English Language Education Program (ELEP) UKSW Students' Perceptions on Translanguaging Used in Classrooms

Abstract

The term "translanguaging" has been recognized by linguists for the past decade and has been socially constructed by multilingual speakers within their communities for a significant period of time, including in the context of classrooms. The purpose of this study is to investigate multilingual students' perception on the use of translanguaging. The study was conducted at the English Language Education Program Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana. The study's focal participants were five students from batches 2019, 2020, and 2021 who speak more than two languages. Utilizing qualitative methodology, the researcher used semi-structured interviews to collect the data. The results showed that translanguaging is integrated into both social and classroom contexts. Most of the students saw translanguaging as a positive approach to learning a language as it helps them to convey ideas, scaffold their language development, and create a safe space in the English classroom. However, a few of the participants stated their concerns about the excessive use of translanguaging in classrooms. This study is limited to the students’ perception on pedagogical translanguaging. Further study is needed to observe translanguaging practices at a higher education in Indonesian EFL classrooms.