CODE-SWITCHING: A PRE- OR POST-SHOW ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY

Scenarios

1. You work at a clothing store, and you have to tell your manager that you need some time off during the busy winter season. Your manager refused to give you days off last year. How would you begin this conversation? How would you use your body language, word choices, and tone to get your schedule changed?

2. Your favorite aunt loves it when you remember her birthday, but this year you were busy with school and forgot. Now it’s one week later and you call her to apologize. How will you convince her that you are sincerely sorry?

3. Today you failed a test, got rejected by a crush, and cracked your phone screen. Only your best friend will understand how comically awful your day was. How would you start to tell this story at lunch?

4. Your fellow classmates have organized a protest to stand against a dress code that you find outdated and offensive. You’re at the rally, prepared to speak, and someone hands you the microphone to address the crowd. What do you say and how do you say it?

5. You are seeing friends from your old neighborhood after a long time and they ask you how you have been doing. What do you say? How does your language change compared to the way you are in your classroom?

Step Three: Describe The Role (5 minutes)

Consider the “say” and “do” column in each scenario. Now add adjectives to the “describe” column. What qualities does this person have? If you were to give this role a name or title, what would it be?

For example, the person the Example Scenario might be “calm, collected, peaceful” or could be called “The Soother.”

Step Four: Reflect (10 minutes)

Discuss in pairs, small groups, or as a whole class:

1. How would you describe some of the roles represented in these scenarios?

2. Does the concept of code-switching ring true to your daily experiences? Do you ever feel like you are a different person in different places?

3. How do we use language as a tool for code-switching in our lives?