Code-Switching In Foreign Language Classrooms: From The Perspective Of The Student

Code-Switching in the foreign language (FL) classroom has always been a controversial issue. One opinion considers the target language (TL) the only medium language in foreign language classrooms and is worried that the use of the first language (L1) will deprive students of valuable TL input. Such opinion is also implied in teaching methodologies. However, classroom-based research has discovered the use of students' L1 in various FL teaching contexts and a number of researchers are in favour of careful and principled use of the L1, which they think facilitates rather than impedes learning.Based on previous research and practice, the current thesis agrees with the second opinion, acknowledging that code-switching deserves a place in language teaching. In view that most code-switching research is limited to the classroom at tertiary level and the student is often neglected, the current thesis, through classroom observation and questionnaire study, focuses on (1) the general situation of code-switching use in Shanghai's senior high school FL classrooms; and (2) possible variables that are related to the students' expectations for L1 use, including lesson contents, difficulty of input, students' language proficiency and motivation. Five hypotheses are formulated and after collecting all the data, the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 11.5) is used for the statistical analysis of the data, including descriptive statistics and correlations. The results are the following:Code-switching is a popular teaching strategy in high school FL classrooms, which is often used to convey meaning, explain grammar and manage the class. The four variables, lesson contents, difficulty of input, students' language proficiency and motivation, more or less influence students' expectations for L1 use. Their expectations are lowest in theme-based activities, then in the instruction of vocabulary and grammar and highest in the discussion of tests. The difficulty of input positively correlates with students' expectations for L1 use in the instruction of vocabulary and grammar and in the discussion of tests. Senior 1 and Senior 2 students' language proficiency negatively correlates with their expectations in all the three lesson contents. The same negative correlation is only shown in theme-based activities and in the instruction of vocabulary and grammar in Senior 3. As far as motivation is concerned, only in theme-based activities, the integrative motivation negatively correlates with students' expectations for L1 use. The instrumental motivation has no significant correlation with students' expectations in all the three lesson contents.These findings are discussed from different perspectives and possible reasons are also provided. Implications and suggestions for teaching and future research are put forward. It is emphasized that although code-switching can facilitate teaching and learning, teachers still have to be careful and should make a judicious and principled decision according to the different expectations of different students in different contexts.