Translanguaging Practices in Kotebe University of Education Classrooms and their Implications for Pedagogy

Abstract

Ethiopia uses English as a medium of instruction for every subject, except for national language subjects, at tertiary level education. This policy is also applied at Kotebe University of Education (henceforth KUE). The education of bilingual and multilingual speakers is facing several challenges due to the medium of instruction. One of the problems is the prevalence of a monolingual instructional approach whereby instructions are carried out exclusively in English, and the place given to L1 use in any circumstances is less. This project attempts to explore the practice of translanguaging (multilinguals’ tendency to switch between languages) among students and teachers in KUE classes. By employing a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, data about the nature, types, and functions of local language use in classrooms were gathered. Combinations of quantitative and qualitative methods were implemented to analyze the data. The results indicated that local languages were used in classrooms for various purposes by students and teachers. Most of the students had positive attitudes towards the use of local languages. Teachers also confirmed that they used code-switching, code-mixing, and translation, in classrooms to meet their students’ communication needs.