An investigation into patterns of translanguaging in classrooms in the foundation phase in a primary school in the Limpopo Province

Abstract

The research reported in this mini-dissertation is a qualitative study, which sought to investigate the patterns of translanguaging in classrooms in the Foundation phase in a primary school in the Limpopo province. The aim of the study was to investigate the ways in which translanguaging is used by teachers and learners in the Foundation phase in a selected primary school in the Limpopo Province. The research focuses on how Grade 1 and Grade 3 learners and their teachers engage with texts and the strategies that teachers use to promote the use of two languages in classrooms to help learners to understand content and concepts in English and Sepedi. An innovative element of the research was the intervention teaching done by university lecturers to provide alternate practices for regular teachers in the school to discuss and engage with. The data collection instruments included classroom observations, audio and video recordings, interviews with the class teachers and a focus group discussion between the teachers. The data analysis involved identifying all instances of translanguaging that occurred in the lessons and to explore in what ways they facilitated learning. The results showed that hardly any translanguaging took place in the regular lessons and teachers seemed to be operating with a monolingual consciousness. Teachers also revealed in the focus group discussion that the Curriculum assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS) required them to keep the two languages apart and not to use both of them in lessons. In the intervention lessons, however, there were some examples of translanguaging, which seemed to facilitate interaction and greater participation from the learners. The mini-dissertation ends with some reflections on the findings, implications of the findings for future research and training, and recommendations to use the languages of school children as rich resources for teaching and learning.