EVALUACIÓN IN VITRO DE LA ACTIVIDAD DE LA ACETOLACTATO SINTASA ANTES

Qorro (2009) explains how a momentary switch to another language is a coping strategy for teachers and pupils when they are not able to communicate properly in the language they are

101 using. I observed the frequency of so-called code switching (CS) during lessons, to see if there were any comparable differences between the subjects taught.

The resulting field data on CS within lessons as well as during informal settings during schooldays revealed a clear pattern. Although there were exceptions, I observed considerable more CS during lessons where English was used as LOI. I chose to count the number of times CS was initiated by a teacher in class, setting the criterion that for a departure of the LOI to be considered as CS it had to include more than just the use of one single word or short

expression. Teachers frequently used expressions like e.g. tuko sawa? (do we agree?), haraka

haraka (hurry) or mzuri sana (very good) during teaching in English, without engaging in

more extended CS. Communication between pupils in class was never observed to be in English.

Because Kiswahili language lessons are the only lessons officially to be taught in Kiswahili at the three schools, these lessons formed the only units of comparison to all other lessons when it comes to measuring CS from Kiswahili to English.

At St Manuel, where the head teacher functioned as Kiswahili teacher in all higher grades starting from class 4, I observed between 8 and zero incidents of CS from Kiswahili to

English during Kiswahili lessons, witch an average of 1,4 switches to English per lesson. This teacher repeatedly reported to me that he was worried about the level of Kiswahili language skills among the pupils, something he reported to be a national concern. Due to midterm examinations, I had no possibility to measure CS in Swahili lessons at St Catherine. At Leonard Friends I observed only one incident of code switching to English in Kiswahili lessons.

Of the lessons observed, math and science lessons stood out as the lessons with the highest number of CS from English to Kiswahili. A simple but plausible explanation for this may be that these are complex subjects where causal explanations are needed for proper

understanding. Paradoxically, these very same subjects were often mentioned as a reason for having to use English as language of instruction due to the lack of proper mathematical and scientific terms in Kiswahili. English language lessons had a comparatively higher much rate of CS, with an average of 5,4 switches per lesson. No code switching to any other language than English or Kiswahili was ever observed in any of the schools, neither in formal or

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informal settings. The taboo associated with the use of any other language than English and Kiswahili anywhere in school seems to be strong in Kibera.

Although primary focus was on language lessons, I observed code switching in other lessons as well. Table 6 shows the number of times CS was observed in lessons, though only CS initiated by the teacher was counted.

Subject: No. of observed lessons: Lowest no. of CS: Highest no. of CS: Average no. of CS: CRE1 8 0 13 5,8 English 11 0 17 5,4 Math 14 0 14 3,2 Science 7 1 18 8,9 Social studies 5 0 14 5,4 Kiswahili2 10 0 8 1,4

Table 6: Code switching by teachers during lessons.

It is interesting to observe that CS was much more frequent in science lessons than in any other lessons. Science instruction is highly explanatory, where sensitivity to causality is important. The teaching of other subjects was found to be mostly descriptive, where

information was presented by the teacher or through the means of textbooks and copied into the pupils’ writing books. All too often this involved the listing of words and concepts by the teacher, which were then copied by pupils afterwards. Although some input came from pupils while such lists were made, they seemed to be little more than a collection of related facts:

A lot here indicates misunderstandings due to exaggerated use of textbooks. This whole week I have seen the making of lists. What do they learn from this? (Class 1 social studies lesson, St Manuel, 03.10.2013).

The relatively low number of observed classes makes it impossible to use this data for anything else than indicators. Together with more extensive observation data though, it creates the image that subjects requiring a deeper understanding of phenomena have the most to lose out on the language barrier. The fact that these schools lack any material to do

practical experiments in science classes gives even more reason for concern.

1

Christian Religious Education.

2

103 Even when using one’s own mother tongue, teaching is a demanding profession. Having to teach in a language which one is largely unfamiliar with makes it an almost impossible task. No teachers should be blamed when criticizing language policy, as they themselves fall victim to a situation which they can hardly influence. Although English may be the mother tongue of some Kenyans, it most certainly is not the case for the disadvantaged living in urban slums.