DALTON LE (CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY)

HOW OFTEN AND HOW USEFUL? THAI STUDENTS' TRANSLANGUAGING PRACTICES AND PERCEPTIONS : PLURILINGUALISM AND TRANSLANGUAGING

This presentation outlines a mixed-methods study conducted to develop a questionnaire that explores students’ translanguaging practices and perceptions in the Thai English Language Teaching (ELT) context. The research was carried out in two phases. In the initial phase, the Translanguaging Practices Questionnaire was developed through classroom observations and teacher interviews to understand students’ translanguaging practices. This questionnaire was then administered to 430 Thai upper-secondary level students at a public school in the second phase. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the three components of the questionnaire – translanguaging stance, design, and shift – revealing two factors within each component. Furthermore, six students were interviewed based on their English proficiency level to provide deeper insights into their questionnaire responses. The findings indicate that Thai students frequently engage in translanguaging and perceive it as beneficial for language learning, especially when used purposefully. However, the study also highlights that students' translanguaging practices are constrained by teachers' openness to aspects of translanguaging that are related to collaborative knowledge construction and content discussion.

Name: Dalton Le Credentials: Current master's student at Chulalongkorn University majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language Current Work: English Program secondary school teacher in Thailand