MONISHA BISWAS (EAST WEST UNIVERSITY )

TRANSLANGUAGING AS A TOOL FOR EQUITY IN TERTIARY-LEVEL EFL CLASSES IN BANGLADESH : PLURILINGUALISM AND TRANSLANGUAGING

In today's world, translanguaging as a pedagogy plays a vital role in bilingual or multilingual language classrooms. Literature shows how it promotes equity by allowing the use of varied linguistic repertoires. In this regard, this study examined the use and effectiveness of translanguaging for maintaining equity in the EFL classrooms in Bangladesh. The study used a mixed method design where quantitative data was collected through an online survey on 200 students and 50 teachers, and qualitative data was collected through interviews of 20 students and 20 teachers of various public and private universities in Bangladesh. Findings revealed that translanguaging is not officially advocated in many private universities because of their English-speaking policy, but unofficially applied in many classes. The use of translanguaging was found to be more common in public universities. Participants from classes with translanguaging affirmed that it made their classes equitable by allowing linguistically marginalized students to communicate in their preferred language, ensuring greater flexibility and comfort in interaction, ensuring greater accessibility to knowledge, retaining bilingual or multilingual identities, ensuring fair treatment of mother tongue, and promoting inclusivity and diversity. Participants also opined that, in the process of ensuring equity, translanguaging promoted learning by excluding negative affective factors in students that motivated them to interact and engage more in classes. Overall, findings suggested effectiveness of translanguaging as a tool for equity. Therefore, the study implies the practical necessity of translanguaging in tertiary-level language education in Bangladesh for a more equitable learning environment.

Monisha Biswas is currently working as a Senior Lecturer at the Department of English, East West University, Bangladesh. She graduated from the Department of English, University of Dhaka. Her field of specialization is Applied Linguistics and ELT. Her research areas mainly include topics related to applied linguistics and ELT.