Voices between Languages: Lived Experiences of Grade 10 Students in a Translanguaging Instruction in English Classroom

Abstract

This study explored the lived experiences of the Grade 10 students on Translanguaging Instruction in the English Classroom in terms of their perspectives, participation, and barriers encountered by the students in the context of translanguaging practices. The research used qualitative phenomenological research. Validated semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight informants from Alaminos Integrated National High School and two classroom observations were used to record the practice of translanguaging. The findings revealed five developing themes: (1) Translanguaging as a Pedagogical and Communicative Scaffold; (2) Translanguaging as a Cognitive, Emotional and Communicative Drive of Learning; (3) Constraints and Variations in Translanguaging Practices Affecting Classroom Comprehension; (4) Translanguaging as a Normalized Academic Practice and an Adaptive Everyday Communicative Resource; and (5) Awareness of Translanguaging as an Academic Discourse Practice. The repeating trends across the data suggest that translanguaging promotes cognitive development, vocabulary growth, inclusivity and student involvement. But the results also show that the benefits are not absolute, since they depend on the quality of training, and an over-reliance on one language could lead to problems, particularly in instances when official fluency in English is required. These findings indicate a need for a balanced approach, which forms the basis of the study’s suggestions for enhancing translanguaging in ESL classrooms.