Facilitating Translingual Practices in Multilingual STEM Classrooms to Bridge Content and Language Gaps

Abstract

Multilingual classes are very challenging in STEM education, where students must learn and understand the content as well as learn language. This paper discusses the content and language gaps in Grade 8 students in a multilingual setting in Tamil Nadu, India, and how these gaps can be addressed through translingual practices. The methodology followed was a qualitative case study, which entailed a classroom observation, interviews, questionnaires, and lesson recording. According to the results, 82 % of the students reported an improvement in their conceptual knowledge and 78 % reported an improvement in classroom participation by being given the opportunity to use many languages. The visual scaffolding and local language explanations of the teachers also contributed to higher levels of understanding and interaction. However, such problems as the resistance of the institution and lack of formal training were actualized. The results of the research suggest that translingual pedagogy is quite effective in improving STEM learning and inclusive education. It proposes the integration of systematic translingual practices of teaching and policymaking as a means of responding to the needs of the multilingual learners. This study points out that translingual practice has been shown to decrease cognitive load as it allows the students to relate the previously acquired linguistic information with the newly acquired academic information thus helping students to understand the material better. The results also reveal that the level of collaboration with peers also grew as the students were given a chance to speak their native language when solving problems. Visual aids and interactive discussions that were incorporated in the multimodal teaching techniques enhanced the development of language and clarity of the concepts. These results highlight the need to implement multiflexible and welcoming pedagogical methods in multilingual STEM classes.