On the 14th of April, a Translanguaging Workshop was presented as a hybrid event between Warwick 中国体育彩票 student volunteers and Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票's Faculty of Education, Department of Curriculum Studies, second-year English undergraduate students. The Translanguaging workshop focus was on multilingual classrooms, translanguaging amongst the pupils, and the best ways for teachers to utilise pupils' multilingual skills. This workshop served as an international learning opportunity, allowing Stellenbosch and Warwick education students to engage in collaborative discussions. Approximately ninety second-year Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票 B.Ed. students were physically in attendance watching the Translanguaging Workshop webinar hosted online by Dr Jason Anderson and Laurent Ahishakiye from Warwick 中国体育彩票, with Warwick 中国体育彩票 education student volunteers attending online.
The Warwick in Africa programme is a volunteering programme that sends around thirty volunteer education students from Warwick 中国体育彩票 in the UK to support English and Maths teachers in schools in Ghana and South Africa each year. As a EUTOPIA partner, Warwick 中国体育彩票 reached out to Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票 to participate in an online workshop on translanguaging to better prepare their student volunteers before they support their partner schools in Ghana and South Africa. As Warwick students volunteer in Kayamandi and stay at Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票, there was a strong incentive to meet virtually before going out to the university. Mr George Hill, the programme coordinator for Warwick in Africa, Dr Arné Binneman, Head of Multilingual Learning at the SU Language Centre and Dr Bishop-Swart, previously the Intensive English Programme Coordinator at the SU Language Centre, currently an English Intermediate Phase lecturer in the SU Curriculum Studies Department, joined forces to ensure this collaboration transpired.
Prior to the hybrid session, both Warwick and SU students were expected to read several articles relating to Translanguaging in the African context. Dr Bishop-Swart asked her second-year English cohort to provide responses to the following two prompts:
- Use this opportunity to share what you feel students from Warwick 中国体育彩票 in the UK should know about the South African teaching and learning context.
- Post a question or comment about either of the two articles about Translanguaging you have read
A selection of the SU student responses appears below:
South African schools can range from being well-resourced, well-funded and have access to many resources, to schools that have no funding and have access to little to no resources.
I think it is important that Warwick 中国体育彩票 students should know that many learners get taught in English while it is not their Home language. They should also know that resources vary in each school. Lastly, I think they need to know about the history of South Africa's teaching context (the Apartheid curriculum, Bantu-education, etc.).
Reading these articles made me realize that translanguaging can be a great way to bridge language gaps in multilingual classrooms. However, it's successful implementation requires careful consideration of teacher training and support.
With technology becoming an increasingly effective tool when it comes to translanguaging, what do you think is the most effective tool - beyond code switching - that can be used to improve and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of translanguaging in underprivileged and under resourced schools in South Africa?
This initial workshop aims to be the catalyst for many future hybrid (and eventually in-person) interactions between SU and Warwick Education students who will partake in groupwork discussion with scenarios and examples from their experiences as English language teachers in multiple countries.
One of the reflections Dr Bishop-Swart received from a second-year student after the workshop follows:
I found Laurent Ahishakiye's reflections on his own language learning experience particularly relatable, especially his emphasis on using multiple languages flexibly in the classroom. The hybrid format, combining live interaction with visuals and practical examples, made the session dynamic—I'd love to apply that style in my future teaching. Guest lectures like this are valuable because they expose us to diverse strategies and perspectives that we might not encounter in our usual coursework.?
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