Gender, multilingualism and self-esteem as possible predictors for children’s attitudes towards translanguaging.

Abstract

Translanguaging is a multilingual pedagogy for teaching and learning, in which there is a dynamic and flexible use of linguistic resources. However, little is known about the attitudes of children regarding translanguaging in the classroom. Children can have certain attitudes towards translanguaging, which may be influenced by various predictors. It is important to gain a more comprehensive view on which factors can influence children’s attitudes towards translanguaging, as it allows us to further develop and shape the translanguaging pedagogy that is currently used in Dutch education. It could also aid us in improving children’s attitudes towards translanguaging, which in turn can enhance how these children learn. Thus, the main objective of the current study was to examine whether gender, multilingualism, global self-esteem and academic self-esteem are predicting factors for children’s attitudes towards translanguaging in the classroom. Age was also added as a covariate. Forty-four Dutch children between the ages of eight and twelve participated by filling in an online questionnaire. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was then conducted to analyse whether the variables were significant predictors. Age, gender, multilingualism and global self-esteem were not significant predictors for children’s attitudes towards translanguaging. Academic self-esteem was a significant predictor. This implies that a higher level of academic self-esteem predicts a more positive attitude towards translanguaging in children.