¿Por qué estamos code-switching? Understanding language use in a second-grade classroom

ABSTRACT

In this qualitative linguistic ethnography, we combine a multilingual perspective on translanguaging with humanizing pedagogies to examine how and for what purposes a second-grade teacher and her students used Spanish and English in support of language development during a literacy-based English Language Development block within a paired literacy bilingual education model. Data analyses included deductive and inductive coding of multilingual exchanges, specifically drawing upon Baker’s 13 overlapping purposes for codeswitching. Findings reveal that the teacher and students employed seven of Baker’s purposes, while also exhibiting three additional purposes: (1) Respect and Terms of Endearment, (2) Excitement, and (3) Intentional Pedagogical Use to Expand Metalinguistic Awareness. Our discussion includes pedagogical implications for biliteracy instruction.

Notes

¹ We use the term code-switching because the teacher frequently asked the question, “¿Por qué estamos code-switching?” when she noted the class’s multilingual contributions. We discuss in the theoretical framework the ways these practices have been theorized over time, acknowledging that much current framing describes these languaging practices as “translanguaging,” both as unitary and multilingual constructs. See MacSwan (2017) or Otheguy et al. (2015) for a thorough discussion of these terms.

² A detailed analysis and critique of the impact of this work is beyond the scope of this article. For a more detailed account, see Myers–Scotton (1993) and MacSwan (2016).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susan Hopewell

Susan Hopewell is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder in the division of Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity with expertise in biliteracy and bilingualism. She is currently examining issues related to children’s oracy development and bilingual pedagogies that increase students’ metalinguistic awareness.

Patricia Abril-Gonzalez

Patricia Abril-Gonzalez is an assistant professor of Bilingual and Bicultural Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work focuses on creating humanizing and loving spaces for the development and elevation of Latinx students’ linguistic and cultural identities, through the use of arts-based practices and research methods.