Clarification du sens en classe de langues : pratiques différenciées entre enseignants natifs et non-natifs Making Meaning Across Languages: Native and Non-Native Teachers' Practices in Multilingual Classrooms

Abstract

This article presents an ethnographic and linguistic study conducted in the Romanian secondary education system, specifically in public high schools in Bucharest, and examines the meaning-clarification practices used by native and non-native language teachers in classroom interaction. The study addresses a research gap concerning the differentiated pedagogical use of translation, reformulation, paraphrasing, and code-switching in foreign language teaching within the Romanian educational context. Adopting a qualitative ethnographic methodology, the research draws on semi-structured interviews with six native teachers and seven non-native teachers, as well as eight focus groups with students from six public educational institutions. The methodological framework combines discourse analysis with an examination of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies used during teaching and learning. The findings show that both native and non-native teachers employ a wide range of meaning-clarification techniques to facilitate comprehension and knowledge transmission in multilingual classrooms. However, the study also identifies differentiated practices shaped by teachers’ linguistic backgrounds, professional trajectories, and pedagogical representations. The originality of the research lies in its comparative ethnographic perspective on classroom discourse and in its contribution to a deeper understanding of intercultural and multilingual pedagogical communication. The study further highlights the importance of adaptive clarification strategies in improving language acquisition and classroom interaction, as they help learners overcome communication barriers and participate more actively in learning processes. Theoretically, the article contributes to current debates on multilingual education and teacher identity. From a practical and policy-oriented perspective, it underscores the need for teacher training programmes that integrate intercultural communication and flexible language-mediation practices.