The helpfulness of code-switching in teaching Afrikaans as a first additional language

Abstract

This study aimed to establish the different perceptions that teachers of Afrikaans First Additional Language (FAL) hold towards the helpfulness of different teaching strategies and their effectiveness in the language learning process of Afrikaans FAL in a high school setting. Code-switching has been proven to be a common strategy used by teachers in teaching languages to learners in bilingual and multilingual situations that can serve as a resource to help learners acquire proficiency in a second language (SL). The study was conducted at a single-sex English-medium high school in Pretoria among the teachers of Afrikaans FAL. A mixed method approach was employed, using (i) a language background questionnaire, (ii) a Likert-type scale questionnaire and (iii) an open-ended interview schedule to collect data, which was analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The theoretical framework used in this study was social constructivism, as conceived by Vygotsky (1968). The study focused on the helpfulness of different teaching strategies in terms of teacher-learner interactions during instruction, as well as guided peer interactions, and concluded that the teachers perceive the use of the monolingual approach in certain circumstances to be beneficial, while the use of code-switching is better in other circumstances.