Functions and Frequency of Using Code-switching in CLIL Lesson (Case Study, teaching Math (CLIL) in the private school, Tbilisi)

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to investigate the sociolinguistic functions and frequency of Teacher’s Code Switching (CS) in the content and language integrated (CLIL) Lesson. Furthermore, our purpose is to reveal students’ and teacher’s attitudes towards teacher’s code-switching in CLIL lesson. After a brief review of the literature concerning CLIL and the issue of code-switching the case study of teaching Math (Educational discourse) in one of the private schools in Tbilisi will be outlined as data, gathered by means of anonymous questionnaires, which were administered among students in the above- mentioned Math classes. Moreover, the qualitative research aims to single out the number of teacher’s CS examples and analyze the interview with math’s teacher. The results show that there are 36 cases of teacher using L1 (Georgian) in 10 lessons (9 hours). Math’s teacher’s CS behavior mostly serves (1) the conversational function of interjection; (2) the classroom functions of introducing unfamiliar materials and topics, explaining difficult concepts, maintaining classroom discipline and the structure of the lesson; The teacher and 13 students have negative attitudes towards using only Georgian in teaching Math’s. The higher level of English the students have the more negative is attitude towards using Georgian in the classroom. Although all the students were Georgian, their competence in English is almost as high as in their mother tongue, therefore they consider English as an inseparable part of their identities.