Codeswitching in mathematics lessons in Zimbabwe

bibliographic database
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Periodical article

Title:	Codeswitching in mathematics lessons in Zimbabwe
Authors:	Dube, Ruth Cleghorn, Ailie
Year:	1999
Periodical:	Zimbabwe Journal of Educational Research (ISSN 1013-3445)
Volume:	11
Issue:	1
Period:	March
Pages:	1-12
Language:	English
Notes:	biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:	Zimbabwe Southern Africa
Subjects:	mathematics education primary education multilingualism Shona language education languages of instruction mathematics learning Primary schools
Abstract:	This article reports the preliminary results of an ongoing study of codeswitching between English and Shona during the teaching of mathematics in a cross-section of twelve primary schools in Zimbabwe. During each lesson which the authors observed, the following questions were explored: How frequently does codeswitching occur? Under what circumstances and/or at what points during the lesson does codeswitching occur? What are the apparent purposes of codewsitching? What evidence is there that codeswitching facilitates or impedes learning? Who (teacher or pupils) engages in codeswitching? Overall it appears that codeswitching serves three main purposes: to explain or clarify procedures to be followed, to promote understanding of important concepts, and to build an affective bridge between the school and the home. When children do not understand what they are taught due to inability to understand the language of instruction, then codeswitching provides a valuable resource for promoting understanding. Bibliogr.