Translanguaging and EFL- an action research in an ecuadorian private higher education institution

Abstract

This research study investigated the use of Translanguaging on EFL private university students’ learning. Researchers conducted action research by using Colanguaging and Preview-view-review Translanguaging strategies to unveil students’ beliefs and attitudes towards the use of Translanguaging. The participants were fifty-two B1+ and B2 proficient undergraduate students who initially answered a closed-ended survey online. However, six of those students were selected through purposive stratified sampling to be observed and interviewed to analyze their Translanguaging practices further. The researchers observed students during the five-week implementation in the EFL teaching-learning context. Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that Translanguaging practices improved undergraduate students’ learning and enhanced classroom interaction. Additionally, researchers identified the influence of traditional classroom policies on EFL students’ ideologies and perceptions towards Translanguaging practices. Consequently, findings showed that there are affective factors outside of the scope of this study that may be related to the inconsistency between what students said they do and what they did in class. The most significant finding regarding students’ ideologies lies in a positive shift data demonstrated in students’ ideologies during the intervention.