Multilingual Pedagogies as an Enabler in Creating and Fostering Learner Engagement in English Second Language Literature Classrooms

Research on multilingual pedagogies in English Second Language (ESL) classrooms is gaining momentum globally and in South Africa. However, more studies focus on the higher education context, universities in particular. Basic education and technical and vocational education and training are mostly ignored. This study explored translanguaging and code-switching as pedagogies of choice for ESL teachers, particularly in teaching literature. Literature teaching has been challenging ESL teachers for decades. The study sought to explore the use of translanguaging and code-switching as a relevant response in ESL literature teaching classrooms. It was grounded in the interpretivist paradigm to explore the teachers' experiences of using these multilingual pedagogies. This qualitative case study employed ubuntu translanguaging pedagogy as an epistemic lens because it grounds pedagogy in African philosophy and humanity, and because it sought to understand the teachers' premises in using these pedagogies in the context of South Africa. Four high school ESL teachers were purposively sampled and interviewed. Each teacher was observed teaching a lesson based on prescribed literature for Grades 10-12. In thematically analysing data, the findings were that translanguaging and code-switching enhance learner engagement and positively impact formal and informal assessments. There was also a view that school management typically discourages using such pedagogies out of fear that learners may lose a good grasp of English. Therefore, multilingual pedagogies should be intellectually infused in planning literature lessons. Furthermore, teacher training and language policies should be diversified to embrace the multilingual realities within the ESL classrooms. There is also a need for further research on how the use of multilingual pedagogies impacts other language skills such as reading and writing.