Language choice and preference in multilingual families: An analysis of code-switching between the first language and English by selected UNAM main campus lecturers and their families
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Date
2025
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
Namibia is a country that is rich in languages and even though English is the official language,
there are officially ten other local/indigenous languages that are spoken in the country. Studies
have indicated that the use of English has been observed to be common in many homes in
Windhoek, Namibia. The study sought to examine language choices and preferences within
selected households of UNAM Main Campus lecturers, as well as explore the reasons behind
the practice of the linguistic behaviours of code-switching and code-mixing (if such do exist
within the families). Furthermore, the enquiry also examines the factors influencing the
lecturers’ families’ language practices in relation to language choice and preference. Adopting
the mixed method research design, data was collected through face to face interviews and an
online questionnaire. The main participants were lecturers who have children and speak more
than one language – are at least bilingual. Discourse Analysis (DA) was used to analyse the
data collected from 17 questionnaires and 6 interviews. The data was then interpreted through
the lenses of the Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) (Giles, 2011). The findings
revealed that code-switching is practiced in all the participants’ households and it was mostly
related to the influence from watching cartoons for toddlers and school for school going
children. Parents found it easy to communicate in both their first languages (L1) and English
or Afrikaans with their children. Language preference differed from one person to the next as
some preferred their mother tongue more than English since mother tongue represented their
identity, while some did not value which language was spoken at home as long as the family
members (especially the children), are able to express themselves and communicative goals
were met. Language choice on the other hand was observed to be determined by the
person/people that the person is speaking to. Parents found it easy to choose English when
talking to their toddlers, because the cartoons they watch which are in English, while
conversations with grown children depended on the children’s proficiency in the mother tongue
or a third language they learnt at school. The study recommends sending young members of
the family to rural homes to fully acquire mother tongue where there are more opportunities
for them to meet and interact with native speakers of the preferred indigenous languages.
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in English Studies
Keywords
Namibia, Code-switching, Multilingualism, Language choice, Indigenous languages.