A Study Of English Teachers’ Code-Switching In West China’s Middle School Classroom

Code-switching denotes the concurrent use of more than one language in a conversation. In the language teaching literature, there are two different attitudes towards code-switching in the classroom. On the one hand, some researchers advice language learners should be exposed to the target language as much as possible, On the other hand, some regard first language as a useful tool. In reality, teachers’ code-switching is found abundant in middle school English classroom. If properly used, it will facilitate students’comprehension and help students improve cognitive skills. Based on the above, the present study aims to answer the following questions:1. What are the major types of teachers’code-switching in middle school English classroom?2. What factors may influence English teachers’code-switching in middle school English classroom?To answer these questions, the author conducted a study in Hexi Boarding School, a rural middle school in Qinghai Province. Six English teachers’ code-switching in English classroom was recorded, transcribed and analyzed, to identify the types of code-switching employed, supplemented with interviews of these teachers to find out what factors affected their code-switching. The major findings revealed from this study are as follows:Firstly, four types of teachers’ code-switching occurred in middle school English classroom. They were inter-sentential, intra-sentential, tag and intra-word code-switching. Among them, inter-sentential and intra-sentential code-switching were the major types of code-switching in middle school, indicating teachers attached more importance to the use of inter-sentential and intra-sentential code-switching in their classroom. Besides, the small amount of tag-switching and intra-word switching indicated these two types of code-switching attracted the least attention in these teachers’classroom. The English teachers had more tendency to employ inter-sentential code-switching in the form of English-Chinese translation, which functioned to aid in L2 comprehension while other functions code-switching served, including facilitating vocabulary acquisition, checking L2 comprehension, adding more information and giving instructions attached less attention of these teachers.Secondly, five factors contributed to teachers’code-switching. They were student’s level of English, class time budget, teacher’s evaluation system, teachers’ cognition and cultural influence. Code-switching, used to help students better understand English lessons in Chinese, could be attributable to teachers’ consideration of students’ levels of English. Besides, the class time was also a distinctive factor of teachers’ code-switching, since code-switching was believed by the teachers to be the quickest way to convey themselves. Teachers’ evaluation system forced teachers to switch their codes for the competitive atmosphere among the teachers to gain the expected knowledge. All the three factors can also be influenced by the teachers’ cognition, which was closely related to teachers’ educational background and teachers’ experience. Furthermore, the area in which the school was located was a minority district where the Hui nationality accounts for a large proportion, which emphasized the influence of its local culture.In conclusion, English teachers’ timely and properly use of code-switching helps to improve target language input, classroom efficiency and guarantee the smooth carry-out of language teaching.