Study On English Classroom Code-switching Under A Multilingual Setting In Yunnan Hani Ethnic Areas

Code-switching(CS)is the practice of going back and forth between two or more languages,dialects or language varieties,and using them in the same sentence or conversation.The classroom is a communicative context where knowledge is constructed,experiences and culture are shared between teachers and students.Thus teacher‘s talk is one discoursive mechanism for communication.Meanwhile,code-switching is a crucial means through which communication is achieved.It is also a major characteristic of classroom discourse.This dissertation focuses on Chinese,Hani and English CS in the classroom.A review of the literature reveals that few studies have been done to examine classroom CS in the ethnic and multilingual settings,especially in Yunnan.Three research questions will be addressed in this study:(1)What is the current situation of Hani teachers‘ classroom code-switching?(2)What are the Hani teachers‘ and students‘ attitudes towards classroom codeswitching respectively?(3)What are the factors that affect Hani teachers‘ classroom code-switching?Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are adopted in the study,and the research process has been divided into two phases.The first phase is a pilot study done by foreign language experts,in-service college English teachers as well as ethnic students.It established the content and scope of the study by collecting open-ended interview materials,which paved the way for the next phase;for the second phase,data was collected via classroom observations,questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.It attempted to explore the current classroom CS situation,attitudes towards CS and influential factors on CS in order to use CS effectively to enhance the third language competence.The findings will be explained from three aspects as follows.Firstly,the current situation of Hani teachers‘ CS: in terms of frequencies,teachers‘ CS accounts for the most amount of switching,then students‘ CS occupies the second.Chinese and Chinese matrix language framework of CS,English and English matrix language framework of CS,and Hani and Hani matrix language framework of CS,accounts for 53.5%,45.6% and 0.9% of teachers‘ CS respectively.Speaking of CS types,two kinds,intra-unit CS and inter-unit CS were identified;in terms of structures,there are 7 types of intra-unit CS and 59 types of inter-unit CS.Among them,Chinese-based English insert is the most popular structure;in terms of functions,the percentage of CS used in class content,classroom organization,interpersonal relationship is 77.2%,18% and 4.8% respectively.In addition,Chinese and Chinese matrix language framework of CS plays a major role in the areas of explaining the content,taking up 40% and classroom organization,a minor role,accounts for 10%.English and English matrix language framework of CS are mostly used in explaining the content,taking up 37% and classroom organization second which accounts for 8%.The percentage of Hani and Hani matrix language framework of CS is 0.7%,mainly used in enhancing the interpersonal relationship,and then explaining the content second(only 0.2%),and none for the classroom organization purpose.Secondly,attitudes towards classroom CS usages: both teachers and students hold positive attitudes towards classroom CS in the following three fields: namely,class content,classroom organization,and interpersonal relationship building.Among them,the teachers‘ sample shows there is no significant difference in attitudes towards CS usages in class content,classroom organization,and interpersonal relationship building from gender and professional titles aspects.Regarding to students‘ sample,there is no significant difference in attitudes towards CS usages in class content and classroom organization while there is a significant difference in students‘ attitudes towards CS usages on interpersonal relationship building from gender and grade aspects.The difference shows boys pay more attention in strengthening interpersonal relationship than girls,and the 8th grade students focus more about relationship building than the 7th ones.In the comparison of teachers and students‘ sample,a significant difference can be found with regard to whether CS can better explain the cultural phenomenon and activate classroom atmosphere.Thirdly,the factors which affect code switching: lingual factors and non-lingual factors are both contributed to Hani teachers‘ classroom CS for the purpose of accomplishing classroom tasks.The factors are complicated and multi-dimensional which varies in accordance with changes in the functions they are confronted with.In sum,based on the literature review,surveys,discussion and data findings from the view of language economics,what makes CS ?meaningful? from a language economics perspective is the main purpose of this project.This study also explores the economical factors and the trilingual teaching situations in terms of ?cost‘,?efficiency‘,?input‘ and ?benefits‘ of classroom CS.Hani teachers‘ CS is ultimately a special ?low input but high profits‘ phenomenon,and the most economical teaching means under the multilingual context,which enriches CS development theories,and as well serves as a reference for language policy planning in minority areas.