The Implementation of Translanguaging as a Practical Pedagogy to Elevate Learners' Cognitive Competencies Case Study: Third Year Pupils of Tridi Ali Middle School, El Tarf

Abstract

In the field of bilingual education, there has been a shift toward mixing two languages in the classroom. Translanguaging is a pedagogy of learning via producing an output different from the language of instruction. This descriptive research with its qualitative and quantitative framework aims to quantify the benefits of this new pedagogy in elevating learners' cognitive competencies and to probe teachers’ perception regarding its adoption. The research was conducted at Tridi Ali Middle School, El-Tarf, as it dealt with one group of 25 third-year pupils. To achieve the stated aims, triangulation method was incorporated; a questionnaire was administered to the pupils in order to gauge their foreign language classroom anxiety level, motivation, and communicative competence: before the implementation of the translanguaging pedagogy. Additionally, they received a classroom activity, where the new pedagogy was integrated to observe improvements among their aforementioned cognitive skills, also a recorded interview with the teacher to probe her perception towards the integration of translanguaging and pupils’ cognitive competencies. Results indicated that pupils’ FLCA witnessed a noticeable decrease. In addition to their cognitive skills improvement, teachers and students had positive perceptions about translanguaging, indicating that they are more likely to adopt it in teaching and learning settings.