Algerian Students and Teachers Attitudes Towards Translanguaging in Conducting EFL Classroom Activities

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate EFL students and teachers’ perceptions about the effectiveness of translanguaging to increase students’ understanding of the target language. In order to reach the objective of this study, two questionnaires were submitted to thirteen (13) second year EFL teachers and seventy-two (72) second year students at Mohammed Seddik Ben Yahia University. After analysing the gathered data, the major findings revealed that teachers and students have different perceptions towards the effectiveness of translanguaging. Teachers hold a negative attitude towards using translanguaging practices inside classrooms, the majority of teachers perceived that using other languages besides English may develop a kind of reliance and students may overuse those languages more than the target language. Moreover, students strongly supported translanguaging as a practice which enhances their learning abilities and promotes their understanding of English as well as it reduces affective factors students face during classroom interaction. Furthermore, pedagogical implications were suggested to teachers and students.