مجلة التمكين الاجتماعي
Volume 7, Numéro 4, Pages 31-41
2025-12-31
Citizens’ Perceptions Of Codeswitching In Public Communication In Rwanda
Authors : Ryaziga Celestin .
Abstract
Noticing the frequent codeswitching in political communication in Rwanda, this study was conducted to investigate the Rwandan citizens’ perceptions of codeswitching practices in public communication. The study’s objectives were to examine whether the practices of codeswitching affect the citizens’ understanding of the public communication, citizens ‘perceptions of these practices and to raise awareness of the Rwanda’s government leaders on the issue of codeswitching. In order to make it comparative, this study was conducted in two distinct areas: Huye city an urban area and Gisagara district as a rural area. The number of participants in this study consisted of 44 participants: 22 urban citizens and 22 rural citizens. A mixed methodology was employed, combining group discussions to collect qualitative data and semi-structured interviews using a questionnaire. The study was accomplished through descriptive statistic codeswitching. The findings revealed that Rwandan citizens view codeswitching practices unfavourably for it hindered them from fully understanding the public communication delivered by the government leaders. Comparatively, the study found that codeswitching practices hindered rural citizens’ ability to comprehend the public communication more than the urban citizens did. This study recommended the government of Rwanda to organise regular training sessions for all government leaders to raise their awareness on the effects of codeswitching practices in public communication delivery. In recognition that codeswitching is inevitable linguistic phenomenon (Nilep, 2006:1), this study further recommended that Rwandan leaders provide translations whenever codeswitching occurs in order to enhance the effectiveness of public communication in Rwanda.
Keywords
codeswitching, communication, citizens, perceptions, comprehension
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