Gender Disparity of Sensory Organs Involvement in Translanguaging <br/>—A Case Study of Excellent English Teachers from Chinese Secondary Schools

Abstract

Translanguaging is an important part of research in languages and characters, although it has not reached a unanimous definition. It involves in different means of sensory organs, and the use of it may vary according to individual differences among teachers. This paper explores the involvement of different sensory organs and gender differences in translanguaging among 10 excellent English teachers in Chinese secondary schools, based on records on classroom observation sheets. Results show that visual, auditory and kinesthetic organs are involved in classes, and individual teachers prefer different means of sensory organs. Male teachers generally prefer utterances, hand gestures, pictures and walking around in classrooms, and female teachers prefer utterances, walking around in classrooms, hand gestures and pictures. Meanwhile, the involvement of specific means of sensory organs of translanguaging is uneven to different teachers.