Codeswitching and the performance of identity in African music groups in Western Australia

This study explores how musicians from African and non-African cultural backgrounds performed their identities through codeswitching in their performances of African song in Western Australia. The findings indicate how codeswitching contributed to the creation of an inclusive social space in which people from various cultural backgrounds were empowered to perform bi-cultural/national, supranational and personal identities (as family members, men/women, lovers and leaders), and how non-African musicians performed their identities through African music. The study concludes that these cultural practices have implications for improving intercultural communication and second language acquisition in an increasingly multicultural Australian society.