PhD Defence and Trial Lecture – Marina Prilutskaya
Doctoral candidate Marina Prilutskaya will hold a trial lecture and defend her thesis for the degree Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the Faculty of Education and Arts, Nord University
Description
This thesis investigates upper secondary school students’ use of linguistic resources when writing in English, and consists of three studies that relate to the pedagogical affordances of a multilingual approach to English writing instruction in Norwegian mainstream schools.
The first study quantitatively explores the effect of three writing conditions (English only, translation, and translanguaging) on the quality of students’ essays, and suggests that drafting in L1 or a dominant language before composing texts in English may improve the organization, coherence, and communicative ability of students’ writing.
The second study combines quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate students’ self-reported use of background languages while writing in English, and captures students’ feedback on the assigned writing condition. In addition to a strong English presence in all three writing conditions, the results also indicated use of L1 for organizing ideas and students’ willingness to experiment with languages to enhance certain aspects of writing.
The third study explores students’ use of translanguaging at the draft stage, using a specially developed integrated framework of translanguaging and written code-switching. The analysis shows how the uses of translanguaging range from pragmatic code-switching to highly flexible language alternation, with the aim of generating content or experimenting with one’s linguistic repertoire.
Making space for translation and translanguaging as legitimate alternatives to English-only writing instruction thus offers learners a wider range of individualized writing strategies that may enhance certain aspects of writing and promote self-recognition of multilingualism as a resource. The present study answers the call for more research that embraces a multilingual approach to English writing instruction in Norway, and provides support for teachers who face the implications of teaching English in an increasingly multilingual society.
