An Insight into South African Multilingual Students’ Perceptions about Using Translanguaging During Group Discussion

Abstract The recent shift in the field of applied language studies has shown that multilingualism has benefits when used for academic purposes. The study aimed to find out students’ perceptions about the use of translanguaging to understand academic concepts. The study used five first-year South African medical students at a South African university who participated in a focus group discussion. The focus group discussion aimed to find out if the use of translanguaging enhances students’ comprehension of texts. Participants affirm that with translanguaging, understanding of difficult academic concepts in English can be enhanced. Findings from this study prompt me to assert that multilingualism is a useful asset that can be leveraged by using translanguaging in multilingual classrooms to enhance reading comprehension. What is required is for lecturers to tap into students’ linguistic resources to enhance their understanding of concepts.