Multilingual literacies for learning: Shifting ideologies, developing praxis

Abstract

Background: In South Africa the majority of learners are failed by school language policies that require them to switch from learning through the medium of their home language, to learning through the medium of English from Grade 4. Yet language ideologies rooted in coloniality sustain the domination of English in education and suppress the home languages of teachers and learners as valid resources for learning.

Objectives: The context of this article is a teacher development intervention – Languaging for Learning (L4L) – which aimed to challenge prevailing language ideologies and develop bi/multilingual pedagogies based on the recognition of the learners’ home languages as important resources for learning.

Method: Science, Mathematics and English teachers from 10 township schools in the Cape Town Metro participated in the 18-month programme which included workshops, classroom-based support and the provision of some bilingual materials. Data on the teachers’ uptake of the programme were collected through observation, interviews, and video and photographic records.

Results: This article describes the shifts in language ideologies and practices of five of the participating teachers. The introduction of bi/multilingual pedagogies impacted positively on learners’ participation, motivation and opportunities to learn as well as on teachers’ sense of efficacy and agency.

Conclusion: The research demonstrated how bi/multilingual pedagogies that value learners’ and teachers’ linguistic repertoires as resources for learning can contribute to overcoming the long-standing barriers to learning resulting from language policies and practices that are rooted in coloniality.

Contribution: These findings demonstrate how bi/multilingual pedagogies can support epistemic access and biliteracy in education.