Just to give some clues for arguments in favour and against code switching.
Some food for thought on code switching in EFL/ES? class:
Moore’s study about code-switching and learning in the classroom emphasizes
the importance of code-switching as a marked choice that carries extra-
social meaning depending on the norms of the conversation. Moore (2002)
sees code-switching as an accommodation strategy that students use to satisfy
their main needs. The use of code-switching is subject to the topic, the speakers
and the situation (formal or informal). For this reason, classroom code switching
has a lot of benefits for second language learners, as it provides a
natural short-cut to content and knowledge acquisition. Moore mentions that
code-switching can be related to the learners’ learning styles. For this reason,
bilingual speakers’ code-switching is based on background, identity, social motivation
and preferences (p. 286).
There are different explanations and interpretations for the phenomenon
known as code-switching. In the eyes of some of the actors in the language scene,
code-switching is a negative influence for second or foreign language learning,
and it seems to suggest linguistic deficiencies. However, a significant percentage
seems to disagree and believe it to be useful by making communication easier
and enhancing learning of the target language. Resorting to code-switching at
key moments during a conversation may help students to continue participating
and interacting, and in the end might lead them to regain confidence and learn
more and faster. Among the findings obtained through the survey administered
to the intermediate and advanced students and professors of the English teaching
major at Universidad Nacional, Pérez Zeledón campus, it may be concluded
that the main factors that cause code-switching in Costa Rican bilinguals are
cultural untranslatability, vocabulary limitations in L1 or L2, and bilingualism
among the participants in the conversation. Regarding this last factor, Poplack
(1980) found that Spanish/ English bilinguals switch at junctures that are mutually
mappable in English and Spanish, despite the large number of permissible
switching points within the sentence, which indicates that code-switching requires
knowledge of two grammatical systems (Poplack, 1980, as cited in Becker,
1997, p. 5).
Technology is the field or topic that prompts the most occurrences of linguistic
alternations between English and Spanish among the surveyed groups.
Fashion, music, television and movies are also major language switching triggers.
This seems to justify code-switchers up to a certain extent. For example,
in the field of technology the amount of new gadgets launched in the market
everyday may overwhelm the nonnative speaker, who usually finds himself at a
linguistic disadvantage, not knowing how to name an object or process in his own
mother tongue or vice versa. Fashion, music, television and the movie industry
are constantly setting new trends and coining new terms, or showing unknown
scenarios for the learner, causing linguistic gaps as well.
In addition, both students and teachers feel more comfortable engaging in
code-switching in informal contexts with peers. This indicates that the alternation
of codes is a conscious habit among Costa Rican bilinguals, and only on a few
occasions does it seem to occur unintentionally or unconsciously. Switching from
L2 to L1 or vice versa seems to entail a purpose; it is a conversation keeper, a tool
that allows the learner to cope with the difficulty of expressing one’s thoughts in
a foreign language.
Finally, the use of code-switching definitely influences language use among
bilinguals who speak the same languages, sometimes for better, sometimes for
worse. However, the general thought among the surveyed population is that alternations
between two languages, such as Spanish and English, do not necessarily
affect the speakers’ performance as long as learners do not resort to it as
their only learning strategy. Moore (2002) sees code-switching as an accommodation
strategy that students use to satisfy their main needs. For this reason,
classroom code-switching has a lot of benefits for second language learners, as
it provides a natural short-cut to content and knowledge acquisition; their bilingualism
is integral to the process of accomplishing their discourse (Zimmerman,
1998, as cited in Greer, 2007, p.5).
Code-switching should not be encouraged by teachers, but it should not be
harshly punished in initial stages of the learning process. The learners themselves
will realize in time their own deficiencies and limitations, and it is through
positive reinforcement that the need to switching codes will eventually diminish
or disappear altogether.
( The extracts are taken from a published article by Jacqueline Araya Ríos and Jorge Luis Espinoza Camposon the net.)
Shams Hoque
Associate Professor in English, DIU
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