Exploring International Students’ Attitudes Towards Translanguaging Practices In The CFL Classroom

Translanguaging has become a common phenomenon in the Chinese-as-aforeign-language(CFL)classroom with the influx of international students from countries worldwide into China.It is found that translanguaging practices have been observed in foreign language classrooms with positive influences on language learning.However,due to a lack of research on translanguaging practices in the CFL classroom,it is not clear yet what specific translanguaging practices international students adopt in the CFL classroom and why they intend to adopt these practices.It is also unclear what attitudes they hold towards translanguaging practices and how their attitudes differ in terms of demographic variables.By building on the theory of translanguaging and the ABC attitude model,this study aims to observe international students’ translanguaging practices in the CFL classroom,analyze their intentions of adopting these practices,and explore their attitudes towards these practices.Therefore,the research questions in this study are as follows:(1)What kinds of translanguaging practices have been adopted by international students in the CFL classroom?(2)Why do international students intend to adopt translanguaging practices in the CFL classroom?(3)What are international students’ attitudes towards translanguaging practices in the CFL classroom?(4)How do international students’ attitudes towards translanguaging practices in the CFL classroom differ in terms of demographic variables?This study adopted a mixed method of qualitative and quantitative analysis,including classroom observation,semi-structured interview,and questionnaire survey.Two CFL classrooms were chosen in this study for observing international students’ translanguaging practices.From the two CFL classrooms,12 international students were selected to have semi-structured interviews for figuring out the intentions behind their translanguaging practices.Besides,189 international students,who studied in China,participated in a questionnaire survey for exploring international students’ attitudes towards translanguaging practices and examining whether there were significant differences among their attitudes in terms of different demographic variables.The results are shown as follows.(1)International students adopted oral and written translanguaging practices by switching among languages,employing multimodal and multisensory resources,taking multi-code notes,using bilingual learning materials,and understanding texts with the help of APPs.(2)International students adopted translanguaging practices for different intentions,including improving communication efficiency,understanding learning contents,reducing the time costs of learning,relieving anxiety in class and keeping enthusiasm for learning,double-checking the information,allowing the cultural diversity,and following the herd.(3)International students held positive attitudes towards translanguaging practices from the cognitive,affective,and behavioral perspectives.(4)International students’ attitudes towards translanguaging practices varied with the variables of educational background,the length of Chinese learning,Chinese proficiency,and English proficiency.The significance of this study can be drawn as follows.First of all,this interdisciplinary study broadens the application of the relevant theories of linguistics and psychology.Secondly,its mixed design with qualitative and quantitative analysis enriches the research methods in this field.Thirdly,the exploration of translanguaging practices in the CFL classroom contributes to improving the quality of international students’ Chinese teaching and learning.