Increasing Multilingual First-Grade Learners’ Online Engagement through Pedagogical Translanguaging

Engagement is essential to any learning. Engagement allows learners to increase their knowledge,
demonstrate that they have mastered the material. However, language differences are one of the
reasons that prevent learners from actively engaging in online synchronous classes. Specifically, in
the case of multilingual learners, adjustments in the delivery of instruction brought about by the
pandemic present an additional barrier as communication strategies vary between online and faceto-face contact. Thus, this classroom action research aimed to address this gap by employing
pedagogical translanguaging in Mother Tongue-Ilokano classes. Through observations, the
researcher analyzed the translanguaging behaviors of first-graders and outlined a pedagogical
translanguaging approach. Through a Learners’ Online Engagement Rating Scale, the researcher
observed the development in the online engagement of his first graders during the utilization of
pedagogical translanguaging. Considering the observations made before and after employing
pedagogical translanguaging, it can be concluded that pedagogical translanguaging can increase the
online engagement of Multilingual First-Grade Learners. With this finding, employing pedagogical
translanguaging in multilingual classes is recommended. Aside from increasing online engagement,
other benefits of pedagogical translanguaging such as increasing scores, are also suggested.