ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I will explain how Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) can be used to understand why translanguaging is used by classroom participants in particular ways. IPA aims to understand participants’ experiences based on their perceptions. This entails the researchers trying to make sense of the participants trying to make sense of their world. Although MCA offers detailed analyses into the moment-by-moment construction of social spaces for students to translanguage, it cannot reveal how teachers bring different dimensions of their personal history, experience and environment, their attitudes, beliefs and performanceto create different translanguaging spaces in the classrooms. Hence, analysing classroom participants’ comments or reflections on their translanguaging practices can help researchers to develop a broader analysis of why participants co-construct the interaction in particular ways.
I will first explore the theoretical foundations of IPA. I will then explicate the data analysis procedures. The chapter will also refer to a small body of literature which utilizes IPA as a method to understand the role of multilingualism in classroom settings. Finally, the chapter will consider the limitations associated with IPA.
