Code-switching as a Communication Strategy in Secondary Schools: a Case Study of St.francis Girls’ High School, Mang’u

Abstract

The study investigated the effectiveness of code switching as a communication strategy, whether code switching facilitates interpersonal communication, how it is used it is used to overcome communication difficulties and finally how it is a pedagogically useful communicative resource in schools. The study was conducted in St. Francis Girls‟ Mang‟u and used convenience sampling to get the participants. Data was collected using both qualitative and quantitative methods through audio recordings, Focus Group Discussions, observations and questionnaires. Statistical analysis was conducted for the collected data. Both Ethnography of Communication and Communication Accommodation Theories were used to analyse the data. In this study, it was found out that code switching is an effective communication strategy for both students and teachers since it aids in addressing their various needs, it facilitates interpersonal communication for both students and teachers, it was used as a communication strategy by both students and teachers to overcome communication difficulties therefore a pedagogically useful communicative resource. This means that code switching is an effective tool to ease communication between teachers and students thus make learning much easier and enjoyable enabling both the teachers and learners express themselves freely in class.