Classroom code-switching in a Vanuatu secondary school: conflict between policy and practice

Abstract

English and French have been retained by Vanuatu's education system as the two media of instruction. Other languages are ignored and often explicitly banned by school policies. However, code-switching between the official and other languages is common, with particularly frequent use of Bislama, the national dialect of Melanesian Pidgin. While it is commonly thought that Bislama is only used in classrooms to compensate for inadequate levels of English, research carried out at one Anglophone secondary school reveals that this is not the case. Bislama is shown to be an additional learning resource, which students employ to help them complete academic tasks, making use of the natural tools of bilingualism that they possess. However, since code-switching conflicts with school language policy, such useful practices are often carried out covertly, and learning may actually thus be hindered by the language policy.