Instruction through translanguaging in triglossic classroom contexts of Midlands province in Zimbabwe

In the Midlands province of Zimbabwe, there are mainly three languages, Shona, Ndebele, and English that are used in schools although at home it is mainly Shona and Ndebele. Midlands lies right on the isogloss where Shona is predominant on one side and Ndebele on the other. The paper scrutinises how...

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Main Authors: Nhongo, Raphael, Siziba, Liqhwa P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21276/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21276/1/TE%207.pdf
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author Nhongo, Raphael
Siziba, Liqhwa P.
author_facet Nhongo, Raphael
Siziba, Liqhwa P.
author_sort Nhongo, Raphael
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description In the Midlands province of Zimbabwe, there are mainly three languages, Shona, Ndebele, and English that are used in schools although at home it is mainly Shona and Ndebele. Midlands lies right on the isogloss where Shona is predominant on one side and Ndebele on the other. The paper scrutinises how translanguaging as a method of teaching takes place in a situation where there are three languages at play but such languages are not at par. Shona and Ndebele are the learners’ first languages where some learners are conversant with both and some with one of the two, and English is the main language of instruction. The paper also problematizes the idea of diglossia and that of a clearly defined isogloss in the Midlands province. Qualitative research approach guides all the methodological trajectories followed in this paper. Semi-structured interviews were the key data gathering tools from teachers in both peri-urban and the urban settings of the Midlands province capital, Gweru. The theory guiding this study is dynamic bilingualism. The results of the study revealed that in facilitating learning through translanguaging in a triglossic situation, teachers face challenges of balancing the languages and as a result code switching dominates the translanguaging process. It is therefore concluded that language inequalities in multilingual settings have negative impacts when it comes to translanguaging and negatively affects the learning process where other learners feel side lined on the grounds of their first language.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:212762023-03-07T03:17:02Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21276/ Instruction through translanguaging in triglossic classroom contexts of Midlands province in Zimbabwe Nhongo, Raphael Siziba, Liqhwa P. In the Midlands province of Zimbabwe, there are mainly three languages, Shona, Ndebele, and English that are used in schools although at home it is mainly Shona and Ndebele. Midlands lies right on the isogloss where Shona is predominant on one side and Ndebele on the other. The paper scrutinises how translanguaging as a method of teaching takes place in a situation where there are three languages at play but such languages are not at par. Shona and Ndebele are the learners’ first languages where some learners are conversant with both and some with one of the two, and English is the main language of instruction. The paper also problematizes the idea of diglossia and that of a clearly defined isogloss in the Midlands province. Qualitative research approach guides all the methodological trajectories followed in this paper. Semi-structured interviews were the key data gathering tools from teachers in both peri-urban and the urban settings of the Midlands province capital, Gweru. The theory guiding this study is dynamic bilingualism. The results of the study revealed that in facilitating learning through translanguaging in a triglossic situation, teachers face challenges of balancing the languages and as a result code switching dominates the translanguaging process. It is therefore concluded that language inequalities in multilingual settings have negative impacts when it comes to translanguaging and negatively affects the learning process where other learners feel side lined on the grounds of their first language. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21276/1/TE%207.pdf Nhongo, Raphael and Siziba, Liqhwa P. (2022) Instruction through translanguaging in triglossic classroom contexts of Midlands province in Zimbabwe. 3L; Language, Linguistics and Literature, 28 (4). pp. 95-109. ISSN 0128-5157 https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/index
spellingShingle Nhongo, Raphael
Siziba, Liqhwa P.
Instruction through translanguaging in triglossic classroom contexts of Midlands province in Zimbabwe
title Instruction through translanguaging in triglossic classroom contexts of Midlands province in Zimbabwe
title_full Instruction through translanguaging in triglossic classroom contexts of Midlands province in Zimbabwe
title_fullStr Instruction through translanguaging in triglossic classroom contexts of Midlands province in Zimbabwe
title_full_unstemmed Instruction through translanguaging in triglossic classroom contexts of Midlands province in Zimbabwe
title_short Instruction through translanguaging in triglossic classroom contexts of Midlands province in Zimbabwe
title_sort instruction through translanguaging in triglossic classroom contexts of midlands province in zimbabwe
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21276/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21276/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21276/1/TE%207.pdf