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Emily Fraser
WRIT 300
10/20/12
Code Switching: A Tool For the Classroom and the Writing Center
I do not write how I speak. However, in many instances, students are expected to
transition between a more informal use of speech that they use in conversations to one more
structured in their writing in the classroom. For example, texting has become a commonly used
dialect with so many today, however, the way we format text messages would never be
acceptable in a classroom. The more formal “Where are you?” becomes, “Where u at?” and in
dialogue the more proper, “I am returning home,” can become “I bes home.” Here, both versions
denote the same meanings, however one can only be termed “correct” in any academic writing.
These translations between forma and informal dialects is called code switching, or the process
of translating one type of language into one that is more accepted in academic discourse. The
purpose of this tool when implemented is to enable students to freely switch between a more
local dialect, one they are more comfortable with, to one that is more widely acceptable in
academic writing, the exhibit mutual respect for both forms. Without forcing students to follow
a formal style in their writing, code switching respects each student’s own personal vernacular
while recognizing the social importance of learning ““Standard English”,” which theoretically
leads to comfortable and open discussion in students’ local dialects and after translation,
effective and accepted writing in academic discourse.
Because the culture in schools is so different from the cultures and backgrounds students
come from before entering the classroom, switching over into this new dialect and new culture is
important, however also uncomfortable for some students. This uneasiness leads to students’
inability to effectively transition from a language they are comfortable with into an academic
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dialect because the transition itself requires skill and an understanding of both the vernacular
dialect and “Standard English”. For example, although not usually thought of as an alternative
vernacular, Text Speak has complicated the writing process for many students (Turner 1). This
poses the biggest problem for those text based students who are truly, “digital natives who are
fluent in the language that rules computers, video games, and the Internet,” (Turner 1) because of
how subconscious the use of the vernacular is. In my own experience, when grading a
vocabulary test in which students have to write a correct and complete sentence using their
vocabulary word, simple things like grammar and spelling are marked off on student’s tests
because they used, “U,” instead of, “you,” in their sentence (Primary Source 1). And while some
educators and worried parents are concerned that this use of Text Speak is a main factor in the
decay of standard, formal English, we as teachers must keep in mind that there are varied dialects
of varying degree of complexity and when it comes to translating them, code switching offers a
way for students to feel not only comfortable in the classroom but successful as well (Turner 1).
In the piece, “Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom,” L.D. Delpit
begins the discussion on linguistic diversity with a scene that many of us would be familiar with;
a teacher correcting a student’s grammar usage concurrent with his own dialect, but not hers.
The teacher begins the conversation saying,
“TEACHER: Good morning, Tony, how are you?
TONY: I be's fine.
TEACHER: Tony, I said, How are you?
TONY: (with raised voice) I be'sfine.
TEACHER: No, Tony, I said how are you?
TONY; (angrily) I done told you I be's fine and I ain't telling you no more!” (Delpit 51)
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As Tony responds in a form usually acceptable by all accounts in his own vernacular, the teacher
does not accept this form and lashes out when he does not follow the prescribed form of
communication. However, this correction is detrimental to Tony’s relationship with his teacher
because based on this linguistic divide, or inability to code switch, Tony is unable to identify
with his teacher and therefore less likely to learn from her especially on the topic of how to speak
in an academic setting. This situation brings into focus what is really important within these
classrooms in that, “while form is important, particularly in the context of social success, it is
considerably less important when concern is lodged instead in the area of cognitive
development,” (Delpit 49). While the teacher busied herself with determining the correct
structure of her student’s grammar, what she failed to realize was that he in fact was answering
the question, albeit in a vernacular he was more comfortable using.
However, Delpit does bring up another good point that the need for students to be able to
code switch is evident in the need to compose organized pieces of writing that can influence their
future academic and professional plans. Glenn Blalock indicates that code switching relies on a
focus on the audience and their interpretation and especially expectations for a piece of writing
(Blalock 21). Regardless of what dialect students feel comfortable writing in, the writer needs to
take ownership of their knowledge in order to formulate a sound paper, and comply with the
audience’s expectations for that piece. I cannot say that we should allow our students the ability
to write in whatever form they want, because like it or not, “Standard English” is not only
expected but required for formal student writing to be taken seriously. The use of formal
language in classrooms is most important because it is the dialect that most of the world expects
to read and hear is the one that is most likely taught in the classroom. Having a working
knowledge of formal language and how to employ it in an academic and professional setting can
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improve student social mobility, especially when it comes to college application and job
interviews, where tone, form, and interpretation can make all the difference. However, taking
into account the types of students who are most likely to speak in alternative dialects of English,
we have to understand their pathway to success and how difficult that may be. It is not enough
to learn how to speak formally because teaching code switching involves being able to translate
cultural dialects into “Standard English” which can be especially helpful for students who live in
urban and rural areas where local and especially minority dialects largely differ from “Standard
English”. Delpit writes that, “…it is equally important to understand that students who do not
have access to the politically popular dialect form in this country, that is, “Standard English”, are
less likely to succeed economically than their peers who do,” (Delpit 53). This implies that those
students who speak in alternate dialects (most notably dialects like black vernacular) may be the
most at risk students, those in the most need of this code switching technique in order to succeed
academically as well as socially. .
Delpit also points out that the languages and dialects that students use in classroom
writing is inherently tied to their home culture and in light of these influential and valued
connections, “To suggest that [their] form is ‘wrong’ or, even worse, ignorant, is to suggest that
something is wrong with the student and his or her family,” (Delpit 53). Narrowing in on
minority students’ writing, code switching can become more tedious as both local dialects and
“Standard English” need to find an important and prominent place in student’s writing. Some
dialects are so complex, so subconscious and tied to students’ home lives that lapses in
translations can be hard to catch and easily managed in the wrong way. In undervaluing a
student’s way of writing or self-expression the teacher is undervaluing the culture the students
learned to express themselves in. Asking students to adhere to the “correct” form of English is
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like asking a student what the correct way to make a pizza is. We ask our students to write in the
“correct” way, but correct to whom? The classroom should offer a place of safety for students
physically as well as mentally, to allow for exploration and experimentation through valuing
students’ linguistic diversity, allowing for multiple “correct” ways.
This practice is not uncommon, in that, “In standardized assessments of language
acquisition, teachers routinely underrate the language knowledge and the reading and writing
performance of African American students,” (Wheeler 1). However, in working with a black
students names Tamisha, Rebecca S. Wheeler reflects on her effective multistep technique to
code switching documented in her piece, “Becoming Adept at Code Switching.” Wheeler
worked with Tamisha to understand the complex rules of both formal English and the alternative
dialect Tamisha was choosing to use in the classroom, to foster a working knowledge of both
languages that would be beneficial for both student and teacher. Wheeler recognized that it is
not all up to the student and in order for the teacher to instruct the students, that teacher must
know the background and language her students are working from. Wheeler did this in
identifying grammar patterns in informal English vernaculars that allowed her to translate
between the formal and the informal using a basic “Code Switching Chart,” incorporating the
corresponding translation on both sides. Once finished, students were then able to identify both
versions of formal and informal language, which allowed them to more easily switch between
the two given their heightened understanding of and comfort with both. Both versions were seen
as effective examples of students’ articulation so that neither were favored over the other. In
addition, other teachers have seen great success with the process like one urban elementary
school teacher in urban Virginia whose class, “closed the achievement gap in her classroom;
[and] on standardized state assessments, African American students did as well as white students
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in English and history and outperformed white students in math and science,” (Wheeler 1).
Here, teachers were able to connect the knowledge of both variations of language by
understanding the backgrounds of their students and the credible patterns of the English dialects
they use instead of identifying them as grammatical mistakes.
While code switching has been introduced as a technique for the use of those students
struggling in translating between cultural vernaculars like Black English and Ebonics, it still has
the ability to help all kinds of English speakers and learners when employed effectively and
willfully on both sides. In my own research in the classroom, I experienced an encounter
between a teacher and a student who did not necessarily explicate qualities of a black vernacular
speaker or any other type of alternative, culturally, connected dialect, except for the fact that she
used “like” and “um” in her answers during a Social Studies lesson in front of the class. Instead
of allowing her student to speak informally when answering questions, the teacher in this
example said to the student in a condescending tone, “Can you talk without using ‘like’ or
‘um?!’” thereby prescribing her student’s language based on what she saw as a situation that
called for formal communication (Primary Source 2). This focus on the structure of speaking
and writing in the classroom worked to disenfranchise this student and make her not only selfconscious about her speech and self-expression, but her ideas as a whole. After calling her
student out, the student became conscientious and lacked the confidence to try her answer again
and the teacher moved onto another student for the answer. Instead accepting this alternative
style of expression of ideas from one of her students, this teacher reacted as if the student had
done something “wrong.” The way she was speaking and answering the question was “wrong”
even if content wise, her answer had been correct.
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Wheeler works systematically through a multi-step technique that allows students to
become aware of the differences between formal and informal language in the classroom.
However, this is only one of the techniques that work along the same lines in teaching students
how to effectively code switch. One of the first components of code-switching is valuing
students own voice in relation to their cultural ties in that students cannot work to develop a
more formal academic voice if at first their own is not qualified. In addition, students can also
develop bidialectal dictionaries that they as well as their teacher may use to translate informal
writing assignments (Delpit 53). This can be most successful in allowing the teacher to
understand what the student is saying and correct them once they have fully transcribed their
work. In addition, having students role play and act out scenes from books and plays alike can
help to not only break the tension formed in disconnects between dialects, but also familiarize
students to the sound and rhythm of socially accepted ““Standard English”” so they may feel
more comfortable switching in and out of their vernaculars on more occasions (Delpit 53).
However, the options do not end there. In addition to translating their won work into ““Standard
English”” we could also have students reverse the process and translate more complex texts into
their own vernaculars to share with their peers. For example, a lesson on Shakespeare could
incorporate students taking a section or soliloquy from the text and transcribing it into modern
day English or their own versions of English, working line by line and incorporating all of the
important details. Working both ways, students can gain a level of comfort that allows them to
not only be able to translate their own dialect into another, but translate someone else’s.
As we saw earlier, even something as simple as translating a text message to full written
English form involves a transition between an informal but familiar dialect to one more formal
and foreign to many students in the current education system. At school students are expected to
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conform to a language that is formal and distanced from their everyday life because while at
home, they are allowed to express themselves in a way that most fits their cultural and social
community ties, (Schleppegrell 3). This disparity, however, is having a damaging effect on
students who do not know how to effectively bridge this gap between the formal and informal
dialects. The technique of code switching is more relevant now than ever and as teachers we
must take this process into consideration for the sake of our students. Through code switching
educators have the ability to not only foster academic and social mobility but also encourage the
development of students’ individual identities within their classroom for a more honest,
comfortable and productive learning environment.
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Bibliography:
Primary Source 1: Student’s vocabulary test
Primary Source 2: Mrs. Scheleske’s class
Blalock, Glenn B., and Diana Hacker. Background Readings for Instructors Using the Bedford
Handbook for Writers, Fifth Edition. Boston: Bedford, 1998. Print.
Delpit, L.D. (1996). Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York: NY
Press
Schleppegrell, Mary J. “The Challenges of Academic Language in School Subjects.” University
of Michigan, USA.
Wheeler, Rebecca S. "Becoming Adept at Code Switching." Educational Leadership 65.7
(2008): 54-58. Educational Leadership:Poverty and Learning:Becoming Adept at CodeSwitching. ASCD: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Apr. 2008.
Web. 08 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/apr08/vol65/num07/Becoming
_Adept_at_Code-Switching.aspx>.