Functions of student code-switching in a Bruneian classroom

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how Bruneian secondary school students employ code-switching in peer interactions. The functions of students' code-switching were analysed using Reyes' (2004) and Appel and Muysken's (2005) typologies.Design/methodology/approachThe data collected are based on audio-recorded group discussions designed to elicit students’ code-switched utterances.FindingsThe results indicate that the students used 11 functions of code-switching: referential, discourse marker, clarification, expressive, quotation imitation, turn accommodation, insistence, emphasis, question shift, situation shift and poetic.Research limitations/implicationsAs the study only focusses on a specific secondary school, results from this school will not represent secondary school students in Brunei.Originality/valueThis paper hopes to provide insight into how students' code-switching can be seen in a positive light. Moreover, understanding how students use code-switching in the classroom is essential for successful knowledge transfer and for cultivating competent bilinguals, which is what the country's education system aims for.