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Benefits of Translanguaging to learners and minority languages in Multilingual contexts. A case of Chongwe Rural District, Zambia
Abstract
In many multilingual communities, the use of translanguaging has emerged as one of the major strategies for improving classroom communication for multilingual learners thereby creating more equitable, multilingual learning environments. The study sought to establish the benefits of translanguaging to learners regarding language teaching and learning. It also analysed how the adoption of pedagogical translanguaging promotes inclusive education and a decolonizing pedagogy. The study further examined learners’ and teachers’ experiences of the use of translanguaging in academic settings. The study investigated the benefits of translanguaging to learners and minority languages in Chongwe Rural District. This descriptive research study is theoretically grounded in three language orientation framework. To fulfil the purposes of the study, purposive sampling was used to sample ten schools from which two learners and two teachers per school were purposively selected bringing the total sampled population to forty. The data was collected using focus group discussions, classroom observations, and document analysis, and were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicated that translanguaging motivates learners to learn, enables them to participate freely in classroom interactions, and helps in the preservation of culture and minority languages due to the use of the learners’ indigenous language(s). From these findings, the study recommends that Zambia’s current language in-education policy, which stipulates that only the seven official Zambian languages should be taught and used as media of instruction in lower grades in any particular region, should be revised to include other minority languages so that culture and their languages are preserved. Key words: Translanguaging, multilingualism, pedagogy and minority language.
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