Attitudes and practices of english language teachers towards the use of translanguaging in EFL classrooms at the University of Quintana Roo.

Abstract

Through time, different approaches have been adopted in English language teaching. One relatively new approach is translanguaging, which “embraces the use of the first language as an aid” (Jingxia, 2010, cited in Scopich, 2018, p.10) while learning English as a foreign language. This practice in EFL classrooms is still debatable and the teachers’ attitudes about using it vary greatly. Studies such as the one carried out by Burton and Rajendram (2019) suggest that “research on the attitudes of instructors toward translanguaging is scarce, especially in higher education” (p. 26). This study aims to explore the attitudes and practices of English language teachers toward the use of the L1- Spanish in the EFL classrooms at UQROO. It was conducted in two phases, using a mixed methods design. During phase one, 11 English language teachers belonging to the Centro de Enseñanza de Idiomas (CEI) of the same university were surveyed. Subsequently, four of them were selected, using convenience sampling in order to be observed. The results demonstrated that majority of participants recognize the benefit of using students’ L1, especially in contexts involving lower proficiency students. However, only some of them claimed to encourage its use in the classroom. In addition, classroom observations showed that participants make use of Spanish with more frequency than claimed and they do encourage this practice in contexts involving students’ intervention. Moreover, findings revealed that only in two of the contexts given, the language of instruction, frequency, and claimed attitudes of half of the participants completely aligned. It is expected this study triggers further research, allowing teachers to adopt new approaches to English teaching and to be open to incorporate translanguaging in their practice.