CODE-SWITCHING USE OF ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSES AT UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Learning English has been greatly concerned by a large number of people in non-native English speaking countries in the world, especially in Vietnam due to its increasing communication demands. Relating to learning English communication skills, code-switching (CS) use is regarded as one of the foreign language classroom phenomena in Vietnam, which has some controversial issues due to its both positive and negative influences on students’ learning quality. This article presents the study on the code-switching use of Engish major first-year and second-year students at English speaking classes at University of Foreign Languages, Hue University (UFL-HU). This study was conducted with the participation of 174 English major freshmen and sophomores at UFL-HU during the first semester of 2020-2021 school-year. Qualitative and quantitative approaches are applied in this study with research instruments including questionnaire, classroom observation and face-to-face interviews. The research reveals the current realities of students’ CS use and their attitudes towards the benefits and challenges of using CS at English speaking classes.