Probing into ESL teachers’ use of translanguaging: Perspectives and operationalisations

Abstract

Translanguaging has been among the multilingual pedagogies advocated for in multilingual classrooms for decades. The question of whether the translanguaging strategy is employable in learning English as a Second Language (ESL) has been of interest to scholars for some time, particularly given the complexity of ESL in multilingual classrooms. This study sought to probe into ESL teachers’ perspectives and use of translanguaging. From the interpretivist epistemological stance, the researchers used a case study and inferred qualitative data from five purposively sampled ESL teachers at a high school in KwaZulu-Natal. Data collected through semi-structured interviews sought to address the research questions: What are the perspectives of ESL teachers on the use of translanguaging in ESL classrooms? How do ESL teachers employ translanguaging pedagogy in their teaching of ESL? Data were analysed thematically through the theoretical lens of Ubuntu pedagogy. The findings reveal that teachers use languages fluidly to enhance immediacy and relevance and to navigate through figurative language and various cultures while enhancing learners’ content knowledge. The researchers conclude that translanguaging can be a scaffold and a resource for arousing learners’ interest, while creating a constructive learning environment. The researchers assert that translanguaging is instrumental in achieving learning outcomes.