Abstract

Amid controversies surrounding multilingual policies in a classroom, something that has become a key component of education in recent years is student’s emotional well-being and how emotions influence learning (Song, Howard, Olazabal-Arias, 2022). This action-research study examines the impact of translanguaging on student engagement and affect in a secondary-level English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom in Quebec. While traditional ESL instruction emphasizes English-only policies, translanguaging encourages students to use their full linguistic repertoire, supporting comprehension and participation. Conducted in a French-medium high school, this study involved multilingual presentations where students used their first languages (L1s) alongside English. Teacher-researcher observations through field notes were analyzed to assess student collaboration, participation, and emotional responses. The findings of this research suggest that the use of translanguaging can foster engagement, reduce presentation anxiety and promote inclusivity. This research contributes to multilingual education by highlighting translanguaging as a strategy to enhance student confidence and learning in diverse, multilingual classrooms.

Keywords: Translanguaging, ESL, affect, multilingual education, student engagement, collaboration, emotions