Beliefs of Students About Their Translanguaging Practices in a South African University

The English Language Limits Me! Connecting Third Space to Curriculum Transformation in a South African University, Expanding Epistemological Landscapes?

“…Right from the beginning of this study, I have been pursuing a hybrid literacy among traditional conceptions (L1 for reference of L2) of basic and academic literacy and instruction for students' sociohistorical lives (Gutiérrez et al, 1999) I supported my argument with notions of biliteracy (Hornberger & Link, 2012), and translingual process (Lee & Canagarajah, 2018) as the cutting-edge ideologies against ownership of language and culture, its regionalism, challenging the traditional paradox of 'native' and 'non-native' speakers and its connection to a particular nation-state. I argued against the English language as the only LoLT in South Africa's mainstream schools and tertiary education (see Kepe, 2019Kepe, /2020Kepe, & 2021. I contended that English in South Africa has been dominant since its inception and at the expense of the indigenous languages, by and large, the majority but, most importantly, have been avowed as official languages by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.…”

“…This view was acknowledged in "It Starts with a Story! Towards extensive reading" (see Kepe & Weagle, 2021), although the focus was on primary school, the "Beliefs of Students About Their Translanguaging Practices in a South African University" (Kepe, 2021) is a case study focused on five third-year students from the Bachelor of Education Undergraduate Class. The participants ranged in age from 18 to 35.…”

“…The study has revealed that when the translingual process is adopted, it accommodates cultural and linguistic practices of negotiation. It is informed by plurality to reflect a broad diversity of global settings while accommodating successful communication, including in our language classrooms (Kepe, 2021). As said previously, in acknowledging the participants' contribution I strive to integrate selective comments by participants, particularly as we used to engage in classroom translingual discourse.…”

“…Students I taught at the University of Fort Hare. I needed to help maximise the teacher trainees' linguistic resources in problem-solving and knowledge construction (Kepe, 2021). It dawned on me as I attempted to elucidate theories and their implications to teaching and to learn that the English language for these student teachers has become a deficit to most, particularly those from less affluent backgrounds/ areas required to learn the concepts in EFAL.…”