Translanguaging as a Comprehensive Early Literacy Development Strategy for Children Living in Marginalized Areas in Kenya

Abstract This study documents an early literacy intervention in an Indigenous language aimed at raising education quality through the translanguaging strategy. Teacher capacity was developed for teachers to produce books in an Indigenous language and to utilize translanguaging with three languages, with the goal of developing early primary school students’ literacy skills. Pre and posttests were administered to determine the impact of the intervention, and results were compared with a control group that had not received the intervention. We measured the differences in performance between students who were taught through the translanguaging strategy and those who were not. Results showed a significant impact of translanguaging, learner‑centered reading strategies, and multilingual literacy materials on learners’ reading achievement.