Code Switching in the French School: Examining a Multilingual Setting in Kuwait

Sociolinguistic studies on code switching have been of interest to educationists; especially when code switching occurs in schools among students. This study aims at analyzing the extensive amount of code switching between students studying in the French School of Kuwait, their preferences of code-switching, choice of language, and frequency of use of each language. The study is based on the data obtained from two questionnaires distributed to teachers and students; in addition to observation and note taking of conversations between students during home time—when the students were waiting to be picked up. It was found that, to students, code switching is a favorable social behavior, students mainly switch to Arabic and English, while French is considered the language of the school medium. The study also indicates that teachers and parents are agents that either encourage or discourage students’ code switching.