Educational Foundations Department, Faculty of Education, Great Zimbabwe University, PO Box 1235, Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Emily T Ganga
Educational Foundations Department, Faculty of Education, Great Zimbabwe University, PO Box 1235, Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Martin Musengi
Department of Special Needs Education, Faculty of Education, Great Zimbabwe University, PO Box 1235, Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Main Article Content
Neither a borrower nor a lender be? Code-switching of first and second languages in mathematical discourse
Rose M Mugweni
Emily T Ganga
Martin Musengi
Abstract
The study seeks to investigate when and why primary school teachers (Grades 1 to 7) and their pupils code-switch between English and chiShona during mathematics lessons. It also focuses on the effects of such code-switching on learning outcomes. Ten primary school teachers in Masvingo city former group B schools were videotaped while teaching mathematics. The 10 teachers and 40 of their pupils were later interviewed. It was found that the teachers switch to the mother tongue to clarify concepts in their own minds and for the pupils. Pupils revert to the mother tongue whenever they cannot express themselves in the language of instruction. Such code-switching appears to be driven by the abrupt shift from first language (L1) to second language (L2) as medium of instruction in Grade 4. Code-switching appears to be caused and maintained by weak facility in the L2 and the unrealistic expectation that pupils will learn mathematical content through the L2 while at the same time learning that L2. The result has generally been an impoverished quality of communication which is counterproductive to the goal of accessing mathematical curricular content.
South African Journal of African Languages 2012, 32(2): 111–116
Donate
AJOL is a Non Profit Organisation that cannot function without donations.
AJOL and the millions of African and international researchers who rely on our free services are deeply grateful for your contribution.
AJOL is annually audited and was also independently assessed in 2019 by E&Y.
Your donation is guaranteed to directly contribute to Africans sharing their research output with a global readership.
Once off donations here:
For annual AJOL Supporter contributions, please view our Supporters page.
Tell us what you think and showcase the impact of your research!
Please take 5 minutes to contribute to our survey so that we can better understand the contribution that African research makes to global and African development challenges. Share your feedback to help us make sure that AJOL's services support and amplify the voices of researchers like you.