A STUDY ON CODE-SWITCHING IN GENERAL ENGLISH CLASSES AT A TERTIARY INSTITUTION IN VIETNAM

Abstract

This study aims to investigate a phenomenon of bilingualism in which the use of the targetlanguage (English) is switched to the mother language (Vietnamese), known as code switching. More specifically, the study focuses on the purposes of teachers' code-switching, the perceptions of teachers toward using Vietnamese and the amount of the usage of code-switching from English to Vietnamese in the General English classes with pre-intermediate proficiency level at a tertiary institution. A mixed-method design was employed to collect comprehensive data from the participants. Quantitative data was collected from a 15-item of questionnaire adapted from [13]. Qualitative data was collected through interviews with three English as a Foreign Language teachers at the research site. The findings from questionnaire and interview revealed that the teachers used Vietnamese for pedagogical, administrative and interactional purposes. The results of the study also indicated that the majority of the teachers code-switched to Vietnamese to accommodate low proficiency students and explain difficult concepts such as grammar and vocabulary to the students. From the findings, suggestions were put foward to how to use code-switching effectively.