EFL Classroom code-switching

Code-switching in EFL classrooms must be both planned and strategic to be effective. Developing an optimal code-switching pedagogy is a must in today’s bilingual world. As stated by Avery (2013: 6–7), “code-switching pedagogy is beneficial when planned and used strategically, but that maximizing L2 input is still a central aim of EFL classrooms”. Within these parameters, code-switching can be used practically to aid language acquisition through such practices such as bilingual teacher talk, scaffolding and consciousness raising, not to mention its usefulness as a classroom management and relational tool.

Recent studies are investigating the use of “other languages” in L2 classrooms from psycholinguistic, cognitive, and sociocultural paradigms. While approaching the phenomenon of language choice in classrooms, researchers have used a variety of terms including “the use of L1” and “code-switching” (Üstünel and Seedhouse 2005; Amir and Musk 2013; Cheng 2013; Lehti-Eklund 2013), “own-language use” (Hall and Cook 2012a, b), use of “bilingual practices” (Bonacina and Gafaranga 2011), “plurilingual resources/repertoires” (Moore et al. 2013; Ziegler et al. 2013), and “multilingual resources” (Ziegler et al. 2015). In this book, I use the term “code-switching” consistently.

Researchers have tended to affiliate with one of the three following camps regarding the place of code-switching in L2 classrooms:
1.The role of L1 should be open, with no restrictions.

2.L1 can be a resource, but its contribution to L2 learning should be clearly defined.

3. L1 should be excluded from L2 classrooms as it may inhibit learning (Arnett 2013).

CA studies have shown that code-switching can be an interactional resource for both learners and teachers in language classrooms. Based on the EFL classroom extracts, it will be argued that the shared languages in the foreign language classroom can prove to be important resources to carry out the institutional task of learning and teaching the L2.

The use of mother tongue in language classrooms is a common practice. Some teachers and researchers consider it as a deficiency, but a considerable number of researchers describe it as a natural and essential component of language teaching and learning. According to Lee (2000), code-switching in exchanges is a typical feature of a bilingual’s speech. Recent studies (Halmari 2004; Simon 2001) have shown that code-switching plays a central role in communication among learners if used properly.

Opinions concerning the use of L1 in the classroom tend to vary and remain conflicting. Some scholars suggest that code-switching should be banned from language classroom because it seriously impedes the progress of the TL (Prucha 1983; Ellis 1984; Wong-Fillmore 1985; Chaudron 1988). This may sound reasonable in some cases particularly when the learner tends to simply rely on the teacher’s code-switching and lose interest in some vital processes of meaning negotiation such as guessing and inferring. It has also been claimed that frequent use of mother tongue in EFL classrooms can affect the way learners communicate in the TL adversely (Bhatt 1997; Martin 1999a, b; Zhu 2008).

In response to this criticism, recent researchers (Üstünel 2004; Yang 2004; Greggio and Gil 2007; Then and Ting 2009; Lee 2010) have examined teachers’ code-switching and found out that it fulfils some vital functions in the language classroom. In her work, Üstünel (2004) focuses on “teacher-initiated” versus “teacher-induced” code-switching. She identifies 12 functions such as “encouraging learners to participate” and “providing metalanguage information” in relation to pedagogic focus of lessons. It would not be wrong to say that explaining particular linguistic rules and features in mother tongue could prove more effective and time-saving as researchers such as Crystal (1987), Cook (1991), Levine (2003) and Sert (2005) reveal in their studies. Similarly, Greggio and Gil (2007) assert that use of mother tongue can strengthen learners’ motivation as a possible outcome of understanding complex structures and rules more easily.

Lee (2010) notes these benefits of teacher code-switching, and tries to unify them by constructing a model of the effectiveness of code-switching. Through such a model, he hopes to facilitate future investigation into the actual value of code-switching as a pedagogical tool. In his own review of the literature, he praises the move away from a monolingual approach towards a bilingual one, but suggests that this could be improved further by adopting a sociolinguistic view of bilingualism in EFL. A sociolinguistic approach discusses whether we can view the EFL classroom as a kind of bilingual community; after all, L2 learners are to a greater or lesser extent developing bilinguals. We will now run with this idea, briefly outlining concepts of EFL classrooms as bilingual communities, before using it to explore the ways in which bilingual education has theorised code-switching and its uses as a pedagogical tool.

Another important issue, learner code-switching, has also aroused interest from researchers such as Butzkamm (1998), Zabrodskaja (2007), Martin (1999a, b), Mwinsheikhe (2003) and Probyn (2005). They have provided valuable insights into the reasons why learners frequently keep falling back to their mother tongue. Their studies have demonstrated that code-switching is not performed due to lack of ability, but it actually serves several communicative purposes.

As stated by Seedhouse (2004), one peculiar feature of foreign language classrooms is that language is both the medium and the content, which means that language teachers’ effective use of it provides L2 input to learners. The effective use of foreign language also shapes L2 input in a way that will be intelligible and comprehensible to the learners. Both the effective use of foreign language and the interactional resources to which a foreign language teacher resorts can facilitate learner participation and engagement, which are crucial for foreign language learning.

A comprehensive, detailed and in-depth knowledge of what is actually happening in L2 classrooms will guide us to understand foreign language learning and foreign language teaching practices. This understanding is essential for language teachers and language teacher educators, as well as syllabus designers, materials developers, and policy makers. The reason for this is that any kind of traditional or innovative educational practices for classrooms can be evaluated and understood best by revealing how successful the emerging classroom interactions are. This understanding requires a micro-analytic approach to L2 classroom interactions so as to uncover epistemic and pedagogical phenomena, by paying close attention to participants’ utterances, non-verbal details of talk, suprasegmental features of language, gaze movements, gestures, and orientations to classroom artefacts.

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