Student teachers’ attitudes toward translanguaging in formal learning vis-à-vis informal interaction: A survey of a university in Kenya
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Billian Khalayi Otundo
Abstract
This study investigates student teachers’ (STs) attitudes towards translanguaging (TL) in formal learning spaces (lecture room) vis-à-vis informal praxis (outside the lecture room, at home and in the community). Grounded in classic theoretical approaches to communicative competence and the more recent academic work on translingualism, this research is framed with the following questions: (a) Which language practices are used by STs in informal discourse (outside the lecture room, at home and in the community) and formal lecture rooms? (b) What motivates the choice of these practices in the various arenas of interaction? (c) How do STs’ language practices in informal conversations influence their attitudes towards TL in the lecture room? To respond to these questions, quantitative data was gathered through an attitude elicitation questionnaire from 80 student teachers at a major university in Kenya. Among other findings, a majority of STs reported an English-only policy in formal discourse in the lecture room, as well as overlapping motivations for TL in informal conversations outside the lecture room, at home, and in the community. Although there were overall positive attitudes toward TL in the lecture room, the study also found significant differences in the distribution of STs’ attitude scores for TL in the lecture room, more so across the ethnic languages used in informal conversations outside the lecture room and in the community. This research is relevant for the exemplification of TL practices by multilingual speakers in informal conversations and contributes to the ongoing debate on Kenya’s language-in-education policy concerning new possibilities and approaches to translingual pedagogy, which emphasizes the collaboration of languages and abilities that a person draws on to make meaning, that is, their full linguistic repertoire.
Abstract
This study investigates student teachers’ (STs) attitudes towards translanguaging (TL) in formal learning spaces (lecture room) vis-à-vis informal praxis (outside the lecture room, at home and in the community). Grounded in classic theoretical approaches to communicative competence and the more recent academic work on translingualism, this research is framed with the following questions: (a) Which language practices are used by STs in informal discourse (outside the lecture room, at home and in the community) and formal lecture rooms? (b) What motivates the choice of these practices in the various arenas of interaction? (c) How do STs’ language practices in informal conversations influence their attitudes towards TL in the lecture room? To respond to these questions, quantitative data was gathered through an attitude elicitation questionnaire from 80 student teachers at a major university in Kenya. Among other findings, a majority of STs reported an English-only policy in formal discourse in the lecture room, as well as overlapping motivations for TL in informal conversations outside the lecture room, at home, and in the community. Although there were overall positive attitudes toward TL in the lecture room, the study also found significant differences in the distribution of STs’ attitude scores for TL in the lecture room, more so across the ethnic languages used in informal conversations outside the lecture room and in the community. This research is relevant for the exemplification of TL practices by multilingual speakers in informal conversations and contributes to the ongoing debate on Kenya’s language-in-education policy concerning new possibilities and approaches to translingual pedagogy, which emphasizes the collaboration of languages and abilities that a person draws on to make meaning, that is, their full linguistic repertoire.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Setting the scene: Informal language learning and socialization in additional languages 1
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Part I: Informal language learning in private contexts
- The impact of family and media on L2 development in early childhood in a multilingual society: The case of the Seychelles 19
- ELF and other languages in the family: Portraying multilingual repertoires at dinner tables across Europe 51
- Dynamic language repertoires: The case of an Italian-Turkish couple in Istanbul 87
- A multimodal perspective on communicative competence in multilingual Afro-Surinamese speaker communities 111
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Part II: Informal language learning in public contexts
- Communicative competence in the virtual breathing space: Minoritized language learning in social media 149
- Researching the benefits of integrating language and museum education on students’ linguistic, cognitive, affective, and intercultural development 171
- Bringing the outside in: Attitudes towards multilingual competence in Zambia and Tanzania 199
- Student teachers’ attitudes toward translanguaging in formal learning vis-à-vis informal interaction: A survey of a university in Kenya 231
- About the contributors 261
- Index of subjects 265
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Setting the scene: Informal language learning and socialization in additional languages 1
-
Part I: Informal language learning in private contexts
- The impact of family and media on L2 development in early childhood in a multilingual society: The case of the Seychelles 19
- ELF and other languages in the family: Portraying multilingual repertoires at dinner tables across Europe 51
- Dynamic language repertoires: The case of an Italian-Turkish couple in Istanbul 87
- A multimodal perspective on communicative competence in multilingual Afro-Surinamese speaker communities 111
-
Part II: Informal language learning in public contexts
- Communicative competence in the virtual breathing space: Minoritized language learning in social media 149
- Researching the benefits of integrating language and museum education on students’ linguistic, cognitive, affective, and intercultural development 171
- Bringing the outside in: Attitudes towards multilingual competence in Zambia and Tanzania 199
- Student teachers’ attitudes toward translanguaging in formal learning vis-à-vis informal interaction: A survey of a university in Kenya 231
- About the contributors 261
- Index of subjects 265
