Pedagogical Translanguaging as a Catalyst for Fostering Social Cohesion in Multilingual Schools

Authors

  • Siphesihle Pearl Ngubane

    Department of Childhood Education, Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa
  • Emmanuel Themba Ngwenya

    School of Languages in Education, Faculty of Education, Northwest University, Vanderbijlpark 1900, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i12.11496
Received: 5 August 2025 | Revised: 12 September 2025 | Accepted: 18 September 2025 | Published Online: 12 November 2025

Abstract

Pedagogical translanguaging looks at language practices inside the classroom where more than two languages are present. On the other hand, social cohesion is based on a sense of belonging, where individuals share a common goal. In multilingual schools, social cohesion can only be achieved if measures are implemented to value learners’ linguistic repertoires through educators’ classroom instructional practices. Hence, this study was anchored in South Africa, where multilingualism is the norm in schools. It seeks to investigate educators’ pedagogical translanguaging strategies and how they can catalyze social cohesion in multilingual classrooms. To achieve this, a post-structuralist theory underpinned this study, which posits a need to embrace multilingual pedagogies and the acceptance of all languages. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations with five purposefully selected educators. Results from this study revealed that educators did engage in pedagogical translanguaging practices. They were pleased with the results since learners not only understood the concepts, but they also had a chance to learn their peers’ home languages and were able to treat each other’s with respect in that regard; educators also revealed that they were not aware that their practices were pedagogical translanguaging; instead, they thought it was code-switching. Hence, this study calls for teacher development in pedagogical translanguaging to raise awareness of its benefits in multilingual classrooms and how it promotes social cohesion.

Keywords:

Pedagogical Translanguaging; Social Cohesion; Instructional Practices; Codeswitching; Teacher Development and Multilingual Classrooms

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How to Cite

Ngubane, S. P., & Ngwenya, E. T. (2025). Pedagogical Translanguaging as a Catalyst for Fostering Social Cohesion in Multilingual Schools. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(12), 867–877. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i12.11496

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 12 (December 2025): In progress

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Article

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Copyright © 2025 Siphesihle Pearl Ngubane, Emmanuel Themba Ngwenya

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.