| Abstrakt: |
Globalisation and migration have brought greater diversity to English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms. In their daily practice, language teachers gain first-hand experience and develop strategies for managing such diversity. The present study focuses on experienced EFL teachers, positioned as "knowledge generators" (Cummins, 2021, p. 313), aiming to map, document, and understand their language practices in multilingual classrooms from the perspectives of translanguaging pedagogy (García & Wei, 2014, p. 20) and teacher beliefs (Borg, 2006; Uljens, 1997). Drawing on classroom observation and semi-structured interview data from four secondary-school EFL teachers in Sweden, the study addressed three research questions concerning (1) the extent and purposes of the use of different named languages in the classroom, (2) teacher strategies for encouraging student use of English in class, and (3) the beliefs underpinning teachers' observed language practices. Findings revealed that English was the default and desired classroom language for all four teachers. They also used Swedish to provide translation equivalents, translations of task instructions, to explain grammar, and to communicate with students individually. Regarding strategies to encourage students to speak English in class, teachers reported always speaking English in class themselves, carefully selecting engaging teaching materials, and sometimes topicalising student utterances in Swedish by encouraging the class to develop a translation into English jointly. Teachers' beliefs underpinning these practices were (a) student comprehension is paramount, (b) the need to use any resource necessary for securing student comprehension, particularly students' first languages (L1s), and (c) the importance of Swedish-English bilingualism in Swedish society. The article closes by suggesting implications for lower secondary school EFL language practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
