Translanguaging in science education
Towards a new approach to mother tongue education in Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21590157 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Taofeeq Adebayo (0000-0002-1300-740X, California State University System, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1065-1084 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Language and Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0950-0782 • E-ISSN: 1747-7581 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09500782.2024.2431593 |
| OpenAlex | W4404645574 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 26 |
Despite studies showing the effectiveness of Mother Tongue Education (MTE) across Africa (e.g., UNESCO Citation1978; Bamgbose Citation1983; Ouane and Glanz Citation2010), most sub-Saharan African governments seem reluctant to invest in MTE initiatives. Also, the MTE literature has focused primarily on the role of governments in MTE, overlooking how individuals can participate in MTE pedagogical interventions. The question, then, is: How can individuals facilitate MTE within the official pedagogical frame in Africa? To address this question, I present a case study of the ‘Science in Yoruba’ (SiY) project that demonstrates how individuals can implement an MTE-enabling translanguaging pedagogy designed to navigate local obstacles, within the limits of officially sanctioned pedagogies. Results from this project suggest three key takeaways: (i) translanguaging pedagogies are more feasible for individuals to implement in African classrooms than unilingual MTE models, (ii) in African contexts where institutional policies are monoglossic, planned translanguaging pedagogies (Ou and Gu Citation2024) are more practical for individuals to implement than spontaneous translanguaging pedagogies, and (iii) rather than focusing on the impacts of private short-term translanguaging interventions on assessment grades, the focus should be on qualitative outcomes such as students’ willingness to participate in discussions, increased interest in lesson topics, and enhanced self-esteem
First language · Linguistics · Multilingual Education · Multilingualism · Native-language instruction · Pedagogy · Science education · Sociology · Teaching method · Translanguaging · Vocabulary development · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching
Translanguaging with Multilingual Students
Ubuntu translanguaging
Demystifying Content Analysis
Teacher professional identities and their impacts on translanguaging pedagogies in a STEM EMI classroom context in China
Plurilingualism and translanguaging
The language-in-education politics in Nigeria
Whatever the law says
English-only language-in-education policy in multilingual classrooms in Ghana
Mother tongue language and concept development in science
The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education
Alternative Contexts of Language Policy and Planning in Sub‐Saharan Africa
Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language
Policy and experiment in mother tongue literacy in Nigeria
Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis
Education in Indigenous Languages
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |