Code-switching as a pedagogical strategy in classroom settings: the case of township schools in a South African Metropolitan Municipality

Marawu, Sithembele

Title: Code-switching as a pedagogical strategy in classroom settings: the case of township schools in a South African Metropolitan Municipality
Creator: Marawu, Sithembele
Subject: Code switching (Linguistics)
Subject: Multilingual education -- South Africa
Subject: Education, Bilingual -- South Africa
Subject: Language and languages -- Study and teaching -- Bilingual method
Subject: English language -- Social aspects -- South Africa
Subject: Language and education -- South Africa
Subject: Language and education -- Social aspects -- South Africa
Date Issued: 2018
Date: 2018
Type: text
Type: Thesis
Type: Doctoral
Type: PhD
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62406
Identifier: vital:28173
Description: The purpose of this study was to explore the use of code-switching as a pedagogical strategy in bi/multilingual classroom settings. It was prompted by the widespread use of codeswitching (CS) in classrooms, particularly in South African rural and township schools. This study highlighted that learners from disadvantaged backgrounds struggle to learn through the medium of English but aspire to acquire it because of its association with socio-economic advancement. However, poor proficiency in English excludes them from being part of the country's economy. Research studies show that there is a shift from the old orthodoxy which perceived CS as undesirable in classrooms to a new orthodoxy that acknowledges its academic contribution in classrooms. Although more research on classroom CS has been done, this study identified the need for development of new strategies on how to use CS effectively in classrooms as a linguistic and pedagogical resource. In line with critical classroom ethnography, qualitative interpretation of data was used to understand the teachers' discourse behaviour. Additionally, non-probability sampling - specifically purposive sampling - was used to collect data. These methods and approaches assisted in the analysis of the discourse of the three teachers who served as units of analysis in this study. These teachers relied on CS to impart the content of their subjects to the learners. It transpired from data analysis that teachers use CS in classrooms to achieve various functions like social and pedagogical functions. Another finding is that the switches teachers make do not affect the syntactic structure of the matrix language. Moreover, CS enhances understanding of the subject matter. This study concludes by stating that as learners are emergent bilinguals, additive bilingualism would be more ideal in the South African situation than subtractive bilingualism which parents and learners seem to prefer. Lastly, there is a need to harness CS as a communicative and pedagogical resource in classrooms.
Format: 318 pages
Format: pdf
Publisher: Rhodes University
Publisher: Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages
Language: English
Rights: Marawu, Sithembele

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