Abstract
This study offers a multi-layered reflection on the role of multilingualism and translanguaging in three Black Pentecostal Charismatic Church Sunday schools in selected Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni townships. Specifically, it explores language use among linguistically diverse Sunday school teachers, learners, and parents within the SS classroom and home when Christian topics and themes are discussed and taught. The inquiry takes place within the context of the South African PCC movement being predominantly English. This raises questions regarding the place of the language resources of those who speak multiple languages in an urban township church. A central motivation for the study is to address the lack of academic literature analysing how Black South African PCCs use language within the Christian space. Additionally, the general lack of literature on Black South African Sunday Schools and how language is used therein also prompted this study. The study also examines the relationship between the home and church spaces and how both are important in providing a multilingual and translanguaging space for children’s Christian learning.
The researcher made non-participant observations of classroom proceedings at three PCCs in the South African townships of Soweto, Katlehong, and Thokoza over four months. Thereafter, semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers, learners, and parents. The purpose of the observations was to note instances of multilingualism and translanguaging among teachers and learners, how these occurred, and for what reasons. The interviews were aimed at unearthing more detailed insights into respondents’ linguistic repertoires across various contexts, how their language resources played a role in how they understood and took part in Christian discussions, and whether they believed multilingualism and translanguaging to be an opportunity or challenge in the teaching-learning process. A thematic analysis of the observation and interview data was then conducted. The data were subsequently discussed from the perspectives of translanguaging and multilingualism and Spolsky’s three-element approach to language policy.
The results of the study reveal that teachers, parents, and learners in these Black PCCs are highly multilingual and engage in translanguaging activities both in the classroom and at home. Despite this, English remains a hegemonic language of religion within these spaces. In the classroom, teachers and learners largely used English as the de facto language of learning and teaching. This practice aligns with the general nature of PCCs, which are Anglonormative and
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associated with utilising English for preaching and teaching. As with mainstream classrooms, teachers are tasked with managing the learners’ language resources in a manner that will make the content accessible to them. Unlike in formal classroom settings, however, Sunday school teachers are more flexible in language use to accommodate different learners’ language resources. Learners also revealed that despite the dominance of English in the SS classroom, they are free to use the languages of their choice with their teachers and fellow learners. Furthermore, English served a central function in teaching the content of the lessons while translanguaging into and from various indigenous South African languages (ISALs) was instrumental in performing social roles such as establishing rapport, encouraging participation, and acknowledging the cultural identities of students and teachers.
In the home, parents provided linguistic resources that teachers were unable to provide in the classroom for further comprehension and exploration of Christian topics. As with the SS classroom, English was central, and parents identified it as an important language for their devotions and discussion of Christian themes with their children. Despite the overall positive view that respondents had of the ISALs, the lack of resources in these languages prevented a more prominent use of the ISALs for activities such as reading the Bible. English was also identified as the language in which a large inventory of Christian resources was available (audio, visual, and written). However, the ISALs remained valuable in helping to clarify concepts, provide examples, and affirm the linguistic and cultural identities of learners.
The study, firstly, highlights the importance of multilingualism and translanguaging within the SS context, whether at home or in the church. Secondly, the study emphasises that a close collaboration between the home and church is necessary and that parents can act as a language resource in the learning and teaching process of their children. This is because teachers are often unable to cater for all the learners’ linguistic needs. By extension, the study hopes to alert PCCs to the importance of intentionally utilising the languages of their congregations to promote a more inclusive and enriching religious experience for them. The employment of these languages may be in activities such as preaching and teaching, and the physical linguistic landscape of these churches and SS classrooms. Lastly, the study exposes teachers’ and parents’ concerns about the lack of multilingual Christian material. Over the long term, this research hopes to generate interest in the development of more multilingual Christian resources that can be used in the home and the classroom to enrich the religious experiences of children.