Creating translanguaging spaces in a Hong Kong English medium instruction mathematics classroom: A comparative analysis of classroom interactions with and without the use of iPad

Abstract

Recent educational studies have paid less attention to how teachers utilize resources to contingently respond to unexpected technical issues. This comparative study investigates how various resources are employed in moments when the teacher creates a technology-mediated space through the affordance of a mobile device (iPad) and moments that are not mediated by the iPad due to technical failure in an English-Medium-Instruction (EMI) mathematics classroom. The analysis, conducted using Multimodal Conversation Analysis and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, illustrates that the linguistic and multimodal resources, which are used in a technology-mediated space for developing pedagogical strategies, transcend the boundaries of mode since they are re-enacted in the context without using the iPad. I argue that an EMI classroom can be conceptualised as an integrated translanguaging space with different sub-spaces, allowing the teacher to strategically draw on multilingual and multimodal resources to transcend mode boundaries and shape the classroom as a space for learning.