning English within mixed linguistic groups, learners often draw on their existing languages to learn and to communicate with their teachers and peers. Therefore, distinguishing language upbringings as a reserve might produce positive results in the classroom when teaching English to English first additional language learners as learners showcase their identities in collaboration with their contemporaries. Group work creates a space where translanguaging can easily take place and it is a good exemplification of the power processes that underlie the classroom as learning becomes learner-centric. It was concluded that group work can serve as an enabler for translanguaging, harnessing learners’ different multilingual capabilities for a better understanding of their work.