Code Switching In The English Classroom

Written language is governed by rules pertaining to the structure and grammar of the sentences (Fellowes & Oakley, 2014). Teachers working with Indigenous students should be aware of the syntactic language of AE and that it has several differences to SAE. These differences include omitting the verb, as in “They gone home” or using double subjects such as “my mother, she came home.”
Teachers would adopt a formal register to students when delivering written work to the students’ like Emails, homework, mathematics or literacy worksheets, assignments, feedback, or excursion permission forms. The written content of students’ work would be formal for homework, mathematics and literacy worksheets, assignments and semi-formal for Emails. The register a student would use when emailing to another student would depend on the purpose of the Email. If the purpose of the Email was to invite someone to play a game, it would be formal, with the message saying “John Smith has invited you to play EDC131”. AE speaking students would not write using the same conventions as SAE and could write, “He good man” or “They gone home.” Teachers should refrain from demeaning …show more content…
Code switching to a formal register may occur when the caregiver is asking something of the child, as in “Molly, could you please clean up your mess!” Informal, colloquial language would arise when the child is being chastised, for example, “Molly, I’ve told ya a thousand times not to …” Caregivers would make use of formal speech when on the phone to a business or when contacting the school. Phatic, or bonding language would be used by all caregivers and children. Phatic language’s purpose is to create social interactions, “rather than to convey information or ask questions” (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). This would be demonstrated by, “Maddi, come and give me a