McKinney & Tyler 2019 Language & Education · Pre-publication copy. In press/2019 Language and Education, Vol 33, 2. 1 Disinventing and reconstituting language for learning in school

Pre-publicationcopy.Inpress/2019LanguageandEducation,Vol33,2.

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DisinventingandreconstitutinglanguageforlearninginschoolScience

Authors:CarolynMcKinneyandRobynTyler,SchoolofEducation,UniversityofCapeTown

AbstractThispaperproceedsfromanacknowledgementoftheprofoundwaysinwhichlanguageideologiesshapeandconstraintheuseoflanguageasaresourceforlearningin‘multilingual’orlinguisticallydiverseclassrooms.Wedrawattentioninparticulartotheideologyoflanguagesasstable,boundariedobjectsandtothecolonialinventionofAfricanlanguages.Againstthisbackdrop,weanalyseanexampleofpedagogicalpracticewhichwasdesignedinresponsetoalinguisticethnographyofYear9SciencelearninginaSouthAfricanhighschool.TheaimofthisinterventionistomovebeyondtheconstraintsofcurrentlanguageideologiesandtoenablebilingualisiXhosa/Englishstudentstouseawiderangeofresourcesfromtheirsemioticrepertoires(Kustersetal,2017)forlearningScience.Wewillarguethatdebatesaboutlanguageofinstructioninpost-colonialcontextswhichpitonenamedlanguageagainstanother,misdirectourattentionawayfromhowtheresourcesoflanguageandothersemioticmodesareorarenotbeingusedforlearninginclassroomdiscourseandlearningmaterials.Weaimtoshowhowpedagogicaltranslanguagingandtrans-semiotisingcanbetakenupasstrategiesofdisinventionandreconstitutionof‘language’forlearningScience.(195)

Keywords:languageideologies,translanguaging,trans-semiotising,disinvention,Science,semioticrepertoires

Introduction

Facilitator:CanyoumixSciencein...canyouspeakSciencewithamix?isiXhosangesiNgesi?(isiXhosaandEnglish)

Thandile1(student):(nods)Mhm.(rotateshandatwrist)Onlyexplanations.

Khethiwe(student):Ja.

Thandile:I’mspeakingisiXhosa.

Facilitator:Onlywiththeexplanations.

Thandile:(nods)

Facilitator:What’sanexplanation?

Khethiwe:Likewhenyou’reexplainingsomething.

Facilitator:Sowhat'snotanexplanationinScience?Givemeanexampleofwhenyou'renotexplainingsomethinginScience?

1Allstudentshavebeengivenpseudonyms.


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Thandile:It'sastatement,likesayingsomething,sayingsomethingthenyouareconfident,sure.ButwhenI'mtryingtoexplaintothewholeclass,likeitgetsdifficulttoexplainitinEnglish.So…

Facilitator:Thenyouchange.IwouldhavethoughtyouhavetoreallyknowtheSciencetoexplainit.Soifyou'reexplainingsomething,youreallyknowwhatyou'resaying.Sothewordsthatyouusehavetoberight.

Theexchangeabovetakesplacebetweenthefacilitator(author)andYear9studentsThandileandKhethiweinaCapeTownhighschoolinthepredominantlyisiXhosaspeakingtownshipofKhayelitsha,SouthAfrica.Ithighlightsthecontestationoverusinglocallanguageresources(inthiscaseisiXhosaandbilingualisiXhosa/English)to‘speak’ScienceinahighschoolwhichfollowsanofficialpolicyofmonolingualEnglishlanguageoflearningandteaching.Webeginwiththisexchangebecauseitgoestotheheartoftheconcernsthatwetakeupinthispaper:thelanguageideologiesthatinformwhatareseentobelegitimatelanguagepracticesfor‘doing’Scienceaswellasourunderstandingofwhatitmeansto‘do’SciencesuccessfullyinYear9.

TheexchangetakesplaceinalearningcontextthatisfairlytypicalofurbanschoolinginSouthAfrica.Despitetherecognitionofelevenofficiallanguages,theconstitutionalrighttoreceiveeducationinone’sownlanguageandthefactthatEnglishishomelanguagetolessthan10%ofthepopulation,Africanlanguagespeakingstudentstypicallyundergoanearlyexitfrom‘homelanguage’mediumofinstructionafterthreeyearsofschooling.TheythenbegintofollowanEnglishonlycurriculumusingmonolingualEnglishtextbooksandassessmentsfromthebeginningofYear4untiltheirfinalyearinGrade12.ThestudentThandileisthususedtoreadingandwritingaboutScienceinEnglishonly.IfweuseBarnes’(1992)distinctionbetween‘exploratory’and‘presentational’talk2,Thandilehasbeenexposedexclusivelyto‘presentational’languageuseinEnglishwhilelearningScienceatschool.However,(author)hasfrequentlyobservedThandileandhispeersusingisiXhosa/EnglishbilinguallanguagepracticesinordertosolveScienceproblemsandtocompletetaskscollaborativelyintheirclassroom.IndoingsoThandileandpeersdefytheEnglish-onlylanguagepolicyoftheschoolintheir‘exploratorytalk’,apracticethatisnotuncommoninWesternCapeschools(seeBanda,2010).WhilesheasksThandilewhetherit’spossibleto‘speak’Scienceusingmixedlanguageresources,(author)alreadyknowsfromherclassroomobservationthatthestudentscananddo‘mix’thelanguageresourcesintheirrepertoiresinordertodoScience.However,Thandileclearlyassertsthatonecanonly‘mix’isiNgesinesiXhosawhileprovidingexplanationsinSciencelessons.For(author),providingexplanationsisanessentialindicatorofsuccessfullanguagingforlearninginScience;however,forThandilesuccessfulScienceisaboutproviding‘statements’offactaboutwhich‘youareconfident’,orinBarnes’termsproducing‘presentationaltalk’.GivenThandile’sexperienceofschoolSciencewherealllearningsupportmaterialsandallassessmentshavebeenavailablemonolinguallyinEnglish,andthedominanceofsummativeassessments,hisperspectiveisnotsurprising.Thandile’sexperienceoflearningScienceatschoolhasbeenprofoundlyshapedbylanguageideologies.

2Inhisexplicationoftalkandlearning,Barnes(1992)distinguishesbetween‘presentational’talkand‘exploratory’talk.Helikens‘presentationaltalk’to‘final-draft’typecommunicationwherefluentexplanationsinfullsentencesusingdiscipline-specificregistersaretheexpectation.Exploratorytalkbycontrastishesitant,incompleteandenables‘working-on-understanding’(1992:126).Whilehisfocusisonspokenlanguage,thisdescriptioncanalsobeappliedtowrittentexts.


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Thispaperproceedsfromanacknowledgementofthesignificantwaysinwhichlanguageideologiesshapeandconstraintheuseoflanguageasaresourceforlearningin‘multilingual’orlinguisticallydiverseclassrooms.ThepedagogicalimpactoflanguageideologiesisbynomeanslimitedtoschoolinginSoutherncontexts.However,ourfocuswillbeonanalysingoneexampleofpedagogicalpracticewhichaimstomovebeyondtheconstraintsofcurrentlanguageideologiesandtoenablebilingualisiXhosa/Englishstudentstouseawiderangeofresourcesfromtheirsemioticrepertoires(Kustersetal,2017)forlearningScienceinaSouthAfricanhighschool.Inmanypost-colonialeducationalcontextswhereEnglishisdominantbutaccesstotheresourcesofEnglishisseverelyrestricted,debatescontestingthemeritsof‘mother-tongue’or‘homelanguage’instructionversusEnglishlanguageofinstructiondominatediscussionsoflanguageandlearning(egHeugh,2013;UNESCO,1953,2003;Skutnabb-Kangas,1994;Banda,2000;Setati,2008).Wewillarguethatsuchdebateswhichpitonenamed(Blommaert,2006)languageagainstanotherdistractusfromhowtheresourcesoflanguageandothersemioticmodesareorarenotbeingusedforlearninginclassroomdiscourseandlearningmaterials(McKinney,2017).

Webeginwithareviewofthedominantlanguageideologiesthatcurrentlyshapetheuseoflanguageinschoolingbeforereviewingdebatesonlanguageofinstructioninpost-colonialcontexts.Acknowledgingthelimitationsforlearningofaviewoflanguageasobject,andthecolonialinventionofAfricanlanguages(Makoni,1999;MakoniandPennycook,2006)weexplorehowtheconceptsoftranslanguaging(GarciaandLiWei,2014;LiWei,2017;Makalela,2015)andtrans-semiotising(Lin,2015)canenableustodesignrichlearningactivitieswhichengagestudentsin‘languaging-for-learning’(Guzula,McKinneyandTyler,2016).Afteroutliningourmethodologicalapproachwhichisinformedbylinguisticethnographyaswellasintervention,weanalyseaseriesoflearningactivitieswherestudentswereactivelyengagedintranslationacross‘languages’andregisterstodefinethescientificconceptof‘molecule’.Weaimtoanalysehowtranslanguagingandtrans-semiotisinginthisactivityenabledlearnerstoworkproductivelywithbothlinguisticideologiesandwithscientificconcepts.Significantly,wearguethatdisruptinglanguageandregisterboundariesthroughprocessesofdisinventionandreconstitutionnotonlyenabledthestudentstotakeupconfidentpositionsas‘knowers’butalsoenabledthestudents’currentunderstandingofconceptsandregisterstosurfacegivingafine-grainedviewofmis-understandingsthatrequiredfurtherpedagogicalexplanation.

Languageideologiesandmonolingualismineducation

Thehierarchicalvaluingoflanguageuseandofspeakersinrelationtotheirlanguageuseislargelyinformedbybeliefsaboutlanguageorlanguageideologies.Likeideologymoregenerally,languageideologiesgobeyondtheideasthatoneindividualmayhaveinoneparticularsite,referringrathertoanetworkofbeliefsandvaluesthatcirculate,existingacrossanumberofpeopleandsites.Theyareconstructedthroughdiscourse,thatis,systemsofpower/knowledge(Foucault,1980)andarealsoembodied.Significantly,WoolardandSchieffelinarguethatlanguageideologiesshow‘amediatinglinkbetweensocialstructuresandformsoftalk’(1994,55).Apowerfullanguageideologyshapinglanguageineducationpolicyandcurriculaisthenotionof‘namedlanguages’(suchas‘English’,‘isiXhosa’)asunitary,stableobjects,clearlydifferentiatedfromoneanother,andexistingintheindividualmind.Blommaertdescribesthisideologyas‘theculturalconstructionoflanguageingeneralasastable,contextlessindividualmentalobject’(Blommaert,2006,512).Thisleadsfor


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example,topoliciesspecifyingthatasinglenamedlanguageshouldbeusedaslanguageoflearningandteaching;thatproficiencyinalanguagecanbedevelopedgenericallyandinafewtimetabledhoursofteachingandlearninginaweek,withtheexpectationthatstudentscandevelopproficiencyinusingalanguagebylearningaboutthegrammaticalstructureofthatnamedlanguage.Anotherdominantlanguageideology,andsimilarlylinkedtotheWesternepistemeisthemythofmonolingualismasthenorm,orwhatsomehavedrawnattentiontoasthehistoricalmonolingualbiasinappliedlinguistics(Canagarajah,2007;MakoniandMeinhof,2004;May,2014).Thismythassumesthattheidealor‘normal’languageuserhascommandofonenamedlanguage.Thefarreachingconsequencesoftheconstructionoflanguagesasboundariedobjectsandofamonoglossicorientationtolanguageforpolicyandpracticeineducationhave,however,yettobeacknowledged.Despitethechallengetomonolingualismasnormative,debatesanddiscussionsoflanguageandlearninginpost-colonialcontextsaredominatedbyaconcernforwhichnamedlanguageshouldbeusedaslanguageofinstruction(orlanguageoflearningandteaching,LOLT,asit’scalledinSouthAfrica).ThisisusuallyframedasthemeritsofanAfricanlanguageas‘mothertongue’versusmeritsofaEuropeanlanguageofinstruction.

LanguageofInstructionandlanguaging-for-learning

Inthelaudableinterestsofaccesstoqualityeducation,UNESCOhasadvocated‘mothertongue’languageofinstructionforallchildrenasabasicrequirementofqualityeducationsince1953(UNESCO,1953;2003).ButasAgandJørgensen(2013)havepointedout,‘thebeliefthateverypersonmusthaveaparticularlycloserelationshiptoonelanguage,almostinvariablythe“mothertongue”oftheperson’isalsoaconsequenceofamonolingualideology(2013,527).Inotherwords,thenotionofmothertongue,andtheideathatallchildren/adultshaveasingledominantlanguagethatislearnedfrombirth,(re)producesthemonolingualchildasnormative.Thenotionofmothertonguealsoalignswithlanguageasobject,andinvokesasinglestandardlanguage,denyingtheheteroglossicnatureoflanguageandmultiplevarietiesofnamedlanguages.RelatedtothisistheconcernthatformanyAfricanchildreninurbancontextscharacterizedhistoricallybymigration,urbanvernacularsvarygreatlyfromthestandardisedformsoflanguagesnamedintheSouthAfricanconstitutionthatinformslanguageineducationpolicy(Makoni,MakoniandRosenberg,2010).Insuchcases,itistheconceptofmothertongueitselfthatcandenytheselearnersaccesstolearningthroughthelinguisticrepertoireandpracticeswhicharemostfamiliartothemandwhichtheybringwiththemtoformalschooling.AfurtherconcerniswiththepoliticizedusehistoricallyofmothertongueeducationtopreventaccesstoEnglishinsomeBritishcolonialcontexts.DeKlerk(2002)showsthehistoricalrelationshipbetweenmothertongueeducationandtheapartheidmandatedinferiorBantueducation.Bantueducationenforcedmothertonguemediumofinstructioninitiallyforthedurationofprimaryschooling(toYear8)andthenlatertoYear4,withasuddentransitionthereaftertoEnglishorAfrikaanslanguageofinstruction.Mothertongueeducationthuscametobeassociatedwithrestrictinglearners’accesstoEnglish3.

3SeeBruttGriffler(2002)onuseofmothertonguemediumofinstructioninordertorestrictaccesstoEnglishintheBritishcoloniesofLesothoandSriLanka.


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AfricanscholarssuchasMakoni(1998;MakoniandPennycook,2006)andMakalela(2015)drawattentiontothecolonialinventionofindigenouslanguagesinSouthernAfricaasaproductofmissionaryinterventions4.AsMakoni(1998)haspointedout,thelegacyofthecolonialinventionofAfricanlanguagesinSouthAfricalivesonpowerfullythroughpost-apartheidlanguagerightsintheconstitution.WhileattemptingtounderminethedominanceofAfrikaansandEnglishthroughtheinclusionofnineindigenouslanguagesasofficial,thelanguagerightsclausecontinuestheethnolinguisticcategoriesusedtodivideandruleAfricanpeopleduringapartheid.Theseofficialnamedlanguagesinformandconstrainwhatisconsideredlegitimateasalanguagethatcanbeusedandstudiedassubjectineducation(Makoni,1998).Colonialconstructionsofindigenouslanguageshaveinmanycasesneverthelessbecomesedimentedintopeople’slinguisticrepertoires.And,despitetheircolonialconstruction,manypeoplehavestrongattachmentstoorinvestmentsintheofficialSouthAfricannamedlanguages.

MakoniandPennycookpointoutthat‘someindigenouscommunities’rejectlocaloverEuropeanlanguagesaslanguagesofinstructioninschoolingbecauseEuropeanlanguagesareassociatedwithformaleducationandaccesstotheWesternEpisteme.SchoolsareoftenseenassitesofaccesstoWesternknowledgesystemswhileindigenouseducationispositionedastakingplaceinthehome(MakoniandPennycook,2005,149).Theyarguethat

Itisnotenoughtoacknowledgethatlanguageshavebeeninvented,northatlinguisticmetalanguageconstructstheworldinparticularways.Rather,weneedtounderstandtheinterrelationshipsamongmetadiscursiveregimes,languageinventions,colonialhistory,languageeffects,alternativewaysofunderstandinglanguage,andstrategiesofdisinventionandreconstitution(2006,3-4).

Recentstudentprotestsandstrugglesfor“freedecolonisededucation”inuniversitiesinSouthAfricasuggestacritiqueoftheexclusivevalorisationofWesternknowledgesystemsandadesiretoexpandwhatcountsasknowledgeandlegitimatelanguageuseinthecurriculum(ChristieandMcKinney,2017;RhodesMustFall,2015).Universitystudentactivistshavebeguntoinventwaysofbringinglocal,heteroglossiclanguageuseintotheacademy,suchasthroughestablishingmultilingualprintandonlinenewsmediathatdisruptlanguageboundariesandmonolingualpublishingnorms5.

Beyondtheimpasse:translanguagingandtrans-semiotisingasstrategiesofdisinventionand(re)constitution

Inourview,ratherthandebatingwhichsinglenamedlanguageshouldbetheofficiallanguageoflearningandteaching,amoreproductivediscussionwouldbefocussedonhowtouselanguageandbroadersemioticresourceseffectivelyforlearning,or‘languaging-for-learning’(Guzula,McKinneyandTyler,2016).Itshouldbebeyondquestionthatchildrenneed(nevermindhavingtheright)to

4MakoniandPennycook(2006)citetheinfluentialworkofMudimbe(1988)onthe‘inventionofAfrica’inrelationtoEuropeaswellasofRanger(1983)onthecolonialinventionoftraditionsinAfricaandHarries(1987)andFabian(1991),amongstothers,onthespecificinventionoflanguageanddiscretenamedlanguages.Astheirownreviewoftheliteratureshows,thenotionoflanguagesassociallyconstructedandinventedhasbeencarefullydocumented.5AnexampleofthisisVernacNewsestablishedbystudentsattheUniversityofCapeTowninlate2014andnowavailableonline.https://vernacnews.co.za/


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learnthroughlanguageusethatisfamiliartothem,orputdifferently,languageusethattheycanunderstand.However,specialisedscientificregistersarenotanybody’s‘homelanguage’asGeehaspointedoutthroughhisdistinctionbetweenprimaryandsecondaryDiscourses(Gee,2008).GiventhepowerofthelanguageresourcesnamedasEnglishinmanypost-colonialcontexts,schoolsareexpectedtoprovideopportunitiestolearnthislanguage.Withoutpolicymakerspayingattentiontotheprocessesoflanguagelearning,schoolsareexpectedtodothisbydeliveringallcurriculumandassessmentsexclusivelyinEnglishfromYear4onwards.SucceedingintheschoolsystemthusrequiresalllearnerstobeatminimumbilingualinthelanguageresourcesoftheirhomesandthekindofmonolingualEnglishresourcesrequiredofschooling.Yetthesamesystemcontinuallypositionsalllearnersasmonolingual,andfrequentlyasdeficientEnglishmonolinguals.Thispositioninghappensthroughcurricula,textbooksandassessmentsthatareavailableinEnglishonly,andthroughofficialeducationdepartmentcommunicationstoschoolsthataskteacherstorefrainfrom‘code-switching’inclassrooms(seee.g.WesternCapeEducationDepartment[WCED]minute,2014a;WCED,2014b;Probyn,2009).Anglonormativity-‘theexpectationthatpeoplewillbeandshouldbeproficientinEnglishandaredeficient,evendeviant,iftheyarenot’(McKinney,2017,80)-isthedominantideologicalforceinthiscontext.

Inpractice,asstudentThandiledrawsattentiontointheopeningconversationalextracttothispaper,itisunusualforlearnerstograpplewithconceptsor‘workonunderstanding’(Barnes,1992)inScienceusingmonolingualEnglishlanguageresources.Ratherwheninvolvedindiscussions,student(andoftenteacher)languageuseishighlyheteroglossic(Bakhtin,1981).FollowingBakhtin,heteroglossiacanbedefinedasthesimultaneoususeofadiverserangeofregisters,voices,namedlanguages,orcodes,anddrawsattentiontothepotentialtensionsbetweendifferentvoicesandregisters(Bailey,2007;Ivanov,1999).ThisheteroglossiclanguageusehasfirstbeendescribedintheSouthAfricanschoolingcontextascode-switchingforepistemicaccess(Adendorff,1993;SetatiandAdler,2000;Setati,Adler,ReedandBapoo,2002;Probyn,2009)bothinlanguagelearningandcontentlearningclassrooms.AheteroglossicconceptthathasrecentlygainedtractioninpedagogicalcontextsofincreasinglinguisticdiversityinNorthAmericaandtheUnitedKingdomistranslanguaging.Incontrasttotheideologieswhichcastmonolingualismasnormativeandlanguagesasclearlyboundariedobjects,theconceptoftranslanguagingproceedsfrommultilinguallanguagingasthenorm(Antia,2017;BlackledgeandCreese,2017;Garcia,2009;GarciaandLiWei,2014;Makalela,2015).

Translanguaginghasbeendefinedinanumberofwayswithemphasisonthedescriptionofcommunicativepracticesinvolvingawiderangeoflinguisticandsemioticresources,aswellasontheideologicaldimensionofdisruptingamonoglossicandmonomodalunderstandingoflanguage.BlackledgeandCreese(2017)alsoforegroundthewaysinwhichpeople‘bringintocontactdifferentbiographies,historiesandlinguisticbackgrounds’astheytranslanguage.Drawingonpreviousworkoncode-switchinginschoolingandhighereducation(e.g.Setatietal,2002,PaxtonandTyam,2010),SouthAfricanscholarshavetakenupthenotionoftranslanguagingtoforegroundtheinnovativewaysinwhichteachersandlearnersmaneuverwithinaconstrainedlanguageenvironmentinordertogetteachingandlearningdone.Somescholarsemphasisetheidentityworkinvolvedintranslanguaging(KerfootandBello-Nonjengele,2014;Makalela,2014)whileothersfocusonthecognitiveadvantagesofcreativetranslanguagingforunderstandingcontent(Probyn,2015;KrauseandPrinsloo,2016)payingattentiontothetransgressiveanddilemma-fillednatureofthepracticeinthisEnglish-dominantcontext.MsimangaandLelliott(2014),whilenotusingtheterm


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‘translanguaging’refertotheuseof‘unconventional’communicationresourcessuchashomelanguagesnotincludedintheLOLTforunderstandingSciencecontent.InourowntakeupoftranslanguaginginSouthAfricanpedagogicalcontexts(e.g.1authors’text,2authors’text),ourfocushasbeenontranslanguaging

● asanormativecommunicativepracticeamongbi/multilinguals;● asanideologicalpositionwhichresiststhenotionofnamedlanguagesasautonomous,

boundedobjects;and● asadescriptivetermwhichincorporatessemioticmodesbeyondlanguage.

RecentlyLiWeihasarguedforaconceptualisationoftranslanguagingasa‘practicaltheoryoflanguage’(2017,1).Extendingtheideologicalworkoftheterm,Liarguesthatsuchatheorycancontributetoourunderstandingoftwosignificanttheoreticalissuesinlinguistics:languageandthoughtandthemodularityofmind(2017,10).Thefluidanddynamiccommunicativepracticesofmultilinguals,Liargues,challengefirstthecommonviewthatwethinkthroughonelanguageorthroughanamedlanguage(‘anamedlinguisticentity’)andsecondthatwethinkexclusivelythroughlanguage.

Translanguagingasatheoryoflanguagethusacknowledgesthedeeplyheteroglossic,multimodalandmultisensorynatureofcommunicativepractice.ThisalignswithAngelLin’s(2015)term‘trans-semiotising’whichemphasisesthetrans-semioticnatureofmuchmultilinguallanguaging:

Theproposaloftrans-semiotisingasacommunicativestrategybroadensourhorizonaboutbi/multilingualcommunication,sincelanguages...notonlyinteractwitheachotherbutalsointertwinewithothersemiotics(e.g.visualimages,gestures,soundandmusic)inhumancommunicationpracticesduringwhichthecommonsemioticrepertoireexpandsunderthecontributionsofcommunicators(Heetal,2016,p.5)

Thispowerfultheorisingoflanguageandcommunicativepracticehassignificantimplicationsforlanguageineducation,includinglanguaging-for-learning.Thetermtrans-semiotisinghastheadvantageofavoidingthelogocentrismoftranslanguaging,whichasatermprivilegesthelinguistic,eventhoughtheconceptencompassesdifferentmodesincommunication.WhileLiWeidrawsattentiontothetransformativenatureoftranslanguagingpractices,workingfromtheprinciplesoflinguisticethnography(CoplandandCreese,2015)convincesusthatnocommunicativepracticeisbydefinitiontransformative(orconstraining).Translanguaging,rather,hasthepotentialtoliberatemultilingualsfromthetyrannyofmonoglossicandmonomodalconceptionsofcommunicativepracticeasthenorm.Ourargumentisthatinorderfortranslanguagingtobetransformativeandtobeproductiveforlearning,translanguagingaspedagogymustbedeliberatelydesigned.Intheresearchreportedoninthisarticle,(author)asfacilitatordeliberatelyattemptedtodesignwhatMakoniandPennycookcall‘counterpractices[tocolonialinventionoflanguage]throughdisinvention’(2005,141).ShedidthisbydesigningtasksthatrequiredstudentstotranslateandtranslanguageacrossregistersandnamedlanguagesinordertomakemeaninginScience.Heretranslanguagingisusedtodisruptmonoglossicconceptionsoflanguageasnormative,aswellastodisruptwhatisconsideredlegitimatelanguageuseforlearningScience.Mindfulofthepoliticalcomplexitiesoflanguagerights,andofrecognisingthedeeplyheteroglossicnatureofalllanguage


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use,ourgoalinthispaperistopresentandanalyseanexampleofastrategyfordisinventingand(re)constitutinglanguageinordertolearnSciencewithYear9learnersinSouthAfrica.

Heteroglossicandmultimodalmeaning-makinginScience

Scholarsworkinginsocialsemioticshavedescribedtheheteroglossicnatureofscientificdiscourseintermsofitsregistersandmultimodality.Thedifferencesbetweencolloquiallanguage,forexample,andthelanguageofwrittenorentextualisedScienceinjournalarticlesandtextbookshavebeenelucidatedusingtoolsfromsystemicfunctionallinguistics.Sciencelanguagemakesuseoftechnicalvocabulary,passiveverbconstructionsandnominalisationstoamuchgreaterextentthancolloquiallanguage(Gee,2004;HallidayandMartin,1993).However,thefocusonthesedifferencescreatesabinarybetweenthetworegisterswhichcanbeunhelpfulforunderstandinghowlearningoccursinScience.Translanguagingliteraturefocusesonflexibilityandfluidityinlanguagingwhichmakesanalysisofmultilingualdiscourseusingtheconstructsofseparatenamedlanguagesanimpossibility.Inthesameway,scholarsofSciencediscourseinlearningcontextsandinspaceswheretheactivityof‘doingScience’occurs,suchasinresearchlaboratories,haveidentifiedhybridityandmeshingofregistersin‘gettingSciencedone/learnt’(Gibbons,2006;Lemke,1990).ThishybriditystandsincontrasttothemonoglossicideologiesfoundinSciencecurriculaandlanguageineducationpolicies.JayLemkeandPaulineGibbons(bothworkingwithEnglishonlydiscoursedata)arguethathybridregistersareparticularlyimportantforlearningScience:

Formostoftheireducationinscience,moststudentswillneedtolearn“bilingually”inbothcolloquiallanguageaswellasinscientificlanguage./Studentswillbegintograspsemanticandconceptualrelationshipsincolloquiallanguagefirst.Thentheywillsubstitutescientific,technicaltermsforcolloquialwords.Onlymuchlaterwilltheybeabletospeak“purescience”.Alongthewaytheirversionofscientificlanguagewillbean“interlanguage”,asortofhybridofcolloquialandtechnicalregisters.(Lemke,1990,172/173)

Isuggestthatthekindofregister-meshingthatresultsin(a)hybriddiscourseisanimportantfactorinthesuccessfullearningofnewacademicregisterswithyoungsecondlanguagelearners.(Gibbons,2006,131)

Lemkeusesmetaphorsfromappliedlinguistics(e.g.‘interlanguage’)todescribethedifferentregisterswhicharenecessarytolearnsciencewell.Thestaticnotionsof‘purescience’and‘interlanguage’areproblematisedthroughtheuseofthequotationsmarks,andweconcurthatinfacttheregisterstudentsusemayeludeouranalysisasoneorothernamedregisterduetopreciselythatfluidityandflexibilitythatLemkeisarguingfor.Therearecontextsinwhichscientistsarerequiredtoconformtostricterregisterconventionswhichexcludeeverydayregisters,suchasinscientificjournalarticles,buttheseareremotefromsciencestudentsinschoolandformasmallpartofscientists’totaldiscourse.

Lemkegoesontorecommendthatinlearningthe‘foreignregisterofscience’studentsshouldundertaketranslationpractice.

Studentsshouldregularlyhave(...)practiceinclassinrestatingscientificexpressionsintheirowncolloquialwords,andalsointranslatingcolloquialargumentsintoformalscientificlanguage.(1990,173)


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Lemke’scommentsaboutregisterherehaveseriousimplicationswhenconsideredinthelightofourmultilingualstudentsinSouthAfrica.Ifstudents’colloquialregistersaresoimportantinthelearningofScience,whatdetrimentalconsequencesareweunleashingonstudentsifweexcludetheircolloquialregistersjustbecausetheyhappentobeclassifiedaspartofaseparatenamedlanguageforwhichthereisnoprovisionintheLOLToftheschool?Studentswillbeleftstrandedwithnobridgetothescientificregister.

MethodologyThedatapresentedinthispaperformedpartofalinguisticethnographiccasestudyofthemeaning-makingpracticesof36Grade9studentsastheystudiedthetopic‘ChemicalReactions’inNaturalScience.Thestudywasundertakenbythesecondauthorin2016inastate-fundedhighschoolinaperi-urban(township)areaofCapeTownwhichattractshigh-performinglearnersfromthesurroundingprimaryschools.AsahomelanguagespeakerofEnglishshealsodrewonherAfrikaansandisiXhosaresourcesduringthecourseofthestudy.TheofficialLoLToftheschoolisEnglish,butalmostallthestudentswholiveinthetownshipareisiXhosa/Englishbilingualsandusefeaturesofbothofthesenamedlanguagesintheirdailyinteractionbothinandoutofschool.ThestudentsacknowledgethattheyaremorefamiliarwithurbanvarietiesofisiXhosathanthe‘deep’ruralisiXhosavarietiesofwhichtheyalsohavesomeknowledge.Thenine-monthlongprojectwasshapedbytheepistemologicalperspectiveoflinguisticethnography(CoplandandCreese,2015).(author)becameaparticipant-observerintheNaturalScienceclassroomforthedurationofthechemicalreactionstopic,takingupthetwinrolesoflearner(ofScienceandisiXhosa)andresearcher.Shealsocreatedaweeklystudygroupforvolunteerstudentsfromtheclasswhichformedtheinterventioncomponentofthestudy.Thestudygroupinterventionwasdesignedasaspacewheretranslingualpracticeswerenormalisedandresourcesfromlearners’fullsemioticrepertoireswerewelcomedastoolsforlearning.GarcíaandLiWei(2014)distinguishbetweentranslanguagingasanadaptivespace—viewedbypolicymakers,educatorsandlearnersasanecessaryevil—andasanestablishedspace—where‘thetranslanguagingnormofbilingualcommunities’isauthorised(García&LiWei,2014,133).Followingthisdefinition,thestudygroupwasconceptualisedasanestablishedtranslanguagingspace.

Discoursedatafromtheclasslessonsandthestudygroupwascollectedthroughvideoandaudio-recording.Thedatapresentedinthispaperwascollectedduringthelaststudygroupmeetingoftheproject.ThefirsthalfofthesessionwasdedicatedtoreflectingontheChemicalReactionsunitasstudiedinthestudygroupandtheclassroom.Thenduringthesecondhalf,(author)setupatranslationexerciseinwhichthestudentsworkedinpairs.UsingamultilingualdictionaryofScienceandMathematicstermsasaresource(Young,VanDerVlugt,&Qanya,2005),(author)designedaworksheetwithkeyconceptsfromthetopicdescribedinparagraphform.Inthedictionary,aconceptisdefinedinEnglish,Afrikaans,isiXhosaandisiZulu(inthatorder)withoccasionalaccompanyinggraphicsordiagrams.On(author)’sworksheet,onlytheisiXhosadefinitionofeachconceptwasreproducedandaspacewasleftforthestudentstoprovideanEnglishtranslation.Oncethiswascomplete,andasaresultofthediscussionduringthefirsttranslation,(author)askedthepairstoperformafurthertranslationfromtheXhosadefinitionintoamoreinformalisiXhosathattheywouldbecomfortableusingamongsttheirpeers.


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Findings

(Re)ConstitutingregistersforScience

Westartbyconsideringthewrittentranslationsmadebytwoofthestudentsduringthetranslationactivity.Wehavereproduced,below,thesourcetextwhichwasmadeavailabletothestudentsandthetwotextsproducedbyYonelaandThandileastheyworkedonthetranslationfromisiXhosatoEnglishofthedefinitionof‘molecule’.Althoughtheinstructionwastoworkcollaborativelytoarriveatthebesttranslation,YonelaandThandilecouldnotreachconsensusandthuseachproducedtheirownversion.

Thefirsttranslation

Sourcetext:Xhosa,Youngetal

Imoletyhulilelonasuntswanalincincilembumbaelinakhoukuzimela;lenziwengee-athomzohloboolunyeokanyeezahlukeneyo,umz.Imoletyhulienyeyamanzingu-H2O;eyehayidrojiningu-H2kwayeihlalaizezohayidrojinizimbiniendalweni.

Yonela’sfirsttranslation

Amoleculeisthesmallestpartofmatterofthecompoundthatcanstandorsplitonitsown,asitismadeupofone/differentkindsofatoms,forexampleonemoleculeofwaterisH2O,forhydrogenisH2andtherearealwaystwohydrogensinnature.

Thandile’sfirsttranslation

Amoleculeisthesmallestpartofthecompoundthatcanstandorsplitonitsown,asitismadeupofone/differentkindsofatoms,forexampleonemoleculeofH2O/waterhas2hydrogensandthatwillstaythesameinnature.

ThefirsttranslationrequiredthelearnerstodrawonanddeveloptheirknowledgeofaregisterforScienceinisiXhosa.AsThandileexpressedintheextractatthebeginningofthispaper,usingmixedresourcesincludingisiXhosaforformalcommunicationofanideaorknowledgethatonehasmasteredisunprecedentedintheselearners’Scienceeducation.ThisisdespitethefactthattheverysamedictionaryfromwhichtheactivityisderivedexistsinmultiplecopiesinThandile’sclassroom-butremainsuntouchedontheshelves.ThereforethewrittenSciencedefinitioninisiXhosaisexperiencedverymuchasa‘foreignregister’(Lemke,1990)anditsinclusioninaschoolSciencestudygroupistransgressiveoftheschoollanguagepolicyandnormativeclassroompractice.ThedefinitionisrecognisableasaregisterforScienceinthatitincludesfeaturessuchastechnicalvocabulary(eg.‘isuntswana’)andthepassivevoice(eg.‘lenziwengee-athom’).AfterreadingthesourcetextstudentsneededtoutilisearegisterforScienceinEnglish,withwhichtheywouldhavebeenmuchmorefamiliarforreceptivelanguageuse,butnotnecessarilyforproduction.Infactdatafromthebroaderstudyshowednoproductionofstudent-generatedwrittendefinitionsinanylanguageduringthecompleteunitofstudy.Writtenactivitiesinclasswerelimitedtoshort,usuallyone-word,answers.


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Thecontentofthefirsttranslationsrevealedthestudents’appreciationoftheconventionsofascientificregisterandtheconceptualrigourwithwhichtheyundertookthetask.InYonela’sfirsttranslation,shedrawsonherknowledgeoftheScienceregisterinisiXhosatobringthescientificmeaningof‘isuntswana’(aparticle/apart)intoherEnglishtranslation.WhileThandiletranslates‘suntswana’as‘part’,Yonelaextendshertranslationto‘partofmatter’toalignmorewithascientificregisterwhichisjustifiablythemeaningintendedbythewriterofthesourcedefinition.Eventheawkwardrenderingof‘thatcanstandorsplitonitsown’whichappearsinbothThandileandYonela’stranslationisrevealingofconceptualrigourasitistheresultofadebatebetweenthepairoverwhether‘canstandonitsown’or‘cansplit’isthebesttranslationof‘ukuzimela’.InfactbothphrasesgetatthemeaningoftheisiXhosawordwhichdenotesindependence.IntheEnglishversioninYoungetal(2005)theexpressionisrenderedasfollows:‘canexistalone’.

Thesecondtranslation

Yonela’ssecondtranslation

(Listenmyfriend,amoleculeisthesmallestpartofallthethingssurroundingus,thatisabletostandonitsownanditismadeupofoneormoretypesofatoms.LikeonemoleculeofwaterisH2Oandtherewillalwaysbetwo‘hydrogens’innature.)

Thandile’ssecondtranslation

(Myfriend,amoleculeisthesmallestthingofacompoundthatisabletostandonitsown.This‘thing’ismadeupofoneofthedifferentatoms.Forexample:awatermoleculehastwohydrogenandthat’showit’sgoingtostayforever.)

Asaresultofthestudents’objectionstothe‘deep’natureoftheisiXhosasourcetext,thesecondtranslationrequiredthestudentstotransformtheSciencecontentforanaudienceofpeers.Thisinvolvedtheuseofanunconventionalmode(written)tocommunicateaboutSciencetopicswith


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thisaudienceaswellasthemeshingoftworegisterswhichareusuallykeptseparateatschool.Theweavingtogetherofsocial,orinformal,registerswithscientificregistersintooneheteroglossicutteranceisdescribedbyGibbonsas‘register-meshing’(2006,131).Thisnoveltaskthereforedemandedsomescaffolding.

(author)suggestedthatthestudentsbeginwithafriendlygreetingtogetthefeelfortheregisterwhichwascalledforinthisfictionalisedcommunicationsetting.Thestudentspickedthisupeasilyintheiruseof‘chmy’and‘kau’,bothmeaning‘friend’.HereYonelausesthetextmessagingabbreviationconventionfortheword‘tshomi’(friend).Sheemploysthisconventionagainin‘lyk’(like/forexample).Deumert(2014)showshowcommunicationonmobilephonesisitselfamixedmodedrawingonbothspokenandwrittenregisters.Bydrawingontheseconventions,Yonelaextendsherregister-meshingevenfurther.

TheregisterswhichYonelaandThandilecreateinthistaskdonotconformtoaparticularpatternedsetofconventions,butratherfeaturesofdifferentregistersaredrawnuponfreelyandvariably.ThefeaturesofEnglishandisiXhosausedbyeachstudentareinstructivehere.YoneladrawsonanEnglishfeaturein‘lyk’[like]whileThandiledrawsontheisiXhosa‘umzekelo’[example]totranslatethesamelexeme,butlaterYoneladrawsontheisiXhosafeature‘kwaye’whileThandileuses‘and’againforthesamesourcelexeme.ThispracticeexemplifiestheradicaldefinitionofnaturaltranslanguagingofferedbyOtheguy,GarciaandReid:

We...definetranslanguagingasthedeploymentofaspeaker’sfulllinguisticrepertoirewithoutregardforwatchfuladherencetothesociallyandpoliticallydefinedboundariesofnamed(andusuallynationalandstate)languages(2015,283)

Thestudents’disruptionofregisterbinariesoccursattheleveloforthographyaswell.Thesourcetextrendersthetermbeingdefinedas‘imoletyhuli’-anorthographywhichinducesamore‘Xhosalised’(PaxtonandTyam,2010)pronunciationthanbothstudents’versions:‘i-molecule’and‘imolecule’.ThisreconstitutionofaversionofascientificterminisiXhosaisindicativeofthestudents’interestbeingdemonstratedinanactofappropriation.

Afterthefournewversionsofthedefinitionofmoleculehadbeencreated,YonelaandThandilehadanensembleofexpressionswhichcouldthenbecomparedandcontrastedfordifferentmeaningaffordances.Whatdifferencedoesitmaketothemeaningifweuse‘yonkentoesingonqileyo’or‘thesmallestpartofmatter’?ThevalueinworkingwithdifferentexpressionsofadefinitioninScienceliesintheflexibilitywhichthisaffordsstudents.Lemkepitsflexibilityagainstrote-learntfixedwordingsasfollows:

Wedonotwantstudentstosimplyparrotbackthewords.Wewantthemtobeabletoconstructtheessentialmeaningsintheirownwords,andinslightlydifferentwordsasthesituationmayrequire.Fixedwordsareuseless.(91)

Lemke’svaluingofthelearner’s‘ownwords’ratherthan‘parroting’standsincontrasttoThandile’sassertionthatitis‘onlyexplanations’thatcanbeexpressedinamixedlanguage(hismostfamiliarlanguageuse).Itisthroughtheexplanations-eachtimeusingslightlydifferentwordsorganisedintoreconstitutedregisters-thattheessentialmeaningsofSciencemaybeconstructed.

Trans-semiotisingforworking-on-understanding


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Thetextsaboveareaproductofthevibrant,argumentativeandconceptuallyrichinteractionbetweenthetranslatingpartnersandthewidergroup.Inthissection,weconsiderthedebatebetweenYonelaandThandileaboutthemeaningandtranslationof‘imoletyhulienyeyamanzingu-H2O’toanalysehowthestudentsemployedtranslanguagingandtrans-semiotisingtomaketheirnuancedarguments.

YonelaarguedfortheEnglishtranslationtoread‘onemoleculeofwaterisH2O’whichisequivalenttotheEnglishversioninYoungetal(2005,152).Thandile,however,disagreed:

Ha-awhy‘i-moleculeofwaterisH2O’waterisH2Oit’sthesamething(NoWhy‘amoleculeofWaterisH2O’WaterisH2OIt’sthesamething)

Yonelathencountered:

likeThandilesine-water(accompaniedbyabeatgesture6)ubalikeonemoleculeyalamanzi(LikeThandilewehavewateriflikeonemoleculeofthiswater)

Thandileseesnodistinctionbetweenthemeaningsof‘water’and‘H2O’andthereforeobjectstowhatheseesaspoorstyleintheformoftautologyinthepublishedisiXhosadefinition.Yonelamakesaconceptuallyfinepointaboutthedifferencebetweenwaterasasubstance(‘sine-water’)andwaterasamolecule(‘onemoleculeyalamanzi’)–apointwhichhasnotbeenmadeintheclasslessonsorthestudygroupbytheteacheror(author).Shedoesnotsucceed,however,inconvincingThandileandheresolvesthetautologybyemployingtheforwardslashtoshowthatwaterandH2Oaresemanticallyequivalentinhisunderstanding:

‘onemoleculeofH2O/waterhas2hydrogens’(Thandile’sfirsttranslation)

IncounteringThandile’stautologyassertion,Yonelaemploysthestylisticfeaturesofthegenreofargumenttomakehercase.Yonelaintroducesanexampletosupportherpointbyusingtheconnector‘like’thensetsuptheimaginarysubjectunderinvestigation,‘sine-water’,bycallingitintobeingverballyandemphasisingitthroughabeatgesture.Shethenputsforwardthefirsttermoftheargumentusing‘if’.Employingtrans-semiotising,includingfeaturesofdifferentnamedlanguagesanddifferentmodes,Yonelaachievesthegenreofscientificargumentation.Itisthroughtrans-6Abeatgestureisarhythmichandmovementusuallyforemphasis(Kress,Jewitt,OgbornandTsatsarelis,2001)


14

semiotisinganddisinventingnamedlanguagesthatsheisabletoinfuseherscientificargumentwithherownintentionstherebyappropriatingthenewSciencediscourse(Bakhtin,1981;Kressetal,2001;Ballenger,2010).SheisalsoabletomaintainhersocialidentityascooperativepeerwithThandilebyusingthismeshedregister(Gibbons,2006).

AsshehasfailedtoconvinceThandile,Yonelachangestackandtexttype.Shesuggestsdrawingupaglossaryoftermssothattheymayagreeonthemeaningofthewordstheyareusingintheirtranslation.Thusshebringsinfurthersemioticresourcesshowingherflexibility,andallthetimeusingameshedlinguisticregisterwhichishermostfamiliarresource.

Thandilehowabout‘ba lentolike‘baforeachwordsiyenzeaphalentobasibhalei-meaningyalo(ThandilehowaboutlikeThisthingLikelikeforeachwordwemakeherethisthinglikewewriteitsmeaning)

Deployingincompletestatementsandhesitation,herexpressionhereistypicalofexploratorytalk(Barnes,1992,126).Sheusesthecolloquialfiller‘like’oftentoallowherselfthinkingtime.Athirdstudentinthegroup,Mbulelo,alsoweighsinontheargumentwithasuggestionforresolvingthedisputebetweenYonelaandThandile.Hedrawsonanothermode:drawingintheformofaball-and-stickdiagram:

U’baiyanixaka‘fethunitheniningazobilanto(Ifit’stoocomplicatedforyoumymanwhydon’tyoujustdrawthatthing)

Mbulelo’sreferencetodrawingindexestheball-and-stickdiagramsthatthelearnershavebeenexposedtoinclassandexhortedbytheirteachertouseasanaidtounderstandingandaccuracywhencompletingchemicalequations.Thediagramforwaterwouldbeaversionofthis:


15

O=oxygenatom;H=hydrogenatom

Mbuleloinvokesaveryusefulmodeforexpressingthemeaningofamolecule.Hissuggestionalsoincorporatesaone-upmanshipjibewhichallowshimtodisplaybothacademicandsocialrolessimultaneously(Ballenger,2010).LikeYonela,hecanperformhissocialidentitywhilemakingamethodologicalpointabouttheScienceproblemathand.

Disinvention:Developingcriticalityandlanguageawareness

ThetranslationactivityasawholeofferedstudentstheopportunitytotalkexplicitlyaboutlanguageforScienceinawaywhichpotentiallydevelopedtheircriticalfacultiesandenlargedtheirawarenessoftheroleoflanguageinlearning.(author)setuptheactivityoftranslatingthedictionarydefinitionwithinacriticalframe(‘Iwanttoknowhowdidthey[authorsofthedictionary]dointermsoftranslating’and‘you’retheexperts’),encouragingcritiqueofboththesourcetextandthetask.Theredesign(Janks,2010)ofthetaskwasinfactaresponsetothestudents’criticismofthedefinitioninascientificisiXhosaregisterthatsheprovided.Despitethefactthattheyhadnotcompletedatasklikethisbefore,norinfactproducedanywrittendefinitionsoftheirownintheirlessons,studentswereverycomfortableintakingupthepositionofknowerunproblematicallyandtalkedaboutthelanguageuseinthesourcetextcriticallyasfollows:

Missdoyourealisethisislike...deep...deepZulu.(Thandile)

Asithilike‘baformalXhosathina(Wedon’tspeaklikelikeformalXhosa)(Yonela)

‘FunekasizibhalekalokubutkengokusisiXhosaesidibenene-English(Wemustwritethembutit’sXhosathatiscombinedwithEnglish).(Thandile)

BothThandileandYoneladistancethemselvesfromthelanguageofthesourcetext.Thandileidentifiesitasanothernamedlanguage,isiZulu,whichisalanguageinthesamelanguagefamily(Nguni)asisiXhosa.Yonelahighlightsitsformalityinoppositiontoherspokenlanguage,whichshemodelsskillfullyintheutteranceusingfeaturesofEnglish(‘formal’),isiXhosa(‘thina’)andcolloquialabbreviations(‘ba’).This‘urbanvernacular’(Makonietal,2010,MakoniandPennycook2006)wasvariouslydescribedbythelearnersas:‘isigingqi’(languageofthelocalarea),‘tsotsitaal’(gangster’slanguage),‘CapetonianXhosa’,‘siyamixa’(wemix),and‘ekasiXhosa’(isiXhosaofthetownship).Indescribingthedifferentvarietiesoflanguagethataboundthelearnersaredevelopingtheirmetalinguisticawareness.

ThandilecomplainsabouthavingtoprovideatranslationintoEnglishwhenaccordingtohimsomeofthewordsinthesourcetextarealreadyinEnglish(eg.hydrogen).ThiscriticismhighlightsthehybridnatureofSciencelanguageinthatthewordswhichThandileiscriticisinginthesourcetextareXhosalised(PaxtonandTyam,2010)versionsofEnglishwordsoriginallyborrowedfromLatin


16

(‘imoletyhuli’)andGreek(‘iathom’,‘hayidrojini’).TheengagementwiththeborrowingwhichinfusesallscientificregistersisaprocessofdisinventingnamedlanguagesforScience.Whilehiscommentswerenotpursuedinthestudygroup,ThandileisspeakingintoadebatearoundappropriategroundrulesfortheintellectualisationofAfricanlanguages-whethernewtermshavetobecoined,oldwordsre-purposedforacademicdisciplines,orborrowingwithorwithoutXhosalisation.

Forthesebilinguallearners,thewrittenscientificdefinitionsinisiXhosawereveryunfamiliar.NotonlywasthesecondarydiscourseofScienceunfamiliar,butitwaspresentedtotheminisiXhosa.SincethestartoftheirScienceeducation(formallyinGrade4)theyhaveonlybeenexposedtowrittenscienceinEnglish-duetothepolicy,curriculaandpublishingconstraintsdescribedabove.WearguethatbecauseoftheaddedunfamiliarityoftheisiXhosaScienceregisterthestudentsfeelmoreempoweredtobecriticalofit.isiXhosaisnotpositionedasalanguageofpowerandknowledgeproductionandhencemorerigorousstandardsofintelligibilityareappliedbythesestudentsthanthosewhichtheymightapplytotheirschooltextbooksinEnglish,forexample.

DiscussionandConclusionWearguethatthedatapresentedinthispapercontributestoanunderstandingofwhatitmeanstodisinventand(re)constitutelanguage(andregisters)inschoolScienceinanEnglish-dominantschoolingsystem.Wehaveexaminedthetextualproductsofanofficialtranslanguagingtaskaswellasstudents’accompanyingexploratorytalkandcritiqueofthetask.WehaveshowntheSciencestudentstoberesourceful,creativeandcriticalintheprocessesofregister-meshingandconstructionofdifferentversionsofaSciencedefinitionfordifferentpurposes.ThenaturaltranslanguagingofthestudentsastheyexploreandgrapplewithScienceconceptsanddiscussandcritiquethelanguagewithwhichtheyaredoingthispresentsachallengetomonolingualandmonoglossicideologies.Thattheycannotbesaidtobespeaking‘English’nor‘isiXhosa’;neither‘pureScience’,nor‘pureeverydaylanguage’urgesustolookbeyondthedebatesaround‘mothertongue’orEnglish-onlylanguagepoliciesinschoolsandtoexaminewhatitisthatstudentsofSciencearedoingwithlanguageandtheothersemioticresourcesintheirrepertoires(Kustersetal,2017).Thetheoreticaltoolsoftherecentparadigmshiftsinappliedlinguisticswhichviewalllanguageuseasheteroglossicandarguesfortranslanguagingasapracticaltheoryofalllanguage(LiWei,2017)enableustodothis.Usingthenotionofregister-meshing(Gibbons,2006),forexample,hasallowedustoemphasisetheimportantlearningworkthatdrawingondifferentfeaturesofstudents’repertoiresenables.Translationalsoopensupaspaceforcomparisonandcritiqueofregistersusingmetalinguisticawareness.TheseareimportantprocessesinlearningthesecondarydiscourseofSciencewhichisachallengeforallstudentsofSciencewhomustincorporatethisregisterintoan‘expandedrepertoire’(Lin,2016).

InlookingatboththeregistersofScienceandtheuseoffeaturesof‘namedlanguages’wearearguingforadisinventionnotjustofboundariedlanguagesbutalsoofboundariedregisterssuchas‘Science’discourseand‘everyday’discourse.Themyththatstudentsmovefromeverydaytomixed/meshedthroughtopurediscoursesofScience(seeTyler,2016)isasproblematicasthemyththatcompetentlinguisticpracticerequiresmonolingualuseofonenamedlanguage.WhilestudentscurrentlyhavetolearntoperformasEnglishmonolingualswhohavemasteredapurescientificregisterinassessments,thesuccessofthisperformanceislargelydeterminedbytheopportunities


17

forheteroglossicandtrans-semioticmeaning-makingtheyhavehadastheygrapplewithconcepts;workontheirunderstandingandincorporateaschoolScienceidentityintotheiridentityrepertoires.

Wepositthefollowingfeaturesofdesignedtranslingual/trans-semioticpedagogiesinScience:

● theuseofsettledregistersasstartingpointsfortranslation● theexplicitteachingofmetalinguisticawarenessforcritiquingdifferentversionsofScience

languageandforexpandingstudents’repertoiresforScience● creativeengagementbylearnersingeneratingwrittenandoralSciencetextswhichdrawon

theirotherwiseignoredormarginalisedsemioticresources● thevalorisingofinnovative/disruptivesemioticpracticesthroughinformalandformal

assessmentandpublicationforawideraudience● developmentoftheskillsofscientificargumentationtowhichcritiquelendsitself● teachersadoptingaco-learnerstanceintheclassroom,particularlywherelinguistic

repertoiresdonotmapneatlyontoeachother.

TheuseofmultilingualglossariesanddictionariesinSouthAfricanschoolsiscontentiouswhenviewedagainstthebackdropofmonoglossiclanguagepoliciesandnotionsofregistersforcontentsubjectssuchasScience.However,givenourcritiqueofauni-directionaltrajectoryfromhomelanguagethrougheverydaylanguagetoEnglishscientificlanguage,whatwehaveaimedtoshowisthatitishowweworkwithsuch‘multilingual’resourcesthatisimportant.Ifweworkfromanunderstandingoflanguageandlearningwhichdisruptsthesebinaries,assumesfluidlanguagingasthenormandpositionsstudentsascriticalagentsintheirownlearning;heteroglossiclanguage-focusedactivitiessuchasusingglossariesanddictionariesofthisnaturehaverealpotentialinlearningScienceaswellasexpandingstudents’linguisticandsemioticrepertoires.

Acknowledgements

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Documents

McKinney & Tyler 2019 Language & Education · Pre-publication copy. In press/2019 Language and Education, Vol 33, 2. 1 Disinventing and reconstituting language for learning in school