The Use of Code-Switching in EFL Classrooms: A Survey Study

Many studies have shown that the use of the target language second and/ or foreign language (in this case English) teaching has greatly improved students learning, albeit, not all teachers use the target language exclusively but rather switch between the first and the target language. There is earlier research on code-switching in classrooms. However, most of those studies have been done in a bilingual setting, the focus being on English as a second language. In those cases, English is possibly one of the languages used in everyday encounters; furthermore, English is often used as a language of instruction in other school subjects as well. However, there is also some research on cod-switching in foreign language classrooms, but little in Iran. Both earlier and recent research on this issue showed that the mother tongue may have important functions in the foreign language classroom. Due to the alarming signals of declining proficiency level among English Language learners in Iran, the main objectives of this research were to show the results of a survey study which investigated the use of code-switching in interactive exchanges between the teachers and the learners in an EFL Classrooms, the types of code-switching used in the classroom, the functions of code-switching, and the students’ attitude towards code-switching. The data for this study were collected from 6 participants along with their two teachers through audio recordings of a classroom observation and students’ reflective journals. The findings suggest that the students code switched due to the lack of vocabulary knowledge and being in an informal environment that required the respondents to use language for different purposes; thus code-switching was used for checking understanding, asking for clarification and socializing. On the contrary, the teachers code switched because of clarification and translation into L1 whenever needed. On the other hand, reflective journals revealed using code-switching augments understanding of target language and they showed that students had positive views towards the application of code-switching.