Abstract:
Because of an insufficient level of English competence, English is rarely used in most
rural South African schools. English exposure is restricted, and many learners are only
exposed to the language in classroom. Because of that, most rural high school
teachers adopt code-switching in their EFAL classrooms. Therefore, the purpose of
this mixed-method study was to explore the impact of code-switching on English
speaking and writing competencies of Grade 12 pupils at Hinkhensile High School.
Furthermore, the goal of this study was to find out how often code-switching is used
by Grade 12 learners and how it impacts their English language speaking and writing
competencies. Again, the exploration focused on learners' and teachers' perspectives
of code-switching in terms of writing and speaking competencies. In this study, the
researcher employed a mixed-method approach, which is a mixture of both
quantitative and qualitative research methods; this strategy enabled the researcher to
collect and analyse data. Using classroom observation, semi-structured interviews
and questionnaires, data were collected from a selected sample of 12th grade pupils
and their two EFAL teachers. The study's findings indicated that pupils in the 12th
grade at Hinkhensile High School are inadequate in speaking and writing English
owing to a lack of English exposure. However, it was shown that code-switching in an
EFAL class makes learning more palatable for pupils by boosting their comprehension
of the information being taught and also helping them expand their English language
vocabulary. Moreover, classroom observations, interviews and questionnaire revealed
that code-switching is more common in Hinkhensile High School. In addition, both
teachers and learners perceive code-switching as a meaningful tool that helps learners
understand the lesson better, as their English language proficiency is low. Most
notably, the study found that code-switching improves pupil's English speaking and
writing skills by allowing them to employ words or concepts that were better articulated
through code-switching in their English writing and speaking interactions.
