ABSTRACT

The preliminary study examined teacher and students’ translanguaging practices in a preschool in Sarawak, Malaysia. Analysis of audio-recorded interactions of 15 students with their teachers in two preschool classrooms (1 English, 1 Malay) found 291 instances of teacher talk functions (English, 87; Malay, 204) and 222 instances of student talk functions (English, 71; Malay, 151). As the teachers were teaching English and Malay languages, the communicative function dominated, followed by management and academic functions. The teacher provided participation cues, affirmed students’ responses and assessed their knowledge. However, in the Malay lesson where students were not limited by their language proficiency, the teacher also asked students to give clarification, and provided new information to expand students’ schema. A large percentage of student talk functions in the English and Malay lessons were representational, followed by repetitions. Almost all (92.72%) student talk functions were performed in the medium of instruction in the Malay lesson, compared to 56.34% in the English lesson. The study shows the importance of translanguaging to provide the language support for the preschool students’ less developed language.

摘要

初步研究考察了马来西亚砂拉越一所幼儿园中教师和学生的跨语言实践。对 15 名学生与他们的老师在两个学前教室（1 名英语，1 名马来语）的录音互动进行分析，发现 291 个教师谈话功能实例（英语，87；马来语，204）和 222 个学生谈话功能实例（英语，71 ; 马来语，151）。由于教师教授英语和马来语，交际功能占主导地位，其次是管理和学术功能。教师提供参与提示，肯定学生的反应并评估他们的知识。然而，在学生不受语言能力限制的马来文课上，老师也要求学生作出澄清，并提供新的信息以扩展学生的图式。在英语和马来语课程中，很大一部分学生谈话功能具有代表性，其次是重复。在马来语课中，几乎所有（92.72%）的学生谈话功能都是在教学语言中进行的，而在英语课中这一比例为 56.34%。研究表明，跨语言对于学龄前儿童语言欠发达提供语言支持的重要性。