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<h1 class="gmail-headline__title">'Translanguaging' Better For SA Classroom Dynamics Than English-Language Imperialism</h1>
<h2 class="gmail-headline__subtitle">A strong tendency towards a predominantly English education system is noticeable in multilingual South African schools.</h2>
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Joyce West
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Language Lecturer at Aros & part-time lecturer at the University of Pretoria
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<p>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.</p>
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<p>A
strong tendency towards English imperialism in our education system is
noticeable in multilingual South African schools. Sixty-eight percent of
learners are enrolled in schools where English is the language of
learning and teaching [LOLT], while only seven percent are English
mother-tongue speakers.</p>
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<p>A
growing demand for an English LOLT, which is not learners' mother
tongue, is one of the factors believed by many to contribute towards
poor academic achievement in South Africa, and it can be considered a
form of 21<sup>st</sup> century English linguistic imperialism.</p>
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<p>After
decades of colonialism, the whole purpose of the new South African
Language in Education Policy [LIEP] inaugurated in 1997, was to replace
discriminatory colonial and apartheid language policies and promote
multilingualism, indigenous languages and mother-tongue education.</p>
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<p>The
LIEP has regrettably not been realised in schools. English as the
predominant LOLT is currently dominating multilingual South African
classrooms, and mother tongues are even further devalued.</p>
<p>English linguistic
imperialism is altering South African classroom dynamics. Teachers can
no longer use "English-only" teaching strategies in multilingual
classrooms and still expect success. The multicultural and multilingual
nature of South African classrooms demands the decolonisation of
imperialist linguistic teaching strategies. The implementation of
dynamic bilingual or multilingual teaching strategies such as
"translanguaging", a teaching strategy built on the importance of
mother-tongue education, should be considered.</p>
<blockquote class="gmail-pull-quote">Teachers
and school language policies need to be willing to change and accept
teaching strategies that are different from current "English-only"
practices.</blockquote><p>Translanguaging has shown to be invaluable
around the world in decolonising imperialistic language practices,
promoting mother-tongue education and creating multilingual awareness in
classrooms.</p><p>Translanguaging is a dynamic and flexible approach
that helps learners make sense of their multilingual environment by
centring around flexible bi-/multilingual practices and teaching
strategies, and not on languages themselves. Translanguaging promotes
the idea of using any or all language(s) available to a learner, as
their linguistic repertoire, to help develop and grow their
concept-building in more than one language.</p>
<p>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 is still up for debate. Teachers and school policies currently
reject teaching strategies such as translanguaging for "pragmatic"
reasons, and because it allows learners to use "all" their languages
flexibly within the classroom.</p>
<p>Current
school policies ignore the fundamental difference between mono- and
multilingual learners 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.</p>
<p>Unfortunately,
this is a misguided and ignorant way of thinking. Mother-tongue
education, an internationally accepted principle, is the ticket to
economic prosperity. A child's mother tongue lays the foundation for
further language learning.</p>
<p>Internationally
renowned professor Jim Cummins' interdependence theory emphasises the
interrelated nature of languages and how a learner's mother-tongue
development will influence their second-language acquisition. If this
principle of language interdependence is not understood, English will
continue to dominate our schools, and poor academic achievement can be
expected.</p>
<blockquote class="gmail-pull-quote"><span class="gmail-quote">I
believe that South African schools and their learners can also greatly
benefit from translanguaging, since our classrooms also frequently
represent a diverse number of languages.</span></blockquote><p>In 2016, I
received a Fulbright scholar-in-residence scholarship to the U.S.,
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 U.S. institution.</p>
<p>The
Fulbright scholarship also resulted in me meeting Professor Ofelia
Garcia, one of the greatest researchers in the field of translanguaging,
at the City University of New York (CUNY). During my visit to CUNY I
watched, listened and learnt about the ways that the translanguaging
theory can be implemented when the learners in the classroom do not
speak the language of the school at home.</p>
<p>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 learners, the multilingual
nature of their classrooms frequently extends to having 10 or even more
languages involved in the classroom.</p>
<p>During
my visit teachers also demonstrated how translanguaging strategies have
assisted Spanish-speaking learners who have experienced interrupted
schooling. Those learners benefitted from translanguaging, as some of
them had never spoken English before they continued their schooling in
the U.S.</p>
<p>I
believe that South African schools and their learners can also greatly
benefit from translanguaging, since our classrooms also frequently
represent a diverse number of languages. Sixty-one percent of our
learners can benefit from leveraging their mother tongue in the
classroom in order to assist learning.</p>
<p>Translanguaging
can, therefore, serve as a way of decolonising our imperialist
English-language practices, lead to social justice — and ultimately,
helping us to achieve the multilingual ideal of our Constitution.</p></div></div></article></div></div></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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