The Perceptions of Language Learners across Various Proficiency Levels of Teachers' Code- switching (original) (raw)
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2013
Since the 1990s, researchers have examined several issues related to teachers’ and learners’ use of the foreign language and the mother tongue (code switching) in the foreign language classroom. Both earlier and recent research on this issue showed that the mother tongue may have important functions in the foreign language classroom. Due to the alarming signals of declining proficiency level among English Language learners in Iran, the main objective of this research was to show the results of a survey study which investigated the use of English and Persian in interactive exchanges between the teacher and the learners in intermediate EFL Classrooms. We managed to get the cooperation of teachers and students in classes of six girls' high schools in a small town in Iran (Khalkhal). The researcher observed and audio-recorded all classes, and analyzed the data from each class. The results showed that the teachers used code switching mainly for academic purposes (such as explaining a...
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English Language Teaching, 2011
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2013
This paper discusses the application of L1 in EFL classrooms, where English is taught as a foreign language. The main objective of this study is to determine the effects of using L1 in an EFL classroom. The subjects level of proficiency in English were among the beginning, advanced and intermediate and levels. The students and the teacher in this study were speakers of Persian as L1 and of English as L2. Based on the data collected from the students' responses to the questionnaire, this study contributes to the effectiveness of using mother tongue. A switch to L1, whether initiated by the teacher or the student, aims to increase the efficiency of information conveyed. The findings of the study reveal that students who use Persian during the class feel more comfortable and enjoy greater competence.
Code-Switching in English as a Foreign Language Classroom: Teachers’ Attitudes
English Language Teaching, 2013
Code-switching has always been an intriguing phenomenon to sociolinguists. While the general attitude to it seems negative, people seem to code-switch quite frequently. Teachers of English as a foreign language too frequently claim that they do not like to code-switch in the language classroom for various reasons-many are of the opinion that only the target language should be used in the classroom. This study looks at the teachers' attitudes towards code-switching in teaching English as a foreign language to Malay students at one of the local universities in Malaysia. Data was collected through observations, questionnaires and interviews. Each teacher was observed, their language use were recorded, transcribed and then analyzed using the functions proposed by Gumperz (1982). The results of the study showed that teachers do code-switch in the language classroom, despite their claim that they do not. Analysis of the data showed that, in most cases, code switching by teachers was done to serve pedagogical purposes.
Code-Switching in Second Language Teaching of English: Does it Matter?
MAP Education and Humanities
Bosnian and Herzegovinian English language instructors and ESL students widely acknowledge using more than one language code in formal classroom settings. Code-switching is caused by various factors or were specific communication goals must have been involved. This study aims to discover how ESL students view code-switching by English language instructors in secondary schools in Tuzla. For that purpose, three research questions have been defined: (1) Is there a significant difference in students’ attitudes towards code-switching based on gender? (2) Is there a statistically significant difference in students’ attitudes towards code-switching? and (3) Is there a statistically significant difference in students’ attitudes towards code-switching based on a grade level? The study demonstrated students’ attitudes, usage, and opinions toward code-switching in the classroom. Most ESL students favor code-switching, which is equally gender-based, high frequency in use and grade level inciden...
Journal of Studies in Education, 2016
This study aimed at investigating where and the purposes for which code-switching is used by Iranian EFL lecturers in universities as foreign languageinstruction.The data of this study were gathered from two sources: six EFL university lecturers from three local universities where they taught English as EFL instruction.Theywere interviewed individually regarding the use of code-switching in their classrooms in order to reveal their purposes of using this strategy as well as their participants' understandings of code-switching as a language teaching strategy. The interviews took 30-40 minutes each. The interviews were finally transcribed and the main themes were coded to answer the research questions; the second group of participants was students as native speakers of Persian. Ninety undergraduates from the three universities were randomly chosen from among those students majoring in TEFL. They were majoring in the first grade of the academic program. To this end, an eleven-item questionnaire was given to them to elicit their responses for the contexts and the reasons for which code-switching was preferred.The data from interview with EFL lecturers as well
Recently, the use of language learners' mother tongue, code-switching, alongside English in EFL classrooms has received considerable attention. The main objectives of this study were to present the results of a qualitative study which investigated the types and functions of code-switching at an intermediate English Proficiency level in EFL classrooms. Moreover, gender preferences were investigated. To this end, 50 hours of four class performances were observed, audio-recorded and analyzed to answer the proposed research questions. The results of this study suggested that teachers applied code-switching more frequently when they tried to give Persian equivalents of English words and expressions. It should be pointed out that the application of intersentential code-switching turned out to be more salient among both teachers and students. Code-switching was more frequent while students were carrying out the assigned tasks. Male students switched when they said humorous remarks while their female classmates switched more frequently when they asked and/or gave L1 equivalents. Filling in the attitude questionnaire, the majority of students believed that in several cases neither teachers nor students should apply Persian as much as possible, even though it facilitated their interactions.
A Pedagogical Evaluation of Code-Switching at English Medium Secondary Schools of Gujrat
Orient Research Journal of Social Sciences, 2022
Code-switching is a prominent feature of English medium classes in the schools where English is taught as a foreign language. The instructors of English medium schools are asked to promote English speaking environment in the premises of institutes. The students mostly switch from L2 to L1 while speaking the English language. This study aims to find out the first language interference on second language learning regarding the Pakistani English classrooms. This study investigates the reasons behind the switching of teachers from English to the Urdu language in Pakistani English classrooms and explores the facilitation of code-switching in second language learning in English classrooms. For this purpose, two samples from the population were selected by the researchers consisting of 25 students and 10 teachers. Questionnaires were used as data collection tools. The collected data from the sample was analyzed with the help of SPSS software. It was found that it is hard to communicate only in the English language continuously even in English medium schools. Students' attitude towards codeswitching was found positive. The study recommends that code-switching is a legitimate and useful tool for students as well as teachers but it should be used carefully and according to the need and levels of the learners. It is a positive teaching technique, so it should not be banned even in English classes. But it should be used sparingly and where needed.
International Journal of Linguistics, 2014
As Pakistan is a multilingual country where educational institutions are inevitably bilingual and cannot sustain freeing themselves from the influence of bilinguality, both the teachers and the students have to switch from English to Urdu or Urdu to English during the learning process as both belong to bilingual or multilingual backgrounds. Keeping in view these issues, the present research has aimed to investigate those factors which aid to create bilingual or multilingual English as a Second Language classroom. These factors along with other issues have been analyzed on the hypotheses of students' and teachers' attitudes towards code switching, functions and patterns of switching and finally, and the effect of code switching in the classroom. The research is a mixed kind of research based on both quantitative and qualitative analyses in which relation between the use of code switching with learning success has been explored. The results of the study show that code switching does play an important role in English as a Second Language classroom. Both the participants, teachers and students, do not want to eliminate this strategy and favour it as a supportive tool in learning English.
EFL Teachers’ Attitude toward Code Switching: A Turkish Setting
Code switching, that is, the alternative use by bilinguals of two or more languages in the same discourse, has been the focus of attention in regard with foreign language learning and teaching. The fact, however, is that the reasons foreign language teachers utilize this strategy is not the same, and various kinds and manners of code switching have been noticed. What's more, it can be employed for a whole range of different instructional cognitive, affective, and behavioral purposes. Different skills and components of language can be fostered through the application of code switching in case the proper meticulous care and attention is given to the tasks. In terms of affective variables, it can remove students' emotional barriers such as anxiety, lack of self confidence and weak self esteem in the act of language learning. In this study, an effort was made to see functions, manner, reasons, and contributions of Code-switching to the process of English language teaching from teachers' point of view. To this end, 20 teachers from the two Turkish universities responded to interviews questions on Code Switching. The analysis of the answers showed some commonalties and differences in their attitudes towards the inclusion of this concept in language teaching classes.