Students’ Uptake of Translanguaging Pedagogies and Translanguaging-Oriented Assessment in an ELT Classroom at a Bangladeshi University

Abstract

The chapter presents findings from a focus group discussion of English-major students who participated in a translanguaging pedagogical intervention in an English Language Teaching (ELT) classroom of a Bangladeshi private university. The focus group consisted of six students, of whom four students had studied in Bangla medium and two in English medium in their pre-tertiary education. These students compared their learning and assessment experience of the translanguaging intervention with traditional ELT pedagogies. They reflected on how translanguaging pedagogies could solve the problems they encounter in traditional ELT classrooms. The analysis of focus group data revealed that the English medium instruction policy discriminated against Bangla medium students vis-à-vis their English medium counterparts in terms of understanding lectures and remaining motivated. Such consequences negatively impacted their psychological well-being and socio-cultural identification as English majors. In contrast, translanguaging pedagogies provided students with a comfort zone catering to their diverse proficiency levels, aided their understanding of ELT materials and better prepared them for assessment. Furthermore, the intervention tapped into students’ sociolinguistic awareness about how English-only practices affected their academic Bangla proficiency, an essential skill in real-life contexts. The chapter concludes by shedding light on the challenges a translanguaging pedagogical approach might face to emerge as an education policy in the particular ELT context.KeywordsELTMedium of instructionTranslanguaging pedagogiesAssessmentBangladeshi university