Sociolinguistics and Language Education.pdf

Multilingualism and Codeswitching in Education 133
their native tongue’ at school (Mail & Guardian, July 5, 1997). Raising
educators’ awareness about the resourcefulness of classroom CS should
help them re-assess their attitude toward L1 and its role in L2 learning.
Research Methods in CS
This section offers a brief description of common research methods
used in CS studies. These methods, which are discussed in detail elsewhere
(e.g. Kamwangamalu, 1989: 176–210), include written texts, tape
recording, interviews, and language survey questionnaires. In addition, I
will discuss ethnographic observations, for they also serve as a productive
source of data for research into various aspects of CS, including
classroom CS.
Written texts
Written texts in which CS is commonly found include, for instance,
scripts of bilingual TV and radio programs, bilingual newspaper articles,
published literature by bilingual writers and so on. CS is used in
written texts for diverse reasons. Depending on the context of situation,
CS may provide clues about the education, socio-economic status,
regional provenance, register, religion, etc. of a particular participant or
a character in a novel, for instance. For example, Dabke (1983: 370, 372)
discusses the fi ctional use of standard German and Swabian (dialect of
German) CS in novel, Familienfest. He points out that the characters in
this novel codeswitch Standard German and Swabian to demonstrate
their social or regional provenance. Also, Dabke observes that in this
novel CS is used to structure a scene and serves as the reader’s guide in
that it marks pause and climax, beginning and closure of narrative summary
and speech event. Characters in a novel may also use CS to express
emotion, anger, disgust and so on, just as bilingual speakers would
express similar feelings in everyday interaction with members of their
community.
Tape recording and interviews
Tape recording and interviews have served as another good source of
data for CS studies. Tape recordings are often used in contexts such as the
family for recording conversations between friends or family members on
certain occasions, for example, parties, ceremonies and the like. Some
scholars have used tape recording to record doctor–patient interactions,
customer–salesperson interactions, courtroom or classroom interactions
and so on (Gardner-Chloros, 1985). Others have used tape recording to