Lecture: Language Use in Tunisian Higher Education : Code-switching or Languaging?

There is unquestionably a wealth of literature regarding code-switching (CS). It is known as a linguistic process where speakers alternate between two languages; it is also considered as one aspect of language contact. Although these studies have been highly pertinent to the development of a CS framework, little credence is given to CS and its functions in the Tunisian context. The study addresses this research question: To what extent and in what circumstances are Arabic, French and English used in Tunisian higher education contexts? To find answers to the research question, this study uses two types of observations namely informal observation and formal observation to collect data from a variety of ways. The informal observation took place in informal settings, namely university corridors and eateries and the formal observation was conducted in classrooms. The aim of the informal observation is to investigate the languages used by students in public places. The classroom observation was used again to investigate the languages used in classes. The aims of this study are to present the developed observation charts, the process of collecting data and the results. The researcher developed two systematic observation sheets relying on Dörnyei’s (2007) methods for recording events, namely the event sampling and Curdt-Christiansen’s (2020) essential features of an observation. The results of the study suggest that there is CS between English, Arabic and French and there are different functions of CS, including prestige, explanation, filling some gaps, etc. An interesting result showed the use of the two languages simultaneously (full sentences) not just using some words (code-switching).

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Day: 2023-10-28
Start time: 11:30
Duration: 00:25
Room: Hofburg Raum 2

Language: en

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