Code-switching Practices Research Articles

What Do They Talk About Translanguaging? Students and Lecturers’ Voices From Legal English Classes

This qualitative case study investigated the use and perceptions of translanguaging in English for Law courses within Islamic Law programs at a university in Indonesia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 30 students and 3 English lecturers. The findings reveal that both students and teachers actively engaged in translanguaging, drawing on a repertoire of languages, including English, Indonesian, Bugis (the local language), and Arabic. Translanguaging served multiple pedagogical functions, including facilitating conceptual understanding, promoting inclusivity, and enhancing student engagement. However, the study also highlighted the need for a balanced approach to translanguaging, ensuring adequate exposure to the target language (English) and clear code-switching practices. The implications of these findings for pedagogy, curriculum development, and teacher training are discussed. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on translanguaging in education and provides valuable insights for educators working in multilingual and multicultural contexts

Beyond Bilingualism: A Discourse Analysis of Uzbek-Russian Code-Switching in Contemporary Uzbekistan

This study examines code-switching practices among Uzbek-Russian bilinguals in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It employs discourse analysis to investigate the patterns, functions, and sociocultural implications of language alternation. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from Gumperz (1982), Myers-Scotton (1993), and Auer (1984), the research provides insights into the complex linguistic landscape of post-Soviet Central Asia. The study reveals that intra-sentential switching is the most prevalent form of code-switching, accounting for 58% of all instances. Contextual factors such as topic, setting, and participants' age significantly influence code-switching behavior. Russian is frequently employed for technical and professional terminology, reflecting its historical dominance in certain domains. The analysis demonstrates that code-switching serves various functions, including lexical gap filling, emphasis, quotation, and expression of group identity. Notably, code-switching plays a crucial role in identity construction, allowing speakers to navigate complex national, ethnic, and professional identities in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. The research extends existing theoretical models by proposing a "triglossic" framework that recognizes standard Uzbek, standard Russian, and mixed Uzbek-Russian as distinct varieties with different social functions. Additionally, the study introduces the concept of "post-Soviet linguistic hybridization" to describe the unique forms of language mixing observed. These findings contribute to our understanding of bilingualism in post-Soviet contexts and highlight the need for nuanced, context-sensitive approaches to language policy and education in multilingual societies. The study concludes that code-switching among Uzbek-Russian bilinguals is not merely a linguistic phenomenon but a complex social practice that reflects and constructs the unique post-Soviet identity of Uzbekistan.

USE OF CODE-SWITCHING IN HIGHER EDUCATION: WHAT LECTURERS DO AND HOW THEIR STUDENTS PERCEIVE ABOUT IT

The present study aims to describe the rationale of the practice of code-switching, explain to what extent it was used, and explore the students' perspectives on this practice. Through open and closed questionnaires shared with the students majoring in English departments and the lecturers at the School of Foreign Language JIA, the results show that most of the lecturers admitted their use of code-switching in their class, which mainly helped students understand the materials more easily. The code-switching was not only used in the areas of curriculum access but also classroom management and interpersonal relations. In line with this, the majority of the students confirmed a positive view towards this practice since it could assist their learning process and confidence level, so there is a correlation between the rationale of the use of code-switching and the students’ perspectives. Thus, the results suggest the practice of code-switching could be employed by lecturers in the EFL contexts in higher education to enhance students’ understanding towards the lessons.

Do you speak Français? The hidden social structures of bilingualism at an international boarding school

This article investigates linguistic practices related to students’ social and academic lives – something that has been overlooked in the research literature on international schooling and elite boarding schools. Pierre Bourdieu reminds us that language has a social dimension linked to relations of symbolic power. Boarding schools serve as excellent case studies on how language structures social life due to their closed social space. Drawing on Bourdieu’s relational sociology, an ethnography was carried out at the College of Europe, an international private boarding school. Findings show that the practice of bilingual code-switching was endowing the institution with social distinction while hierarchically dividing its students. Three modes of student attitudes towards bilingualism were identified. While students’ bilingual attitudes and strategies were correlated to their social positions, socioeconomic origins and previous trajectories, the former were not deterministically an effect of said social position, evidenced by an observed case of habitus transformation.

Code-Switching Practices of Junior High School Teachers and Learners in English as Second Language (ESL) Classes: Basis in Designing Intervention Program

Code-Switching Practices of Junior High School Teachers and Learners in English as Second Language (ESL) Classes: Basis in Designing Intervention Program

Language and Identity: Code-Switching Practices among Multilingual Communities

Language and Identity: Code-Switching Practices among Multilingual Communities

Exploring Code-Switching Practices in Vietnamese Classrooms: An Introductory Investigation

This study delves into the nuanced practice of code-switching (CS) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms in Vietnam, examining its implications for language learning from both educators' and learners' perspectives. Through a mixed-methods approach, involving surveys and interviews with 225 ESL students and 8 experienced ESL lecturers at a renowned public university in Ho Chi Minh City, this research illuminates the multifaceted role of CS in enhancing comprehension, engagement, and linguistic proficiency. The findings reveal a general preference among students for a balanced use of English and Vietnamese, underscoring the pedagogical value of strategic CS in facilitating understanding and reducing the affective filter in language learning. Educators' narratives highlight the benefits and challenges of CS in maintaining English exposure while accommodating diverse learner needs. The study also uncovers emerging issues, such as the impact of digital and online learning environments on CS practices and the influence of external expectations on educators' language use decisions. By integrating insights from existing literature, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamic interplay between language use and educational outcomes in bilingual settings, advocating for flexible, learner-centered teaching approaches that accommodate the evolving landscape of language education.

EFL Teachers’ Beliefs and Practice of Code-Switching: A Case Study at Ba Ria – Vungtau University

This paper presents the practice, including the forms and functions, and beliefs of code-switching practiced by EFL teachers in classroom instruction in the context of a university in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province. Three instruments will be employed in this research including classroom observation, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews with the participation of 9 EFL teachers and 59 students. The aims of this research are to (1) investigate the functions and forms of code-switching that teachers employed in their classrooms; (2) investigate how teacher’s beliefs and attitudes toward employing code-switching; (3) research for the similarities, and differences between teacher’s opinion and their actual practice of code-switching in 9 EFL classrooms from a case study at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University (BVU).

Exploring Code-Switching Practices in Vietnamese Classrooms: An Introductory Investigation

This study delves into the nuanced practice of code-switching (CS) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms in Vietnam, examining its implications for language learning from both educators' and learners' perspectives. Through a mixed-methods approach, involving surveys and interviews with 225 ESL students and 8 experienced ESL lecturers at a renowned public university in Ho Chi Minh City, this research illuminates the multifaceted role of CS in enhancing comprehension, engagement, and linguistic proficiency. The findings reveal a general preference among students for a balanced use of English and Vietnamese, underscoring the pedagogical value of strategic CS in facilitating understanding and reducing the affective filter in language learning. Educators' narratives highlight the benefits and challenges of CS in maintaining English exposure while accommodating diverse learner needs. The study also uncovers emerging issues, such as the impact of digital and online learning environments on CS practices and the influence of external expectations on educators' language use decisions. By integrating insights from existing literature, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamic interplay between language use and educational outcomes in bilingual settings, advocating for flexible, learner-centered teaching approaches that accommodate the evolving landscape of language education.

Urdu fillers used by English teachers in ESL classrooms

Pakistan is a bilingual country with nine major and 68 minor languages. It is quite common for English language teachers to use their first language (L1) in their second language (L2) classrooms which is called code switching. This predominant practice of code switching can serve as a filler to ensure the continuity of an interaction or fill a communication gap. Hence, this paper aims to describe the different kinds and purposes of Urdu fillers that three English as a second language (ESL) teachers from Pakistan use when teaching students in ESL courses at the university level. The data consists of four classroom recordings of each teacher’s lectures which have been transcribed for qualitative analysis. The overall findings showed that ESL teachers produced more lexicalized filled pauses than non-lexicalized filled ones in Urdu. The lexicalized filled pauses served as an editing tool, a response marker, an opening frame marker, an empathizer, a time-creating device or a positive reaction. On the other hand, the non-lexicalized filled pauses were used as reaction marker, hesitation marker, device for keeping the floor, device while searching for a word or breathing pause. Hence, this study suggests the importance of fillers as a language teaching and learning tool.

The nexus between Geography teachers’ code-switching perceptions and practices: A case study

The study investigated the intersection between teachers' perceptions of code-switching and their actual code-switching practices. The research focused on four Grade 10-12 Geography teachers who were selected purposefully based on their qualifications, teaching experience, fluency in, or familiarity with, the two languages involved, and the grade level they taught. Following the interpretive paradigm and qualitative approach, the study employed semi-structured interviews to gather the participants' perceptions of code-switching as a teaching practice, as well as their implementation of it in the classroom. Additionally, classroom observations were conducted to observe the teachers' actual code-switching practices during Geography lessons. The study then compared the teachers' perceptions and practices to determine the extent of their intersection. Thematic data analysis was used to analyse the data. The results revealed a discrepancy between the teachers' perceptions and practices, particularly in terms of the purposes, types, and frequency of code-switching, among other aspects. The study concludes that classroom code-switching was not a deliberate and conscious activity guided by a well-informed and equally conscious understanding of the practice, but rather a largely habitual behaviour. As a recommendation, the study suggests conducting in-service workshops to enhance teachers' comprehension of code-switching and provide them with effective strategies for its application in the classroom.

To Be or Not to Be: Undergraduate ESL Learners’ Attitudes Towards Code-Switching

Code-switching and its pros and cons, is a highly debated phenomenon in second language learning in a classroom setting. This study also discusses how hindering code-switching affects the learning process in English language classrooms. The data for this quantitative study was gathered from the population of 50 BS second language learners at the University of Lahore through a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The results indicate that the majority of undergraduate learners have a favorable disposition towards the practice of code-switching. They face difficulties when they are not allowed to switch codes in the classroom. However, it has been found that there are a few learners who do not feel any difficulty in the absence of code-switching opportunities. According to the findings, stopping the learners from code-switching in educational settings is disadvantageous. The encouragement of code-switching practice in classrooms is a robust way of enhancing communicative skills, socio-emotional engagement, and accelerating learning outcomes. These findings have important implications for language educators and policymakers and will help in fulfilling the actual classroom requirements and bringing about a change in the attitudes towards code-switching.

Code Switching in English Teacher Instruction: A study of the Teacher Language in English Classroom and Its Implications for Indonesian Students Language Education

Teaching English in Indonesia is not the same as teaching English in a country where English is the native language. The teacher should make sure the students understand the explanation or instruction from the teacher. In the foreign language classroom, code switching is naturally occurring to make the teaching learning process run smoothly. Therefore, this study aimed to explain the function of code switching, students perceptions of the teacher’s code switching, and the effect of teacher’s code switching practices on students’ understanding in the teaching learning process. It was conducted at SMAN 9 Palu by using descriptive qualitative as the method. The researcher used observation, questionnaire and interview to get the data. The results of the study showed that first, there were three functions of code switching used by the teacher proposed by Sert (2005), those are topic switch, affective function, and repetitive function. Second, most of the students had positive perceptions about students' understanding and students' feelings during learning with code switching used by the teacher. Third, code switching used by the teacher in teaching learning English process provides a positive effect in providing a positive learning environment, and facilitating students with low level of second language proficiency
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 Keywords: Code switching, English classroom, teacher instruction

Code Switching and Code Mixing Practised By K-POP Idols Diaspora

The research discussed K-pop idols as ambassadors for brands, contributing to the global popularity of K-pop as a cultural phenomenon. Given their strong influence and popularity, it was fascinating to discern how K-Pop idols' diaspora communicates with each other. By using the descriptive-qualitative approach with the interpretive-explorative pattern, the research was intended to examine the practice of code-switching and code-mixing by K-pop idols' diaspora during their interaction, to enumerate the code-switching and code-mixing instances, as well as to study the reasons/motivations behind the use of using code-switching and code-mixing. The result of the data analysis confirmed that, like other bilinguals, K-Pop idol's diaspora utilize code switching and code mixing during their interaction for various underlying reasons. It is found that there are 19 inter-sentential switchings, 18 intra-sentential switching, four tag switching, 11 insertion code-mixing, four alternation code-mixing, and six congruent lexicalizations with different reasons or motivations. The research concluded that it is almost inevitable for bilinguals and multilinguals to practice code- switching and code-mixing to navigate language selection during their interaction.

Character Education Values in English Classroom Within Teachers’ Practice of Code-Mixing and Code-Switching

The multilingual environment in English language learning as a foreign language raises doubts regarding the existence and teaching of character education values in secondary schools. This research aims to identify character education values integrated into teacher-student interactions through code-mixing and code-switching linguistic phenomena. The research findings highlight the integration of 16 values through code-mixing and code-switching. The frequency of code-mixing by high and junior high school teachers was notably higher than code-switching. The disparity in these data outcomes reinforces the notion that the atmosphere tends to be relaxed in code-mixing, often unnoticed by speakers. Conversely, code-switching, where speakers, in this case, teachers, consciously do so with specific intentions and goals, either to integrate dominant character education values such as communication or discipline or other character education values. These findings underscore that code-switching and code-mixing are not negative elements in language learning. Instead, they serve as tools for integrating character education values among secondary school students.

Code-switching as a Learning Strategy for EFL Learners

Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) has great relevance for many people around the world due to globalization, technology, personal or professional goals and preferences. Likewise, English has been documented as one of the languages that has more non-native speakers than native speakers around the world (Shin, 2013). Code-switching is considered a linguistic variation and it has become a widely researched circumstance that is commonly reflected by bilingual, multilingual, and multicultural practices. This research has the objective to give an account of how English as a foreign language learner use code-switching as a learning strategy to achieve academic goals. A qualitative methodology and a descriptive approach were used to analyze data and to infer the following linguistic practices: a) code-switching use by emergent bilinguals as a learning strategy to acquire a foreign language and b) code-switching use affects emergent bilinguals´ language development. The research´s findings can be summarized stating that code-switching practices help students develop foreign language awareness by analyzing linguistic elements to express meaningful ideas taking it into practice. Concluding from extensive research, code-switching can be a helpful learning strategy for foreign language learners to achieve English within a communicative process allowing learners to be able to express and communicate a message proficiently.

Affordances of code-switching in Polish–Australian families: An exploration of language ideologies, practices and management

Aims and objectives: As there remains a paucity of research into the use of communication strategies in Polish transnational communities, this paper seeks to delineate the code-switching practices of Polish-speaking families residing in Australia. The tripartite framework of Family Language Policy has been applied for the analysis of affordances of code-switching patterns. Methodology: Based on the data collected through the online questionnaire supplemented with in-depth interviews and observations, a qualitative analysis has been conducted to obtain the sociolinguistic picture of the code-switching practices. Data and analysis: The interviews and discussions during the observations were recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded according to the Grounded Theory Approach. The recurrent themes were noted. The existing patterns were conceptualised through the process of constant comparison. Findings and conclusions: The conducted study draws our attention to the fact that Polish speakers in Australia differ from speakers of other heritage languages. Language management efforts through a great exposure to Polish translates to HL proficiency, maintenance and the degree of bilingualism, as well as the rate of code-switching. All joint family and extracurricular activities organised by Saturday schools and cultural centres augment the HL retention despite the constant attempts to code-switch among the young family members. Originality: This paper delves into how Polish is maintained as a HL among Polish-speaking immigrants to Australia and their offspring. It explores one of the well-established yet understudied communities that makes up multicultural Australia. It unfolds an account of the dynamics of code-switching, illustrating how its affordances are utilised to foster communication.

Code-Switching in English as a Second Language (ESL) Classroom Settings: A Strategy or a Problem?

Code-switching, or switching from one language to another, is common in many bilingual and multilingual classrooms. Nonetheless, there have been opposing perspectives on its application in the classroom. While some studies argue that the presence of code-switching is beneficial to teaching language, others regard it as a hindrance to achieving the learning goal of acquiring the target language. This study addresses a research gap concerning teachers' and students' perspectives on code-switching in ESL classrooms, whether it is a strategy or a problem. This research method involves a systematic literature review process that is classified into three stages: planning, implementation, and reporting. Forty-five journal papers were discovered in the initial search string, and 34 were chosen based on inclusion and exclusion criteria for further research. The results of all research contained in journals published from 2012 to 2022 showed that there had been a debate with opposing perspectives over the usage of code-switching in classrooms. The majority of teachers and students perceive the practice of code-switching in ESL classrooms positively. However, many of them are aware of the potential negative consequences. Some individuals are even opposed to code-switching. Furthermore, the data suggested that code-switching might be a useful tool for teachers and students in ESL classrooms, depending on its purposes and functions. This study recommends that teachers use code-switching as needed by considering the purposes and consequences of its use.

The Analysis of Form, Functions and Code Switching Factors in the Film Kehormatan di Balik Kerudung

Code-switching is the alteration or shift in the usage of one language to another within the context of communication, often occurring spontaneously and naturally. This study aims to find code switching forms, its underlying factors, as well as its function found in the Kehormatan di Balik Kerudung. The data of this research are players’ utterances in which code switching appear. The data collected were analyzed using Poplack’s theory (1980) to determine the form of code switching, Grosjean’s theory (2010) to find the functions of code switching, and Azhar’s, et al (2011) to find the factors behind the code switching. The results of this study indicate that extrasentential code-switching in the form of Javanese particles highly dominates the code-switching practices compared to the other two, namely intrasentential and intersentential, namely there were 30 extrasentential code-switching, 22 intrasentential and 7 intersentential. Some of the code-switching functions, are among others: to start a conversation, to confirm the conversation, to end the conversation, to confirm or emphasize statements, to ask for approval, and to answer doubts. Six factors underlying the code switching were among others: speakers, speech partners, topics of conversation, place and time of speech events, functions and objectives, as well as variety and level of speech.

Lack of Self-confidence in Speaking English language Fluently of English Language Teachers at Public Basic Schools in Erbil

This research investigates the pivotal role of self-confidence in fostering success in acquiring a second language, with a specific emphasis on the proficiency in the English language exhibited by elementary school English teachers in Erbil, Kurdistan. The study seeks to identify the impediments that hinder language educators from attaining fluency in spoken English and delves into the ways in which self-confidence exerts influence over their journey in language acquisition. Employing a quantitative research approach, a questionnaire was administered to a cohort of 41 elementary school English teachers hailing from diverse backgrounds and representing 41 distinct public schools during the academic year of 2021. The analysis of the data hinged on Likert scales applied to assess various variables, ultimately revealing several noteworthy barriers. These barriers encompassed a dearth of motivation, the practice of code-switching between Kurdish and English in classroom communication, inadequate opportunities for English language practice, both within and outside the classroom setting, alongside challenges linked to grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.