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CODE-SWITCHING AT A BILINGUAL SCHOOL IN COSTA RICA: IDENTITY, INTERTEXTUALITY AND NEW PORTRAITS OF COMPETENCE by PAULA JEAN MELLOM (Under the Direction of Betsy Rymes) ABSTRACT In language contact situations such as that precipitated by human migration and globalization, heteroglossia and language shift occur where traces of what had been two or more “separate” linguistic codes begin to mix. And because language and identity are inextricably intertwined, this language mixing has serious implications for the construction of identities of the peoples caught in the linguistic borderlands. The history of US involvement in Central America and the current economic dependence of Costa Rica on the United States have created a certain ambivalence among Costa Ricans regarding English because while those who speak English wield enormous cultural and economic capital in a rapidly changing global economy, there exists a resistance to “becoming American”. In order to understand how this tension impacts the construction of identity one must take a critical eye to the issues of linguistic dominance and resistance in ESOL classrooms. This dissertation examines examples of intertextuality and how the L1-Spanish students at an elite bilingual school in rural Costa Rica utilize code-switching to entextualize the English texts present in advertising and popular music into their discourse. Further analysis focuses on the code-switching strategies these students use to construct their own and others’ identities in interaction. In the analysis, I have identified three participant roles mediator, model student and compañero, and I examine how the students go about co- constructing those roles in interaction. I look closely at participant constellations (who's talking to whom and their assigned and perceived role in the class), topic of interaction (both discursive and metadiscursive) and the sequential or functional triggers of code-switches. The final analysis chapter looks at negotiated code-switching strategies bilingual students utilize to scaffold for one another in interaction. The study offers a new way of viewing “competence” of bilingual speakers that does not devalue the multiple linguistic resources that the children bring with them to the classroom. INDEX WORDS: Code-switching, intertextuality, identity, entextualization, scaffolding CODE-SWITCHING AT A BILINGUAL SCHOOL IN COSTA RICA: IDENTITY, INTERTEXTUALITY AND NEW PORTRAITS OF COMPETENCE by PAULA JEAN MELLOM A.B., Occidental College, 1988 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2006 © 2006 Paula Jean Mellom All Rights Reserved CODE-SWITCHING AT A BILINGUAL SCHOOL IN COSTA RICA: IDENTITY, INTERTEXTUALITY AND NEW PORTRAITS OF COMPETENCE by PAULA JEAN MELLOM Major Professor: Betsy Rymes Committee: Marlyse Baptista Sarah Blackwell Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2006 iv DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my family, without whose loving support and tireless faith I could never have even begun, much less finished. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In beginning these acknowledgements I know that I will neglect to mention many of the people who have contributed to this dissertation’s completion in small and large ways. But here, at least, is a start. First I would like to thank my wonderful students at the Escuela Interamericana, without whom there would be no study. They trusted me enough to allow me to put their speech under a microscope and that is no mean gift. Also, the parents, administrators and faculty at the Escuela Interamericana offered me their unquestioning support throughout my tenure there. Theresa Gilbert, Molly Alden and Ana Jennsie Campos in particular, listened to me as I struggled to define what I was doing and offered some spectacular insights. Susannah Baring-Tait was and continues to be a source of great inspiration and more than one of the ideas on these pages has sprung from our hours-long conversations about language and how it works. Dr. Heather Allen-Pang never let me get discouraged and kept things in perspective. Amy Jo Coffey started with me on my Costa Rican journey and has accompanied me throughout. At UGA Lynnette Lang’s cheerful efficiency took more than one administrative load off my mind. Dr. Don McCreary supported me with letters and words. Dr. Joan Kelly-Hall gave me the names for the behaviors I had seen and a way to talk about them. Dr. Betsy Rymes showed me how to anchor my ideas and gave me great encouragement, flexibility and enough guidance to find a clear path while still knowing that it was mine. Dr. Marlyse Baptista and Dr. Sarah Blackwell shared with me from their own experiences as bilinguals and offered clear and incisive linguistic critiques that made this work much tighter and well-grounded. No one could ask for a better committee. Thank you all. vi And to the other teachers who have helped and guided me along the way, I am grateful. Tro, you once told me that if I didn’t do it, I would always regret it. You were right, then and now. Grandma, you taught me that anything worth doing is worth doing right. Mom, you taught me that through passion and faith, all things are possible. Dad, you taught me that there was a lot to be learned from being still and listening. Lee, you taught me that I could do more than I think I can, and to believe in that. Lori, you taught me to recognize that there are many ways of communicating. Beto, you taught me the value of commitment – to a cause, an idea or a person. And Ro, you taught me that whatever I do, there are more important things than work. I thank you all for giving this process meaning and purpose. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 STUDYING CODE-SWITCHING IN THE CLASSROOM CONTEXT ....................1 (Pre)text.....................................................................................................................1 Grounding Assumptions............................................................................................4 Guiding Hypotheses of this Research .......................................................................5 Code-switching: Previous Research and the Limitations of our Knowledge............6 Definitions of Terms as Used in this Dissertation...................................................10 Research on L2 Acquisition in the Classroom ........................................................11 Ethnography and Need for Contextual Analysis.....................................................13 Toward a Contextualized Analysis of L1 and L2 Use in the Classroom ................16 Why this School?.....................................................................................................17 2 STUDY METHODOLOGY AND PARTICIPANT DESCRIPTION ........................20 Introduction to the Methodology.............................................................................20 Framework for Data Collection...............................................................................21 Participants ..............................................................................................................22 Theoretical Basis for Study Methodology: Ethnographic Approach to Classroom Research ............................................................................................................24 viii My Role as Researcher/Participant .........................................................................25 General English Curriculum and Structure of the Class .........................................26 Procedures and Data Collection ..............................................................................28 Data and Transcription ............................................................................................30 Data Analysis ..........................................................................................................33 The Observer’s Paradox and Limitations of the Study ...........................................34 The Activity.............................................................................................................35 Overall Description of the Study Participants.........................................................37 Selection of the Study Participants..........................................................................38 Selected Participants – 4th Grade.............................................................................39 Selected Participants – 5th Grade.............................................................................41 Selected Participants – 6th Grade.............................................................................44 3 HETEROGLOSSIA AND THE EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION ON LANGUAGE USE ..................................................................................................47 Chapter Summary....................................................................................................47 Historical Context and Ramifications of English in Costa Rica .............................47 Resistance and Dominance in the ESOL Classroom...............................................49 Code-switching and Entextualization......................................................................49