Investigating ELT Teacher’s Perception of Translanguaging to Enhance Socialization among University Students: A Qualitative Study

Translanguaging has emerged as a transformative approach to foster socialization recognizing the fluid language practices of multilingual students. The present study explores ELT teachers' perception of translanguaging focusing on its role in enhancing socialization and cognitive development in students. The study employs a qualitative methodology within the interpretivism paradigm to comprehend the perspective of ELT teachers. Following theoretical underpinning of Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theory and Second Language Acquisition theory by Stephan Krashen, convenience sampling technique has been used to conduct interviews with the faculty members of Emerson Univeristy. The findings reveal a positive attitude of teachers toward translanguaging. Teachers believed that encouraging students to practice linguistic fluidity in the classroom helps preserve their ideas' originality. Furthermore, findings unveil that translanguaging builds an inclusive environment for students which promotes cognitive development. Ultimately the study advocates the employment of translanguaging as a beneficial strategy to enhance socialization among students. The current findings will prove to be a stepping stone for future research in different institutions or a comparative study to investigate the role of translanguaging in socialization.