Why translanguaging is vital Joyce West, Afro Voice, Johannesburg, 14 May 2018 Over the past decade, not only in South Africa but around the world, a great deal of research has focused on multilingual education. In contrast to multilingual education, the growth of English as a world language and lingua franca is also a topic of influence within education. A strong tendency towards a predominantly English imperialistic education system is noticeable in multilingual South African schools. 68% of pupils are enrolled in schools where English is the language of learning and teaching (LoLT), while only 7% are English mother tongue speakers. A growing demand for an English LoLT, which is not pupils' mother tongue, is one of the factors believed by many to contribute towards poor academic achievement in South Africa. Imperialism The growing demand for English in schools is considered a form of 21st century, English linguistic imperialism. After decades of colonialism, the whole purpose of the new South African language in education policy (LiEP), inaugurated 1
in 1997, was to replace discriminatory colonial and apartheid language policies and promote multilingualism, indigenous languages and mother tongue education. The LiEP has regrettably not realised within schools. English as the predominant LoLT, is presently dominating multilingual South African classrooms and mother tongue languages are even further devalued. English linguistic imperialism is altering South African classroom dynamics. Teachers can no longer use "English-only" language teaching strategies in multilingual classrooms and still expect success. The 21st century, multicultural and multilingual nature of South African classrooms demand the decolonisation of English linguistic imperial teaching strategies. The implementation of dynamic bi-/multilingual teaching strategies such as Translanguaging, a teaching strategy built on the importance of mother tongue education, should be considered. Translanguaging has shown to be invaluable around the world in colonising imperialistic English language practices promoting mother tongue education and creating multilingual awareness in classrooms. Translanguaging is a dynamic and flexible approach that helps pupils make sense of their multilingual environment by centering around flexible bi-/multilingual practices and teaching strategies, and not on languages themselves. 2
Translanguaging promotes the idea of using any or all language(s) available to a pupil, as their linguistic repertoire, to help develop and grow their concept-building in more than one language. However, teachers and school language policies need to be willing to change and accept teaching strategies that are different from current "English-only" practices. Unfortunately, the willingness of teachers and schools are still up for debate. Teachers and school policies presently reject teaching strategies such as translanguaging for "pragmatic" reasons and because it allows pupils to use "all" their languages flexibly within the classroom. Unfortunately wrong Current school policies ignore the fundamental difference between mono- and multi-lingual pupils and consequently do not allow for multilingual discourse within the classroom. Many South Africans believe that the faster a child can learn English through an approach that is not polluted or influenced by other languages, the more success a child will have in language learning and future endeavours. English is therefore seen as a ticket to economic prosperity. Unfortunately, this is a misguided and ignorant way of thinking. Mother tongue education, an internationally accepted principle, is the ticket to economic prosperity.
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A child's mother tongue lays the foundation for further language learning. Internationally renowned professor Jim Cummins' interdependence theory emphasises the interrelated nature of languages and how a pupil's mother tongue development will influence his second language acquisition. If this principle of language interdependence is not understood, English imperialism will continue to dominate our schools, and poor academic achievement can be expected. In 2016, I received a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence scholarship to the United States of America, where I had the opportunity to lecture at Dordt College and do research on the topic of translanguaging. This scholarship offers young South African lecturers an opportunity to teach at a US institution. The Fulbright scholarship also resulted in me meeting Prof Ofelia Garcia, one of the greatest researchers in the field of translanguaging, at the City University of New York (CUNY). During my visit at CUNY I watched, listened and learnt about the ways that the translanguaging theory can be implemented when the pupils in the classroom do not speak the language of the school at home. Success New York teachers spoke up at a conference about the success that they have had in multilingual classrooms. Some of those teachers explained that due to an influx of refugee and immigrant pupils, the multilingual nature of their classrooms 4
frequently extends to having 10 or even more languages involved in the classroom. During my visit teachers also demonstrated how translanguaging strategies have assisted Spanish-speaking pupils who have experienced interrupted schooling. Those pupils benefited from translanguaging as some of them have never spoken English before they continued their schooling in the US. I believe that South African schools and their pupils can also greatly benefit from translanguaging since our classrooms also frequently represent a diverse amount of languages. A total of 61% of our pupils can benefit from leveraging their mother tongue in the classroom in order to assist learning. Translanguaging can therefore serve as a way of decolonising our English imperial language practices, lead to social justice and ultimately lead to us achieving the multilingual ideal of our Constitution. • Joyce West is a lecturer of language at Aros Academy
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