Practices and Perception of Translanguaging as a Pedagogical Stance: Findings from Chinese Secondary Teachers’ Professional Learning Community

Nayi Liu

doi:10.62051/rhjc9c04

Authors

Nayi Liu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62051/rhjc9c04

Keywords:

Translanguaging, professional learning community, participatory action research, conceptual understanding, L2 acquisition.

Abstract

The current research study examines faculty and students’ practices and beliefs around translanguaging as a pedagogical stance at a local innovative high school in Beijing, China. Employing a mixed-method approach, a combination of classroom observation research, semi-structured interviews, and Likert-scale survey questionnaires were employed in the current study. Result indicated that, contrary to the prevalent findings around positive attitudes towards translanguaging by faculty members, participants in the current study revealed ambivalent attitudes towards translanguaging practices. While most observed faculty already employ translanguaging to various extents in their everyday instructional practices, some report hesitation towards translanguaging since they perceive tension between L2 acquisition and conceptual understanding. Recommended future practices include encouraging more student-directed translanguaging processes, since the majority of current translanguaging practices are faculty-directed.

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