Teachers’ Beliefs and Perceptions of Code Switching in English as Foreign Language Classroom

Abstract

In Indonesia, the use of only English as a medium of instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom is highly demanded. The present study investigates how code-switching is perceived by High School teachers in Kupang city, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, in teaching English. Specifically, it aims to find out the teachers’ beliefs and perceptions towards the use of Indonesian language (L1) as their pedagogical instrument in teaching English in EFL classrooms. To achieve that goal, 40 EFL teachers were asked to give their responses to a 24-item of questionnaire which focused on teachers’ roles and beliefs of code-switching applied in the EFL classroom. After analyzing the data, it was found that the teachers applied code-switching to serve pedagogical aims and to facilitate the EFL teaching and learning process. As a result, they used code-switching when explaining difficult words, encourage students’ participation and managing and organizing the classroom. Another finding was that, the teachers also believed that, the advantages in applying code-switching exaggerated the disadvantages in ELF classroom.