Code switching as a medium of instruction in an EFL classroom

Abstract

Code Switching (CS) is shifting from one language to another in a conversation. It is a normal every day practice among people in the world for various reasons and usually an unconscious activity. This language switching might not be the whole sentence, but also can occur in brief phrases or words. Therefore, in this study, using CS as a medium of instruction was focused on. Meanwhile, the students’ attitude towards CS, the positive impacts of CS on understanding the target language and the negative impacts of CS on students’ learning ability were investigated. The data for this study were collected from 4 participants 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 CS was used for checking understanding, asking for clarification and socializing. On the contrary, the teacher code switched because of clarification and translation into L1 whenever needed. On the other hand, reflective journals revealed using CS augments understanding of target language and they showed that students had positive views towards the application of CS.