Translanguaging Practices In Middle School English Classrooms

Although empirical studies on translanguaging practices have gradually increased in recent years,the research contexts are mostly focused on universities,while translanguaging practices in secondary school education have not received sufficient attention.Therefore,this study is targeted at four teachers and their students in two secondary schools,in an attempt to investigate their use of translanguaging as well as students’ attitudes towards such practices.This study conducted classroom observations and recordings to investigate both teacher-directed and student-directed translanguaging practices.In addition,an online questionnaire and follow-up interviews were employed to know about students’perceptions of translanguaging practices.It was found that teachers adopted explanatory practices,managerial practices,and interpersonal practices,while students often initiated explanatory practices and interpersonal practices.Due to the students’ role in the class,managerial practices were not revealed in student-directed translanguaging practices.In addition,translanguaging was mostly applied to explanatory practices in both teacher-directed and student-directed translanguaging practices,which meant they preferred translanguaging for meaning-making.As for students’ perceptions of translanguaging practices,it was found that junior secondary school students generally held positive attitudes towards translanguaging and admitted that teacher-directed translanguaging practices could be beneficial for learners’ second language learning and content comprehension.Their positive attitudes towards teachers’ explanatory practices verified that learners preferred teacher’s translanguaging for scaffolding.However,for student-directed translanguaging practices,though most of them were positive about it,two of them held a neutral attitude towards their own translanguaging practices for practicing the target language.Through investigation,factors implied for students’ translanguaging practices were revealed,which were not just limited to the lack of linguistic competence,including language transfer,cultural difference,and the influence of contextual environments,such as peers’ previous discourses and the difficulty level of questions discussed.In general,the findings suggest that translanguaging can be an effective pedagogical and communication tool,which accounts for students’ positive perceptions.In effect,the current study yields several implications for translanguaging practices in EFL classrooms.Theoretically,it unveils different types of translanguaging practices in secondary school classroom and how students view such practices.Pedagogically,the study is useful to teachers who expect to involve translanguaging in their future teaching.Further studies are recommended to explore teachers’ attitudes towards this phenomenon and longitudinal influence of a translanguaging approach across a longer span.