The Multifunctions of Language Code-Switching Technique in Postgraduate Studies

Abstract

Language code-switching (CS) is an important linguistic device to study the linguistic community and its usage by individuals who speak two languages, their mother tongue and their second language. The aim of this paper is to find indications of utilising this device as a function and an educational tool for teaching English in the classroom. The motives for this linguistic device and how to employ it by instructors of the English Language Department and how that is effective on their students. This paper deals with different functions of code-switching for postgraduate students in the Department of English Language/Faculty of Art at the University of Kufa in the classroom. The participants in this work are 8 instructors and 18 postgraduate students. Moreover, this study used a framework of code-switching analysis based on Gumperz's (1982) regions of teachers’ code-switching and the emerging functions from this study's analysis. Gumperz mentions six primary functions of code-switching (quotation, addressee specification, interjection, reiteration, message qualification, and personalisation). To obtain relevant and reliable data, both students and teachers answer a closed-ended questionnaire (see Appendix (1)). This study concluded that all the students agreed that, in most of their EFL classroom interactions, code-switching assisted them in accessing the curriculum (explaining the meaning of new words, phrases, grammar, and unfamiliar topics), managing the classroom (using code-switching is substantial to motivate students to learn English), and using English and mother tongue in the classroom to provide enough time and opportunities to practice the language (raising students’ motivation and trust).This findings show that instructors and students successfully applied code-switching as a beneficial strategy for assisting their English Foreign Language (EFL) classroom learning process.