The functions of Code-Switching in English Language Teaching classroom discourse by Kindergarten teachers in five Elementary schools in an Educational District in Saint Lucia.
Introduction
The English language teacher is still the main person in the classroom from which students derive many of their language experiences. Therefore, teachers need to remain vigilant in the manner in which they use the language. Teachers who are bilingual speakers may often opt to alternate between languages for particular reasons or do so unconsciously. There are teachers who believe that in English language teaching, code–switching should be avoided, meanwhile others perceive code-switching as being a helpful teaching strategy in understanding components of the target language which is sometimes English. Irrespective of the opinions by teachers about which aspect should be favoured, it is crucial that the reasons which influence code-switching by teachers in English language learning classrooms be studied. This will assist other educators in making a better determination of whether to include or exclude code-switching in the language teaching process.
Background to the Study
Saint Lucia is a bilingual nation where Saint Lucian English and a French lexified-Creole (Kweyol) are widely spoken in similar domains. Contrary to English being the official language in Saint Lucia and the argument of whether the language situation is still diglossic, schools predominantly acknowledge the use of both languages by teachers and students in formal classroom discourse. Classroom discourse in this research paper implies the talk or face to face conversation that is undertaken in the classroom. As a result, situations arise in the class...
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...ment of confidentiality, the names of each participant shall be anonymous in the study with capitalized symbols ‘A, B, C, D, E' to represent each of the participants.
Population and Sample
The population of the research includes nineteen Kindergarten teachers who are all females from ten Primary Schools in Educational District 6 in Saint Lucia. The five teachers and their schools selected for this investigation shall be deliberately selected, that is after permission is granted to implement the research, based on the teacher's competence to speak both Kweyol and English and because of close proximity to the researcher's ability to conduct the research. In schools selected where there are more than one Kindergarten teacher and they are all competent bilingual speakers, the researcher will allow the principal to select the teacher for the investigation.
It is interesting for Lisa Kanae to use three different voices in her book, Sista Tongue. The structure of Sista Tongue is different from standard books as if to make her words flow and become active. Her message still holds truth in today’s society. In many homes, younger generations face the inadequacy of being unable to understand their mother tongues while their parents struggle with learning English. Code-switching is natural for bilingual people and those that speak to other sub-cultures. Lisa Kanae’s different voices are similar to
Everyone has various styles of speaking and various ranges of vocabulary that they utilize depending upon with whom they speak. This concept, known as code switching, portrays an integral part of our lives in today’s society. The fact that different groups of people speak in different ways necessitates the use of code switching. One would not speak to a group of high school students in the manner that one would speak to a scholar, or speak to a prison inmate in the same regard that one would speak with the President of the United States. Speaking in standard American English and then in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), or Ebonics, portrays the most prominent use of code switching in today’s society, especially among American youths. Today, people utilize code switching to associate better amongst a group of people. In William Wells Brown’s Clotel, code switching plays an important role in the escape of two slaves, outwitting a train employee, and simply showing the difference between a slave’s behavior with other slaves and the slave’s behavior in the presence of his owner.
In Verhsawn Ashanti Young’s article titled, “Nah, We Straight: An argument Against Code Switching,” he makes his objectives clear as he argues against people Right to their own language. The author questions the advantage of standard American English as opposed to other types of English. He refers to those aspect as code switching, which he believes can lead to racist thinking. Code switching, according to Young, calls out for one way of speaking to be omitted in favor of others, based on one's rhetorical situations. The author points out that students are required to translate from Afro-American English or Spanglish to standard English and not the other way around, which is concerning. Youngs method to get around this segregation is the usage
The essay starts off by talking about a common belief shared by many parents now about how students miss out on “a great deal by not being taught their family’s language”(Rodriguez 525). But the author states that this isn’t always true especially considering the children who are socially disadvantaged in any way, they more than likely consider their native tongue or the language used at home to be just that a private language that should only be used around or with the family, he also highlights how odd it was that his childhood classmates
Many linguists define CS as “the use of two different languages or language within a single conversation or written text” (Benson, 2001). We are using the term in a much broader sense to highlight how a speaker may express themselves in conversation. For the purpose of our research we will describe the phenomenon of code-switching (CS) as “the practice of shifting languages you use or the way you express yourself in conversation” (NPR, 2013). CS expands across many cultures as there is code-switching between languages, dialects, race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. There are many factors that motivate a speaker to switch from one language, dialect, style, or register to another. Depending on the situation, a speaker may CS consciously
Education has a significant effect on African American variations of code-switching, and whether they are able to code-switch at all. African American who are uneducated will have a difficult time with code-switching. Uneducated African Americans have limited mobility within the society (Seymour & Seymour, 1979). This hinders them from being able to affectively switch between Ebonics and Standard English. On the other hand, those who have higher levels of education are able to code-switch effortlessly. There are instances where an African American can become so emerged in the Standard American lifestyle and reach a point where they can no longer subside to the level of
Language is a mean of communication in any given society. It represents the ability to evolve and progress through the ongoing process of living with other human beings. Many can perceive this instrument as tool of liberation and transformation but others as an instrument to enslave, manipulate or oppress a group of people. Whichever the case one need to acknowledge that it is necessary and not a waste of time the many different discussions about this ongoing topic regardless of the time period or social context any country might have. In Puerto Rico, there has been an ongoing dilemma about languages; Dr. Alicia Pousada examines on her essay what many might define “the language madness on the island”. Throughout this paper some of her most interesting ideas will be shared and discussed so that this already extended topic might find another page to take place.
For this research requirement I chose three different experiments to examine thoroughly. The first of these experiments came from the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. The study done in this journal was an examination of orthographic learning and self-teaching in a bilingual and biliterate context. The aim of the study was to figure out the advantages and/or disadvantages of a student learning a native language when they are either monolingual, bilingual, or biliterate, and the study was focused on learning English because this is the most commonly learned non-native language in the world.
When this happens, bilinguals are not coached in how to code switch, but instead, they rely on unconscious linguistic understanding in differentiating between what are tolerable and intolerable code switching usages. According to Auer (1989), factors such as cultural interaction, intercultural marriage, education, and colonization are some influences for code switching. Moreover, speakers may choose to alternate from one code to another, either to distinguish oneself, to show commonality with a social group, to discuss a certain topic, join in social happenstances, to impress and influence the audience or to express feelings and affections (Crystal, 1987). However, there has been a misconception in many people’s perception, that “code switching is bad”, “code switching creates confusion” and that “code switching will result in a language deficit where individuals would not be fluent in either language”.
Primary schools that introduce language learning at an earlier phase may do so for a number of purposes, but it is because of the benefits of learning a language at a younger age that this paper has chosen Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) as its target scheme of work. For the purpose of this assignment the focus language will be French (but the strategies to be discussed will apply to any MFL). The ideas within the scheme of work will be critically discussed as part of university experience, school practice and relevant research.
To start with, this research was conducted in Monsenyor Gibert Primary School located in Sant Fruitós de Bages (Bages). It is a two-form entry public school, which covers students from Preschool Education to Primary Education, age 3 to 12. Furthermore, they lack of a CLIL program, but the English teacher uses once a week a book with different topics about all the subjects. Thus, children can acquire some vocabulary about other disciplines in the foreign language.
In the twentieth century, the avoidance of the using L1 in classrooms dominated teachers’ minds; as well it was implemented in many policies and guidelines of language teaching (Cook, 2001). Thornbury (2010) listed a set of arguments against using L1 in L2 classrooms mainly for that the translation of L2 into another language will play negative effects on students’ learning process. He pointed out that the use of L1 will result learners to have a cognitive dependence on their mother tongue at the expense of developing independence TL learning. Although the two language systems are not equivalent in many aspects, students may have an awareness of the notion of equivalence of the two languages if translation serves to convey meanings. Some argue that the use of translation to convey the meaning of the TL is more efficient and more memorable. However, Thornbury (2010) sees the opposite. He stated that the simple and direct way of translation will make L2 knowledge less memorable since the process lacks mental efforts in working out meanings.
Bilingualism The English language has grown to be the world’s most significant language and its increase to the status of globally spoken language must rank as one of the most significant facts in the educational times gone by of the twentieth century world. It is conceivably suitable, as the new millennium comes closer, that we ought to pause to reproduce on how English reached this point, what might take place next, and what it all means, both for those who converse English and for the large proportion of the world's inhabitants who do not. Uniformly, we need to think the insinuations of these changes on our own position as language education professionals. David Crystal's book, English as a Global Language, (Crystal, 1997) aimed to point out that “English became the world language not because of any intrinsic linguistic qualities, but because at significant moments in history it happened to be 'in the right place at the right time'”. "The Future of English?" (Graddol, 1997) suggests that “English is at a turning point in its development as an international language: it has become a global language at a time when the world itself is undergoing rapid change. Indeed, English is very much a part of the process of transformation, which is creating a more closely interconnected world in which people and machines talk easily to each other across vast spaces.” Reviewing Barbara Mayor and David Graddol, evident is the fact that there are two key indicators of this changeover point in the progress of English. First, the number of people speakers using English as a second language will rapidly outnumber those who articulate it as a first language. Secondly, it is obvious that added people learning English as a foreign language do so in ...
Teachers of young children have a difficult task – to be a model, provider, and facilitator in promoting language learning and literacy. These roles can be very challenging to achieve. The teacher needs to be sensitive to the individual child’s needs – when to supply information and when to hold it back; when to talk and when to listen. The teacher’s attitude towards the child’s speech is critically important. In this way, a teacher can maximize the child’s language development. (Machado, 2014)
Kachru, B. B. (1992). Teaching world Englishes. The other tongue: English across cultures, 2, 355-366.