Moving out of linguistic boxes: the effects of translanguaging strategies for multilingual classrooms

Abstract

This paper reports on an investigation into the efficacy of a teacher preparation programme that introduced the teaching of African languages to speakers of other African languages in order to produce multi-competent and multi-vocal teachers. A mixed method approach was used to elicit from a pool of 60 (30 experimental; 30 control group) multilingual pre-service teachers the participants’ storied reflections and their reading and vocabulary achievement scores. The results of the study show that translanguaging techniques used in the experimental class afforded the participants affective and social advantages as well as a deep understanding of the content. Similarly, a paired t-test has shown a statistically significant differential performance in favour of the experimental group after three months of a translanguaging intervention programme. Using the translanguaging approach, and comparing it to an ‘ubuntu’ lens of viewing the world from an amorphous and continuous cultural space, I argue for development of a multilingual teaching pedagogy that is premised on this worldview to advance theory and practices of translanguaging as a teachable strategy. Future research possibilities are highlighted and pedagogical implications for multilingual classrooms are considered for adaptations in comparable contexts.