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Attitudes and Awareness Around Codeswitching Attitudes and awareness around codeswitching What are teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards codeswitching in the English learner classroom in Norway, and what can influence the teachers’ utilization of it? Tonje Haugen Mehl Mastergradsavhandling ved Institutt for lærerutdanning og skoleforskning, Engelsk fagdidaktikk UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Våren 2014 © Tonje Haugen Mehl 2014 Attitudes and awareness around codeswitching: what are teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards codeswitching in the English learner classroom in Norway, and what can influence the teachers’ utilization of it? Tonje Haugen Mehl http://www.duo.uio.no/ Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo II Abstract The present qualitative study investigates what attitudes and opinions can influence the teachers’ decision to either utilize or avoid codeswitching in the English learner classrooms in Norwegian schools. The study is based on observations and semi-structured interviews of three 10th grade teachers and three VG1 teachers in the counties Oslo, Akershus and Buskerud. In addition to this, two group interviews with VG1 students were conducted to scrutinize their opinions on the issue. The theoretical framework is based on different theories about how codeswitching is either helpful or damaging for the students’ degree of input and language learning. This was viewed in light of the terms plurilingualism and English as an International Language. The interviews were conducted to investigate whether the teachers had different attitudes and opinions about language choice in the classroom and to determine what factors could explain their attitudes towards codeswitching. During the observations the codeswitching situations were coded and analyzed, but were essentially made to check whether the teachers’ opinions coincide with their utilization. The findings between the two levels were then compared. The findings of this study demonstrate that there is great variation between the individual teachers’ attitudes, opinions and utilization of codeswitching. The variation is first and foremost found between the individual teachers and not between the levels. Factors influencing the teachers’ language choice seem to be connected to their perceptions of the students’ proficiency level and the teachers’ teaching philosophy and their own experiences from teaching languages. In the discussion I argue that if codeswitching is used ineffectively and unsystematically it can prevent teachers from demonstrating other useful communication strategies that the students need to acquire in an increasingly globalized world. However, using codeswitching as a learning tool can be beneficial for the students’ language learning as long as it is not overused. Codeswitching used systematically is therefore not necessarily a sign of low proficiency level, but rather a tool to enhance learning. III Sammendrag Målet med denne kvalitative studien er å undersøke hvilke faktorer som kan påvirke meningene, holdningene og bruken av kodeveksling i engelskundervisningen på ungdomsskolen og i den videregående skolen i Norge. Undersøkelsen er basert på observasjoner og halv-strukturerte intervju med tre lærere på 10.trinn og tre lærere fra VG1, og gruppeintervju med til sammen åtte elever fra VG1. Denne studien er basert på ulike teorier om kodeveksling er en støtte eller et hinder for elevenes språkinnputt og språklæring. Dette ble sett i lys av begrepene plurilingualisme og Engelsk som et internasjonalt språk. Intervjuene gjorde det mulig å undersøke om lærerne hadde ulike holdninger til bruken av engelsk og norsk, og gjorde det mulig å undersøke hvilke faktorer som kunne ligge bak de ulike holdningene. Observasjonene ble kodet og analysert, men var i utgangspunktet utført for å se om lærerens holdninger sammenfalt med selve utførelsen i klasserommet. Funnene fra de ulike trinnene ble dermed sammenlignet. Funnene fra denne studien indikerer at det er stor variasjon mellom de ulike lærernes holdninger, meninger og utførelse av kodeveksling i klasserommet. Variasjonene er først og fremst funnet mellom de individuelle lærerne og ikke mellom de ulike trinnene. Faktorer som spiller inn på lærernes holdninger til L1/L2 virker å være forbundet med lærernes opplevelse av elevenes forståelse og kompetanse i Engelsk og lærernes erfaringer fra å lære bort et språk. I diskusjonen argumenterer jeg for at dersom kodeveksling blir brukt usystematisk kan det hindre lærerne i å demonstrere andre nyttige kommunikasjonsstrategier som elevene trenger å lære i en stadig mer globalisert verden. Kodeveksling kan likevel være nyttig for elevenes språklæring så lenge det blir brukt systematisk som et læringsverktøy og ikke overbrukt. Systematisk kodeveksling er derfor ikke nødvendigvis en indikasjon på lavt ferdighetsnivå i Engelsk, men heller et læringsverktøy brukt av lærere for å fremme språklæring. IV Acknowledgement First and foremost, I would like to thank my excellent supervisor, Philip Grey, PhD. Thank you for invaluable and constructive feedback, and for your support and guidance throughout this process. This project would not have finished without your support, and for that I am grateful. I would also like to express my gratitude towards my informants for taking the time to help me, and for letting me conduct observations and interviews. Without your help this thesis would simply not have materialised. I also wish to thank my amazing friends in Norway and abroad. Thank you for always believing in me, for giving me support, for forcing me to take breaks and for showing me patience throughout this process – you are truly the best and most amazing friends someone could wish for. A special thanks goes out to my loving brothers, Sindre and Yngve. Thank you for always giving me a reason to laugh, for always pushing me to do better and for being there for me no matter what. Last, but not least I want to thank my mum and dad, Laila and Hallgeir. Thank you for listening to me, for having faith in me and for encouraging me when writing this thesis almost seemed impossible. You are both my role-models, and I can only hope to become half the teachers you are. Oslo, May 2014. Tonje Haugen Mehl V VI Table of Contents 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Codeswitching ............................................................................................................ 2 1.2 The status of English in Norway .............................................................................. 3 1.2.1 Codeswitching in bilingual classrooms ................................................................ 4 1.2.2 Norwegian students’ proficiency level in English ............................................... 5 1.3 The importance of language choice in the classroom ............................................. 6 1.3.1 LK 06 .................................................................................................................... 6 1.3.2 The importance of the teachers’ language choice in the classroom ..................... 7 1.4 Research statement .................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Outline of the thesis ................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Definitions................................................................................................................... 9 2 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................... 11 2.1 Teaching perspectives.............................................................................................. 11 2.2 Language learning ................................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Input and output in the language learning classroom ......................................... 13 2.3 Communicative competence ................................................................................... 15 CLT in EFL and ESL contexts ..................................................................................... 16 2.3.1 Communicative competence in LK06 ................................................................ 17 2.3.2 Communication strategies .................................................................................. 18 2.3.3 Codeswitching as a communication strategy ..................................................... 18 2.4 Codeswitching as support in the language learner classroom ............................. 20 2.4.1 Codeswitching functions .................................................................................... 20 2.4.2 Teachers’ use of codeswitching functions ......................................................... 23 2.5 Negative impacts of codeswitching ......................................................................... 24 2.6 English as an international language ..................................................................... 27 2.6.1 Multilingualism versus plurilingualism ............................................................. 27 2.6.2 Plurilingualism in an educational context .......................................................... 29 2.6.3 The question of intelligibility ............................................................................. 30 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 31 3.1
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