Teachers' attitudes towards and uses of translanguaging in English language classrooms in Iowa

Abstract

<p>This study aims to examine the existing attitudes and practices of translanguaging, the use of the students' native language in the English language classroom, by 19 English language teachers in the state of Iowa. Teachers from both mainstream and dual language programs responded to a survey that collected information regarding the importance that they place on various uses of translanguaging (both by the students and by the teacher), and also information regarding the frequency with which these teachers felt it was practiced in their classrooms. Existing research in the field includes a study conducted by McMillan and Rivers (2011), which focused on examining attitudes and/or uses of translanguaging in an English as a foreign language context; the current study aims to collect similar data in the different, more diverse context of English as a second language classrooms.</p> <p>The investigator used a survey to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data were collected using multiple-choice and Likert scale questions, and the qualitative data were collected through open-ended responses. The qualitative data were used to help explain and support the quantitative findings from the study, to provide a more holistic view of the attitudes of participating teachers towards translanguaging, and to offer a description of their current practices using translanguaging in their classrooms.</p> <p>Findings indicated a division between the attitudes and practices of the participants regarding translanguaging. While the majority of the participants believed that nearly every use was important, only a small (less than half) portion of the participants implements these practices in the classroom. While the small number of participants suggests caution in interpretation, these findings have implications nonetheless for theory and practice.</p>