During the last few decades several pedagogical approaches have been introduced for teaching English in language classrooms. One of such distinguishing approaches is translingual pedagogy or pedagogical translanguaging. It was a time when bilingualism in language classroom had been considered less significant, contributing to second language teaching and learning, especially in the case of teaching English to non-English speakers. The term ‘Translanguaging’ in the classroom context means engaging learners to become bilingual or multilingual through the use of two or more languages. This is a ‘paradigm shift’ from the popular second-language teaching approaches which throw light on the teaching of one language, excluding others. Through translanguaging practices, bilingual or multilingual learners can use their linguistic repertoire freely. Purpose: The present study is an attempt to explore the use of translingual practices in teaching English language among the linguistic minority learners of selected government primary schools in the Sundarbans, West Bengal. Method: The study was conducted using a qualitative approach and collecting empirical data from the sites of the primary schools as well as from the interviews with teachers who teach English and Teachers-in-Charge or Head Teachers in the concerned schools. Result:The result of the study shows how diversely translingual approaches are practiced in the school contexts which include not only the classroom situations for teaching and learning English but also the ‘schoolscape’. It also shows how this pedagogical approach can be useful for promoting inclusivity and equity.
Pradipta Dey Sarkar (Tue,) studied this question.