Translanguaging and Speaking Development among Low-Proficiency ESL Undergraduates: Evidence from a Quasi-Experimental Study in Multilingual Pakistani Higher Education

Abstract

In multilingual or bilingual ESL or EFL settings, translanguaging maintains its significant position and is gaining attention among recent language learning approaches. Therefore, in university classrooms, specifically focusing on undergraduate students, this study examines how translanguaging practices influence the speaking skills of low-proficiency ESL learners in the Pakistani educational context. This study uses a quantitative quasi-experimental framework and recruits participants from the Social Sciences and Management faculties of a public university in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, using purposive sampling. This study used an IELTS-based speaking test to evaluate students’ proficiency, employed an eight-week intervention, and assessed improvement through pre- and post-intervention assessments. During intervention sessions, the experimental group practised translanguaging-based speaking activities. In comparison, the control group did not participate in the same activities and instead received conventional instruction. Paired-sample t-test results and inferential statistics showed that the experimental group’s speaking skills improved with translanguaging practices, particularly in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and fluency, compared with the control group. In multilingual or bilingual settings, evidence from this study suggests that translanguaging played a positive and significant role as a pedagogical resource for low-proficiency learners, while also supporting cognitive and affective mechanisms. The study contributes to translanguaging scholarship by providing quasi-experimental evidence of measurable speaking development among low-proficiency ESL learners, thereby extending existing knowledge beyond predominantly perception-oriented and descriptive investigations. The study offers empirical and pedagogical insights into translanguaging as a practical approach to strengthening ESL speaking competence and informing language teaching practices in multilingual educational settings.