Code-switching in tertiary-level EFL classrooms: perceptions of teachers

Year 2019, Volume: 15 Issue: 4, 1287 - 2019, 31.12.2019

İlknur İstifci

https://doi.org/10.17263/jlls.668428

https://izlik.org/JA37XF74MB

Abstract

This study aims at examining the functions of 4 teachers’ and their students’ code-switching in tertiary-level EFL classrooms and the teachers’ perceptions of code-switching. Data were collected by video-recording of the lessons of each teacher once a week and the classes were video-recorded in a three-week period. After transcribing video recordings of their lessons, the data were analysed qualitatively by finding the code-switching functions of teachers and students and finding if there are any similarities and differences between novice and experienced teachers’ code-switching functions. Moreover, semi-structured interviews were also carried out with the teachers to get their perceptions of code-switching. Results of the study showed that teachers did not use code-switching most of the time in teaching, there were a few instances. Of these instances, some similarities and differences among teachers’ and students’ functions of code-switching, and also between novice and experienced teachers’ use of code-switching in classroom discourse were detected. Furthermore, interviews revealed that what the teachers do in the classroom in terms of code-switching and their perceptions on code-switching matched. Based on the results, some implications were mentioned in terms of the use of L1 in language classes.

Keywords

EFL teaching; classroom interaction; code-switching; code-switching functions

References

• Bergsleithne, J. M. (2002). Grammar and interaction in the EFL classroom: a sociocultural study. 2002. Master Dissertation - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis.
• Bilgin, S.S. (2016). Code switching in English language teaching (ELT) teaching practice in Turkey: Student teacher practices, beliefs and identity. Educational Research and Reviews, Vol. 11(8), pp. 686-702.
• Braga, M.C.O. (2000). Humor in the EFL classroom: a sociointeractionist perspective. Master Dissertation - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis.
• Cahyani, H., Courcy, M. & Barnett, J. (2018). Teachers’ code-switching in bilingual classrooms: exploring pedagogical and sociocultural functions, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(4), 465-479, DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2016.1189509
• Campa, J. C. & Nassaji, H. (2009). The Amount, purpose, and reasons for using L1 in L2 classrooms. Foreign Language Annals, V.42, N.4.
• Cantone, K. F. (2007). Code-switching in bilingual children. Dordrecht: Springer.
• Chung, H. H. (2006). Code switching as a communicative strategy: A case study of Korean-English bilinguals. Bilingual Research Journal, 30(2), 293-307.
• Cipriani, F. (2001). Oral participation strategies in the foreign language classroom: an ethnographic account. Master Dissertation - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis.
• Cook, V. (2001). Using the first language in the classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review, 57(3):402-423.
• Cook, V.J. (2012). Multicompetence. In C. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopaedia of applied linguistics. Wiley-Blackwell.
• Durano, F. (2009). Attitudes towards English and Fil-English code-switching amongst high school students in Ormoc City, Philippines. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Malmö University.
• Eldridge, J. (1996). Code-switching in a Turkish secondary school. ELT Journal, 50(4), 303-311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/elt/50.4.303
• Haifa Al-Nofaie (2010). The Attitudes of Teachers and Students towards Using Arabic in EFL classrooms in Saudi Public Schools- A Case Study. Novitas-ROYA, Jourlib Journal ISSN: 2333-9721, 64-95.
• Gabrielatos C. (2001). LI use in ELT: Not a skeleton, but a bone of contention. Brihes. P 6.
• Gardner-Chloros, P. (2009). Code-switching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Greggio, S., & Gil, G. (2007). Teacher’s and learner’s use of code switching in the English as a foreign language classroom: A qualitative study. Linguagem & Ensino, 10(2), 371-393.
• Horasan, S. (2014). Code-switching in EFL classrooms and the perceptions of the students and teachers. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 10(1), 31-45.
• Iyitoglu, O. (2016). Code-Switching from L2 to L1 in EFL Classrooms. Croatian Journal of Education, Vol.18; No.1, pages: 257-289
• Kirkpatrick, A. (2014). “Afterword.” In Code-switching in University English-medium Classes: Asian Perspectives, edited by R. Barnard and J. McLellan, 214–221. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
• Levine, G. S. (2011). Code Choice in the Language Classroom. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
• Lin, A. (2008a). “Code-Switching in the Classroom: Research Paradigms and Approaches.” In Encyclopedia of Language and Education, edited by K. A. King and N. H. Hornberger, 273–286. Boston, MA: Springer US.
• Lin, A. (2013b). “Classroom Code-Switching: Three Decades of Research.” Applied Linguistics Review, 4 (1): 195–218.
• Liu D, Ahn G, Baek K, Han N (2004). South Korean High school English teachers‟ code switching: Questions and challenges in the drive for maximal use of English in teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 38(4):605-638.
• Losey, K. M. (2009). “Written Code-Switching in the Classroom: Can Research Resolve the Tensions?” International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 12 (2): 213–230.
• Macaro, E. (2001a). Analyzing student teacher’s code switching in the foreign language classrooms: Theories and decision making. The Modern Language Journal, 85, 531-548. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/0026-7902.00124
• Macaro E. (2005b). Code switching in the L2 classroom: A communication and learning strategy. In Llurda (ed) Non-Native Language Teachers: Perceptions, Challenges and Contributions to the Profession. Springer. pp. 63-84.
• Martin, P. W. (2005). “‘Safe” Language Practices in two Rural Schools in Malaysia: Tensions between Policy and Practice.” In Decolonisation, Globalisation: Language-in-education Policy and Practice, edited by A. M. Lin and P. W. Martin, 74–97. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
• Modupeola, O. R. (2013). “Code-switching as a Teaching Strategy: Implications for English Language Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual Society.” Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 14 (3): 92–94.
• Raman, Y. & Yigitoglu, N. (2018). Justifying code switching through the lens of teacher identities: novice EFL teachers’ perceptions. Qual Quant, 52:2079–2092 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0617-1.
• Rukh, S., Saleem, N., Javeed, H. G. M., & Mehmood, N. (2014). Students’ Attitudes towards Teachers’ Code-Mixing/Code-Switching to L1 and Its Influence on Their L2 Learning: A Case of Business Students in Sargodha. International Journal of Science and Research, 3(5), 1111-1116.
• Setati, M., J. Adler, Y. Reed, and A. Bapoo (2002). “Incomplete Journeys: Code-switching and Other Language Practices in Mathematics, Science and English Language Classrooms in South Africa.” Language and Education, 16 (2): 128–149.
• Sert, O. (2005). The functions of code switching in ELT classrooms. The Internet TESL Journal, 11(8) /online/. Retrieved on 18 January 2008 from http://www.iteslj.org/Articles/ Sert-CodeSwitching. html.
• Turnbull, M. & Arnett, K. (2002). Teachers’ uses of the target and first languages in second and foreign language classrooms. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, V.22, p.204-218.
• van Lier L (1995). The use of L1 in L2 classes. Babylonia 2:37-43.
• Zabrodskaja, A. (2007). Russian-Estonian code switching in the university. Arizona Working Papers in SLA &Teaching, 14(1), 123-139.