Students and Teachers' Points of View on Code-Switching in EFL Classes: A Balance or Imbalance Paradigm?

Abstract

This study aims to clarify whether the implementation of language alternation in the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) has strengths or limitations from both teachers and students' points of view. By making use of both qualitative data which was conducted through structured interviews with 23 teachers in one of the provinces of Turkey as well as applying structured forms to 92 teachers from 34 cities in Turkey and quantitative data containing five-point Likert scale questionnaire collected from 226 students, the current research reports students’ stances towards teacher code-switching in EFL classrooms in Turkish secondary and high school context, and teachers’ language choice causes with inferable results. The data from the questionnaire were collated, and the SPSS program was used to calculate the descriptive calculations involving percentages and frequencies. The results of the study reveal that students and teachers tend to agree on the majority of questions. While students welcomed the teachers’ code-switching efforts in English lessons, the teachers advocated the balanced conduct of language switching, especially in terms of communication skills.