Translanguaging in English Medium Instruction Schools: Attitudes and Practices of Iraqi Teachers
Alla Faris Hadi
1
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Javad Gholami
2
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Keywords: EMI, Teachers’ perspectives, Translanguaging, Iraqi context,
Abstract :
'Translanguaging' has been promoted as a prominent term in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) studies. It describes how learners of a new language effectively utilize their entire range of languages to convey meaning and communicate. Additionally, it serves as an educational strategy to harness these language repertoires as valuable resources for learning. In the last twenty years, multiple empirical investigations have been carried out to investigate pedagogical translingual strategy in language learning classes across the world. However, there is limited knowledge on this occurrence in English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in the educational context of Iraq, where TEFL policies prohibit using students' first language and perceive them as a hindrance to language acquisition. By examining the views of English language teachers regarding pedagogical translanguaging, this study seeks to close this gap. Additionally, it investigates the extent to which these perspectives are manifested in their instructions. A total of 120 English language instructors at an Iraqi university willingly took part in this research. The findings highlight a significant disparity between the attitudes that teachers claim to have and the teaching methods that they use, based on the survey. The results also illuminated the barriers that prevented the participants from using translanguaging in their instruction.
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