Code-switching in the English language classroom, the case of selected junior high schools in Asikuma - Odoben Brakwa district

Abstract

In every aspect of human life, language is an important form of communication and that is one of the skills that the school system seeks to develop. Ghana as multilingual country has a challenge to meet due to the numerous languages that students are exposed to. This makes it difficult to effectively learn the target language. In order to communicate well with students in the English language classroom (L 2), teachers code-switch for several pedagogic reasons. This study sought to find out when code switching happens in the English language class, the reasons for which teachers and students code-switch, and the benefits they derive from it. The research design that was adopted for the study is a qualitative descriptive survey. Qualitative approach which involves audio-tape recordings, interviews and observation of the classroom interaction between teachers and pupils were used to gather data. The main purpose of using a descriptive survey is to observe, describe and document aspects of the English language teaching-learning classroomas it naturally occurs. The sample population for this study consisted of J.H.S 1 to JHS 3 students and English teachers of the selected schools. Convenient sampling technique was used to select six JHS teachers from six schools from six towns in the District. The schools selected for the study were Asikuma R/C Boys‟ JHS, Brakwa Presby JHS „A‟, Odoben R/C JHS, Supunso D/A JHS, Asarikwa JHS and Eshiem D/A JHS. Quota sampling technique was used to select the si towns for the study. The analysis revealed that code-switching occurs at various stages of lesson delivery: introduction, content delivery, evaluation, and closure in the classroom. The study also revealed that code-switching was used for academic, socializing and management functions in the English language classroom. Finally, code-switching was found to have significant benefits to the English class, some of which are to help to meet the individual needs of the stuents help build rapport between teacherand students and help the teacher to draw the attention of students. Others are that it is an important communication strategy and instructional tool for both teachers and students, it is used to clarify their understanding of lesson contents, used as a tool to correct students during instruction, and to increase students‟ participation and activeness in class. Based on these findings, it is concluded that teachers and students should judiciously use code-switch in the English language classroom in order to effectively accelerate the learning of English.