Vandria Sehnem Montao

ESC 757 Linguistics for TESOL/Bilingual

Fall 2014
December, 10th 2014
Code-switching in the bilingual classroom
After reading Pollards (2002) article, I would say that code-switching
(Spanish/English) seems to be a very positive technique to be used in the classroom in
order to help students to convey their subject matter knowledge as well as to optimize
their second language use and practice. Despite some controversial opinions among
language researchers, school districts and teachers, code-switching seems to be an
alternative way to hear the students who are not yet fluent in English and who are
expected to learn the second language and learn subject matter at the same time.
The main arguments presented by the author regarding the benefits of allowing
the students to code-switch in bilingual classrooms are the students ability to convey
their subject matter knowledge to their peers and teacher, the growth in the students
attention and interest during the class, and the coherence between the students grades
and content knowledge. Pollard (2002) explains that when code-switching the students
in her study were not blocked by the language barrier and were able to effectively use
their knowledge of both languages (Spanish and English) to formulate their answers to
the teacher and peers. Furthermore, the author points out that there were not any
examples of non-effective code-switching in the bilingual classroom, while in the
English-only setting there was a number of failed attempts to communicate and code1

switch. In addition, Pollard (2002) noticed that the students grades were correspondent to
their language level proficiency in the English-only classroom rather than to their subject
matter knowledge; the students were not able to effectively share their ideas and showed
lack of attention, for they were not successful in making themselves understood by the
teacher and peers.
I agree with the author regarding the benefits of effective code-switching to
bilingual students. Giving freedom for the students to navigate between their first and
second languages may increase their interest in the subject matter, for they can
comfortably share their thoughts without being blocked by the language barrier. Also, it
can help the teachers to justly evaluate the students progress in the subject matter, even if
the students language proficiency level does not increase. Additionally, it is known that
bilinguals have different abilities to talk about different topics in the different languages,
so students might be more fluent in a certain topic in Spanish than they are in English and
vice-versa. Therefore, allowing the students to code-switch may be a way of allowing
them to use the knowledge they acquired in their first language and bring it to the second
language.
In addition, I would like to mention that code-switching does not only occur in the
early stages of second language acquisition, and that it requires high language proficiency
from the speaker in both languages to properly be able to code-switch. According to
Curzan and Adams (2012) Although code-switching has sometimes been viewed as a
result of insufficient bilingualism, studies suggest that intrasentential code-switching
(switching languages within a sentence) requires high proficiency in both languages.
(Curzan & Adams, p. 371)
2

Some ways to encourage code-switching as an ESL/bilingual teacher are allowing

the students to use their first language when needed in the classroom, providing
supplemental short explanations in the students first language when required and
appropriate (translating a word, or a sentence), and allowing peers to talk in their mother
tongue to explain a given topic or word meaning to the classmates.
In conclusion, I would like to say that code-switching can be a very positive
technique to be used in the classroom in order to help students to convey their thoughts to
their peers and teachers. Also, it can be a way to make students feel comfortable and
interested in the subject matter and share their knowledge with the class.

References
Curzan, A., & Adams, M. (2012). How English works a linguistic introduction (3rd ed.).
Pearson Education.
Pollard, Susan, The Benefit of Code Switching Within a Bilingual Education
Program (2002). Honors Projects. Paper 2.
http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/hispstu_honproj/2

Vandria Sehnem Montao

ESC 757 Linguistics for TESOL/Bilingual
Fall 2014
December, 10th 2014
Dialectal codeswitching
How to address different dialects and how to sensitize students to codeswitch in
different social settings are some of the topics presented by Wheeler and Swords (2004)
in their article Codeswitching: Tools of Language and Culture Transform the Dialectally
Diverse Classroom. Understanding the diversity in language dialects and being able to
guide the students through the contrasts between different varieties of a language can be a
tool for teachers to help students to learn how to codeswitch and use the different
varieties of a language appropriately. Codeswitch may be a great mechanism to be taught
in urban dialectally diverse classrooms in order to stimulate the students to develop their
standard English language.
One important topic explained by Wheeler and Swords (2004) is the
misconception that non-standard English is grammatically incorrect English. Rather,
languages may have different dialects and these dialects may have their own language
structure as the case of AAVE (African American Vernacular English). Therefore, it is
suggested that the teachers approach to help students to acquire standard English should
4

not be of correcting the learners language, but teachers should sensitize the students to
the different dialects by contrasting them, and showing that different social settings
require different language varieties.
I agree with the idea that the students dialects should be respected and that
instead of correcting the students language teachers should help them to identify the
different dialects as well as their adequate uses, and teach them to codeswitch. Correcting
the students language without contrasting different dialects might create resistance and
confusion to the students; they already have their language structure and without knowing
the different aspects of each dialect the learners might not understand how to correct
their language. Furthermore, language is part of ones identity and by being corrected
students may feel bad about their own language and identity opposing themselves to learn
standard English. By showing the different values in the non-standard and standard
language varieties the teacher can help the students to codeswitch without making them
feel bad about their own language and without creating resistance to the standard
language.
As it is suggested in the article, building upon the students knowledge with
examples from their own dialect can be an effective way to contrast the different uses of
the English language. Also, using literature that reflects different language varieties can
be a technique to sensitize the students to the different dialectal uses.
When it comes to an ESL/bilingual urban classroom setting this approach might
help the students to understand that their first language dialect as well as codeswitching
between their first language and English has different places to be used. They can
codeswitch between English and Spanish with speakers of both languages, but they wont
5

be able to do it with monolingual English speakers. Therefore, learning Standard English

will prepare them to code-switch within dialects and use the appropriate language variety
for each social setting.
To conclude, being aware that languages have different dialects with different
language structures is an important detail for teachers to know before entering a
classroom and start correcting the students grammatical errors. As it was
described above teachers should sensitize the students of the diverse dialects by
contrasting their grammatical structures. Teachers should also show that the students can
codeswitch and that this is a practice that people do every day when being in different
social settings by the way they dress, behave and use their language.

References
Wheeler, R. S., & Swords, R. (2004). Codeswitching: Tools of language and culture
transform the dialectally diverse classroom. Language Arts, 81(No 6), 470480. Retrieved December 7, 2014, from
https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-18662463-dt-content-rid101033701_1/courses/LEH01_ESC_757_H81_1149_1/Wheeler2004.pdf.