Translanguaging in the English school subject: Student and teacher experiences of translanguaging as a teaching resource

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that teachers have limited competence in teaching English to multilingual students and that teacher students are lacking essential competence in teaching English in a multilingual classroom. Studies also show that the most common used approaches in English instruction in Norway have been and still are the monolingual and the bilingual approach, whereas the use of a multilingual approach is significantly rare. This current study investigates one teacher and her students’ experiences of an English lesson with translanguaging practices. The study was conducted in a lower secondary school located in East of Oslo, Norway, where the majority of the student population are multilingual and multicultural. This thesis implemented a qualitative approach in order to investigate teacher and student experiences linked to translanguaging practices. The data was collected through two methods; observation and individual semi-structured interviews. Two lessons were observed. The first observation was a regular lesson without my intervention, whilst the second lesson was developed by me and included translanguaging practices. Also, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted: two with the teacher and six individual interviews with students. The findings in this thesis suggest that the teacher and the students had a positive experience with the lesson that included translanguaging resources. Both the teacher and the students consider the use of the students’ native language as a resource in their English lesson. Whereas some students found the use of their L1 as supportive when learning English, other students shared that the use of their L1 in the English lesson increased their native language proficiency. Also, the results indicate that the use of the students’ identities and language in the English lesson contributed to a positive change in behavior, engagement and motivation. The findings also indicate that the teacher and the students perceived that the use of students’ L1 is deemed as a problem by the school. The implication of this study suggests that there is a need for more focus to be put on the use of a multilingual approach when teaching and learning the English language. In addition to the importance of acknowledging and emphasizing multilingual students’ right to receive adapted education in relation to the English subject, it also suggests that the multilingual perspectives need to become a priority in the teacher education and in policy documents, preparing teacher students and allowing teachers, who supports a multilingual approach, to teach English in a multilingual classroom