Translanguaging as bona fide practice in a multilingual South African science classroom

Abstract

The call for improving students’ academic achievement in science education has increased in urgency in recent years. It has also increased in complexity in the face of the growing cultural and linguistic diversity of present-day classrooms following inter- and intra-state migration. Although translanguaging pedagogy, where languages of input and output are deliberately interchanged, remains a relatively young field of research, it has grown substantially in the past decade. The study presented in this article sought to explore the role language plays in the academic performance of multilingual students at a primary school in South Africa. Adopting an ethnographic research design, the author collected qualitative data through lesson observations video-recorded in a fifth-grade science class, supplemented with several interviews with the teacher. Data analysis involved a combination of both inductive and deductive methods, and the results affirm that translanguaging pedagogy is indispensable for effective learning in multilingual classrooms. The author’s findings confirm insights from previous research that the ability and encouragement to use multiple languages in science class allows multilingual students to engage in a practice of generating and creating scientific explanations in their own voice, resulting in better academic performance.

South African Postgraduate STEM Students’ Use of Mobile Digital Technologies to Facilitate Participation and Digital Equity during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…These issues have plagued the learning and uptake of STEM subjects by learners whose home language is not English [17]. Proponents of translanguaging [34,35] implore STEM, teachers to challenge learners to draw on their linguistic repertoire for meaning-making in the classroom.…”

Perception of Future Spanish Primary Education Teachers on Their Multicultural and Multilingual Competencies and the Sustainability of the Educational System

“…When the focus is on primary school teachers, the number of studies found in the search decreases, as well as when the focus is on language teaching. However, multilingualism is sometimes considered from the perspective of other subjects [43]. Some studies focus on additional language didactics, sometimes in specific countries [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40].…”

“…Three articles deal with the teaching of additional languages: One on the language policy applied by the Belgian government regarding the task-based methodology for teaching Flemish [40]; in another article, Fhonna and Yusuf [41] analyze the methodologies applied in Australia for the didactics of Indonesian as an additional language; and a study in Seychelles evaluates the quality of learners' written productions according to the language in which they write about their knowledge [42]. Finally, regarding language acquisition through content, Charamba [43] evaluates the process of translingualism as a good practice for a multilingual science classroom in South Africa. Focusing on multilingualism versus monolingualism, [44] reports on the perceptions and differences of each type of learner when acquiring an additional language.…”

Teacher Self-Efficacy and Learner Assessment: A Perspective from Literature on South African Indigenous Languages in the Foundation Phase

“…Learners who move frequently may also have gaps in their education, which can affect their ability to acquire new knowledge and skills, including language proficiency (Hanna, 2022;Neluvhola et al, 2022). This is compounded in instances, where there is low teacher turnover, no further training of teachers, and a lack of continuity in language instruction (Cekiso et al, 2019;Charamba, 2023).…”