Teachers’ codeswitching practices in the quest for Bi/Multilingual education: functions and motivations

This study explores the role of codeswitching (CS) in promoting bi/multilingual education in Tanzanian secondary schools, addressing a gap in existing research on teachers’ motivations for CS and the functions of CS patterns. Recognising multilingual education as a beneficial alternative to monolingual approaches, it highlights how teachers utilise students’ diverse linguistic repertoires, particularly through CS practices by switching between Kiswahili and English. Using a qualitative-ethnographic design, data were collected from 10 Form III science teachers across two government secondary schools in the Mwanza and Iringa regions through classroom observations and semi-structured interviews, and analysed using content and thematic analyses. Findings reveal that teachers predominantly switch languages to clarify complex scientific concepts, thereby improving student understanding. CS also supports classroom management and encourages active participation. Pedagogical, psycholinguistic, institutional, and classroom management issues drive teachers’ motivations for CS. The study concludes that CS practices are pragmatic, context-responsive, and aligned with both teaching goals and students’ linguistic needs in Tanzanian science classrooms. These insights suggest that CS is a pedagogical strategy that enhances learning in multilingual settings, with important implications for language policy and teacher-training programmes aimed at fostering high-quality bi/multilingual education.