La alternancia de lenguas o cambio de código en la enseñanza del espanñol en Suecia

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the attitudes of teachers in Sweden in relation to codeswitching when teaching Spanish as a foreign language. To do this, the recommendations of the Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR) and those of the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) have been taken into consideration. After examining these documents and making a written enquiry, it was found that the CEFR recommends that teachers should try to use less L1 (language 1 Swedish/English) in the classroom as the students’ knowledge of the target language improves. The Swedish National Agency for Education, trusting in the professionalism of its teachers, leaves it to them to decide how much L1 they should use. The qualitative method that has been used in this study is an opinion poll that was given to six teachers in two different schools in Sweden. It is obvious from the answers to the opinion poll that the teachers would like to use more L2 (language 2 Spanish) in the classroom but due to practical reasons, it is not always possible. It is hoped that this study will encourage teachers of foreign languages to reflect about the use of codeswitching in the classroom and that their decision to use L1, in more or less quantity, will be based on pedagogical objectives.