Code-Switching, Intuitive Knowledge, and the Bilingual Classroom. PUB DATE 88 NOTE 12P.; In: Garcia, Herman S
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 316 036 FL 018 351 AUTHOR Aguirre, Adalberto, Jr. TITLE Code-Switching, Intuitive Knowledge, and the Bilingual Classroom. PUB DATE 88 NOTE 12p.; In: Garcia, Herman S. and Chavez, Rudolfo Chavez. Ethnoliriguistic Issues in Education, 1988. For a related document, see ED 309 002. PUB TYPE Reports - Evaluative/Feasibility (142) -- Viewpoints (120) EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PCO1 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Behavior Patterns; Bilingual Education; *Bilingual Students; *Bilingual Teachers; *Code Switching (Language); Educational Strategies; *Student Characteristics; *Teacher Attitudes ABSTRACT The role of language alternation, or code-switching, in the bilingual classroom can be used as a teaching and learning strategy. Code-switching is simply a recognition of the fact that more than one language can define events and persons. Not all forms of code-switching are regarded as acceptable in the bilingual classroom. Language alternation in bilingual classrooms must be meaningful in itself and not simply reflect a language choice. A teacher who is bilingual has intuitive knowledge of bilingual behavior that can be instrumental ir constructing a sociolinguistic profile of the student in the bilingual classroom. With this knowledge, the teacher can determine (1) what is being switched and how it is being switched;(2) whether a student is mixing or alternating languages in a manner that communicates confusion; and (3) criteria for separating meaningful from meaningless code-switching. BasPd on these discoveries, the teacher can structure classroom behavior more effectively. 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OERI position or policy ode-Swutching, Intuitive Knowledge, and the Bilingual Classroom* Adalberto Aguirre, Jr. This paper discusses the role of language alternation,or code-switching, in the bilingual classroomas a learning and teaching strategy.Particular focusis on the conceptual complexity surrounding the definition of code-switchingin the bilingual classroom, andon the association between code-switching and intuitive knowledge of bilingual behav- ior. The principal assertion in this paper is thata bilingual teacher's intuitive knowledge of bilingual behaviorcan be instrumental in his or her construction ofa sociolinguistic profile for the student in the bilingual classroom. Most explanations of social behavior bypersons in everyday life arc not the products of explicit mental modelsor coherent theoretical substructures, according to diSess.t (152,8f). Asmuch as one would like believe that social explanation in ..veryday life is the product of a calculative and contrastive analysis,social explanat;,n is primarily a cognitiveprocess based on elements in commonsense observation. For example, persons often dependon feelings("Something doesn'tseemright....Itdoesn'tfeel right") or perceptions ("It doesn't look right...Something looks out of WmC.) to construct explanations that fit their observa- tions. As organizing principles in the explanation ofeveryday life, elements incommonsense observation, such as feeling and perception, enable personsto gathertheirobservationsinto meaningful categories. trismil .1 this paiwi uas int-a mill at 111%11.'111mA innIrirnn nn nu. Nttlihnnn ni let !Inning% at Ow of CnInhuln. tnlotallo ',pings. in NintInbui Mi. Mtn II 111 this ihipti is 11,in-rd Innncis Itngth tint nssinns unit hinanln lionantil1.11:nct Ilutmg his 'clinic at Sianinni l'unevan.I ht. .0ilnntnrI let rit ell hom 1)0Ittis Bode: and Ka> Padilla sintxulied m u tin totnth etigus Am shortcomings, tummy:.MI' mt1,W11 BEST COPYVAILABLE 2 AG/ 'llait.CODE-S117TC/UNG 29 THE OBSERVATION OF ALTERNATION A questionteachersofbilingualchildreninbilingual classrooms often askis, "What doesit mean when bilingual children alternate languages in ongoing discourse?" Thequestion isinresponse to the observationthat bilingual childrendo alternate or switch their two languages in thesame sentence or utterance. Secondly, the question is produced by interpreting the observation to mean that language alternation ismeaningful to the bilingual speakers involvecl in the social interaction.There areatleasttwotypesofworkingexplanationsforthe phenomenon one can construct:(1)language alternationin bilingual children's discours demonstrates their speakingknowl- edge of two languages, and (2) language alternation inbilingual children's discourse indicates that the speakerspossess a sociolin- guistic competency that permits themto alternate languages in a meaningful and communicativemanner (Aguirre, 1985). Given that language alternation isa sociolinguistic feature in the discourse of bilingual speakers, howmay teachers construct working explanations for language alternation that willenable them to understand what the alternationmeans, and what it communicates about a bilingual child's sociolinguistic behavior? My purpose inthe following pagesisto examine language alternationin bilingual speech and itsutilityto teachers of bilingual children in bilingual education classrooms.hat is, this paper focuses on theuse of language alternation, or code- switching, as a teaching and learningstrategy in the bilingual classroom, and on the association of code-switchingwith a teacher'sintuitive knowledge of bilingualbehavior. Thus,I intend to demonstrate thatintuitive knowledge of bilingual behavior is both appropriate' and essentialfor evaluating the sociolinguistic eventsthat produce questions about bilingual behaviorthatateoftei:assumedtobeunanswerable 01 unwot kable. CODE-SWITCHING ( :ode- switchingisatel usedtodescribethosespeech situations in which (a) speakers alternate betweentwo 01 more languages, varieties of language,or speech styles; (h) speakers alternate between two different language codes within thesame discourse. which implies thatthe speakers ate aware of the switch: 01 (c) speakers alternate betweentwo different language systems because of the envitonment (for instance, thepresence of 3 a ET/INOL/NG 1 VST/G IA' EDI '(.A a speech partner with whom the speaker prefers to speak in the other language) or topic of discussion (Hymes, 1974; Linn', 1970; St. Clair ge X'al&s, 1980). A general survey of the code-switching literature reveals that one can identify two major concerns. On the one hand, a focus on the sot ial uses of code-switching In,s resulted in analyses of therulesforspeaking,Orcommunicative competence,for bilingual speakers (Denison, 1968; Lipski, 1980; X'alds, 1980). Theserulesforspeakingare examinedbyobservingthe participation of bilingual speakers in social events that require istic interaction. By noting the association between rules for speaking and ongoing social interaction, the observer can outline theprocessby whichspeakersselectthe appropriate code (language), and can understand how code selection contributes to the maintenance of the social context. As a result, one can observe the contextuali/ation of social interaction. For example, a social dimension such as social distance can affect code selection; the c hoice of Haitian French or Creole in Haiti marks role shifts within a social event. Concern with the lingustic features of code-switching also has led researchers to examine those linguistic environments in which code-switching occurs(Pfaff,1979;Sridhar & Sridhar,1980; X'al(ks-Fallis,1976). By uncovering linguistic regularity in the production of code-switching, studies of linguistic environment attempt to demonstrate that bilingual speakers possess subsets of grammatical knowledge that permit the ordered alternation of languages.Forexample, among English/Spanishbilingual Mexican-Anwiican speakers in California, adverbial constructions may be switched: "Faros next week," but not as interrogatives, "When vamos?"; a switch may occur at a noun phrase only after a determiner: "Se lo di a mi grandfather," but not as, "Se to di a my grandfather": an adverb may be switched before an adjective: "Es very friendly," but not, "Escry amistoso" (Gumperz & Hernandet-(:lnive/. 1970). Code-sv:itc ping is then an instrum,ntal activity in constructing and maintaining bilingoal social interaction, and it indicates the operationofanorderedlinguisticprocessthatfacilitates bilingual communication. Code-switching is not random linguis- ticproduction, in the sense that itis only speech mixture, but rather is the product of ordered linguistic selection.it follows, then, that code - switching is not an indication that a bilingual speaker is linguistically incongruent with ongoing social inteiac- 4 ill;17100-CODE-SiVITC1IING 31 lion;itis instead an active process of negotiation thatensures a high degree of linguistic and socialcongruence within a given context (Aguirre, 1978; Miller, 1984). CODE-SWITCHING IN THE BILINGUAL CLASSROOM hen thoughcode-switchinghasattractedaconsiderable amount of sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic interest, its role in the bilingual classroomas a teaching and learning strategy has been subjected to only limited