Facilitating content learning through translanguaging in secondary EMI science classrooms

• Published in: International journal of applied linguistics Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 1012 - 1031
• Main Authors: He, Yuhang, Zhou, Xiaozhou (Emily)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2024
• Subjects: Classroom communication; Classroom observation; Comprehension; Conversation analysis; English as a second language instruction; English for academic purposes; English medium instruction; multimodal conversation analysis; Multimodality; pedagogical translanguaging; Pedagogy; Science education; Secondary education; Social factors; subject knowledge; Teachers; Translanguaging; 全英文教学; 多模态会话分析; 学科知识; 教学超语
• ISSN: 0802-6106; 1473-4192
• DOI: 10.1111/ijal.12550

Despite the rigorous efforts made to promote the use of English as a medium of instruction (EMI), EMI teachers still face linguistic and pedagogical challenges in effectively delivering subject content in English. Previous research has revealed that, faced with such challenges, teachers employ various strategies to make subject knowledge accessible to students, including pedagogical translanguaging. However, there is little empirical evidence of how EMI teachers deploy pedagogical translanguaging to facilitate content learning in secondary science classrooms, particularly in countries or regions where English is not widely used outside schools. Against this backdrop, the current study adopts a qualitative approach to examine the pedagogical translanguaging practices of two EMI science teachers, as well as the factors contributing to their practices at an international secondary school in Shanghai, China. The methods used were video‐assisted classroom observation and semi‐structured interviews. These were subjected to multimodal conversation analysis and thematic analysis, respectively. The findings reveal that teachers’ pedagogical translanguaging practices involve strategically incorporating and orchestrating all multilingual, multimodal, and multisemiotic resources available to facilitate meaning‐making and enhance students’ comprehension of subject knowledge. Meanwhile, personal, social, and contextual factors play an important role in shaping teachers’ pedagogical translanguaging practices. This study showcases pedagogical translanguaging as a strategic means to create space for teaching and learning in EMI contexts, and provides useful insights into potential improvements to EMI pedagogy. 摘要 为促进全英文教学 (EMI) 课程的发展, 各方均做出了大量努力, 但EMI教师在有效地用英语讲授学科内容方面仍然面临着语言和教学法方面的挑战。既往研究表明, 面对这些挑战, 教师采用各种策略使学生能够获得学科知识, 包括教学超语。然而, 很少有实证研究表明EMI教师如何在中学科学课堂上使用教学超语来促进内容学习, 特别是在校外较少使用英语的国家或地区。在此背景下, 本研究采用定性研究的方法, 考察了中国上海一所国际中学的两名EMI科学教师的教学超语实践, 以及影响其实践的因素。研究者使用了视频辅助课堂观察和半结构化访谈, 并对数据进行了多模态会话分析和主题分析。研究结果表明, 教师的教学超语实践体现在策略性地整合和协调所有可用的多语言、多模态和多符号资源, 用以促进意义建构并增强学生对学科知识的理解。同时, 个人因素、社会因素和语境因素在教师教学超语实践中发挥着重要作用。本研究展示了教学超语可作为一种有效策略, 为EMI课堂中的教学和学习创造空间, 并为EMI教学法的潜在改进提供了有益的见解。