A fair go: Translanguaging and assessment practices in a New Zealand junior college

Abstract

In New Zealand schools with multilingual student populations, a key concern is whether bi/multilingual students can adequately demonstrate their learning through the medium of English. In this study of a junior college in Auckland, I examine how these students may be disadvantaged in the school’s implementation of project-based learning and peer assessment practices and explore how a translanguaging approach would provide more equitable assessment for the students. The article draws selectively on a larger qualitative research project which included classroom observation, audio-recording of assessment events and interviews with teachers. The findings provide evidence that there is a monolingual bias in assessment procedures that can limit what bi/multilingual students can achieve in terms of grades. There were also individual cases involving bilingual teachers where translanguaging practices pointed the way forward to fairer assessment for the bi/multilingual students. However, in order to effect a broader shift in attitudes and practices, teachers would need professional development in critical multilingual awareness.