Peer learning has extensively been used in education to facilitate and maximise students’ academic performance.
However, the use of peer-assisted learning/mentoring (PALM) as an inclusive learning strategy in undergraduate education to support multilingual students’ transition into higher education (HE) and enhance their wellbeing in the post-Covid era has not been widely explored.
Lecturers express their concern regarding the additional mental health issues – due to the Covid-19 pandemic – that an increasing number of students in HE are facing lately.
In terms of the present study, 80 students were involved in weekly PALM tasks, which allowed learners to use their mother tongue (translanguaging) along with their target language, for one semester fostering inclusion for multilingual students.
Findings indicated that students enjoyed the experience since it helped them feel psychologically safe as they gradually developed a personal relation with their peers which enabled them to improve their academic performance.
Some learners also confessed that they felt uneasy at the beginning, but they soon overcame their concerns as the activities were carefully structured and their lecturer supervised the whole procedure closely.
In response to the need for more information in terms of using PALM activities with multilingual students, this study will contribute a students’ voice regarding the use of PAL/M as an inclusive strategy within undergraduate year practice which in so far has been absent.
Recommendations for training lecturers and students in PAL/M and for implementing it successfully in undergraduate courses as well as suggestions for future research will be provided.