ERIC Number: EJ784175
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Mar
Pages: 25
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0008-4506
EISSN: N/A
Learner Code-Switching in the Content-Based Foreign Language Classroom
Liebscher, Grit; Dailey-O'Cain, Jennifer
Canadian Modern Language Review, v60 n4 p501-525 Mar 2004
Using a framework based on conversation analysis (Auer, 1984, 1995, 1998), this article presents an analysis of learner code-switching between L1 and L2 in an advanced foreign language (FL) classroom. It was found that students code-switch not only as a fallback method when their knowledge of the L2 fails them, or for other participant-related functions, but also for discourse-related functions that contexualize the interactional meaning of their utterances. These uses strikingly resemble code-switching patterns in non-classroom bilingual settings and show that language learners are able to conceptualize the classroom as a bilingual space. Learners orient to the classroom as a community of practice (Wenger, 1998) through their code-switching patterns as manifestations of a shared understanding about their actions and about themselves as members of that community.
Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Code Switching (Language), Bilingualism, Discourse Analysis, Advanced Courses, Language Patterns, Teaching Methods
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A