Codeswitching among black junior primary pupils in multiracial schools

M.A.This dissertation investigates codeswitching among black junior primary school pupils in two multiracial schools in Gauteng. The main objective of the study is to determine the effects of an English-dominant setting on the language used by black pupils among themselves in multicultural and multiracial schools. It also endeavours to examine the information conveyed by codeswitching apart from the referential information. This dissertation advances the hypothesis that: if black pupils from different language backgrounds interact in multicultural and multilingual schools codeswitching is unavoidable. Two primary schools from the Gauteng Department of Education were targeted i.e. Blairgowrie Primary School and Greenside Primary School. These are 'Model C' schools with pupils from the language background of almost all eleven official languages. English is the medium of instruction. A qualitative research methodology, which is discussed in some detail, was used to gather data which reflect strong support of the hypothesis. The data was then discussed and analysed against the background of relevant literature. Motivations for bilingualism and multilingualism are also discussed. A number of different functional taxonomies of codeswitching were proposed. Finally, the study concludes with a summary, general suggestions and conclusions relating to implications for teachers and trainee teachers