Exploration of the Practice and Attitudes of Translanguaging in Standard One Primary School Classrooms in Tanzanian Rural Areas.

Mwambula, Harid (2023) Exploration of the Practice and Attitudes of Translanguaging in Standard One Primary School Classrooms in Tanzanian Rural Areas. Doctoral thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

This thesis explored practice and attitudes toward translanguaging in standard one classrooms in Rungwe District, Tanzania. The study identified the context in which translanguaging is practised, and the causes of translanguaging practice and assessed teachers’ attitudes on translanguaging practice in their teaching and learning in standard one classrooms in rural areas. The study adopted a qualitative research method, whereas a purposive sampling technique was used to identify forty standard one learners and eight standard one teachers. The instruments used were interviews and observation. The findings were analysed through the thematic analysis method. The study found that both teachers and learners translanguaging to enable effective participation during the teaching and learning process, explaining difficult terms, explaining lessons, asking questions, gaining deep comprehension and developing good relationships among learners and teachers. Teachers had a positive attitude towards translanguaging practice in learners’ first language. Teachers agree that translanguaging helped standard one pupils in rural areas to transit smoothly from learners’ first language into Kiswahili-medium primary school instructions. The study concluded that both teachers and learners practised translanguaging as a gap filler to connect pupils with the new language learned and the content of the subject. Generally, teachers had a positive attitude towards translanguaging using learners’ first language. The study suggests that further research should be done to upscale the research in other primary school classroom regions where there are multilingual practices. The study also recommends that the education policy incorporate translanguaging pedagogy in learners’ L1 into the teaching and learning process of lower-level classrooms in rural areas.

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