Code mixing by a Non-ESL content instructor: The Language Choice and Syntactic Features
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37134/ajelp.vol7.1.3.2019Keywords:
Language Choice, Code Switching, Code Mixing, Malaysian Non-ESL Content ClassroomAbstract
A study on language alternation despite its pervasive presence in the academia, can never be exhaustive. Given the complexities of the geography in which the English language transcends many language boundaries, modern studies of code switching present various facets of this bilingualism phenomenon. Adding to this, the present study explores the employment of code switching (CS) by a non-English as Second Language (non-ESL) content instructor in a Malaysian tertiary institution that uses English as a medium. It looks at (i) the language choice and utterances, and (ii) the syntactical features of the code-switched lecture by this non-ESL content instructor. In addition, the main reasons for the instructor’s language choice are also provided. A self-taped business studies lecture with a duration of 75 minutes is used for this study. The audio transcription then is categorised into 4 types of utterances namely (i) English, (ii) Malay (iii) Arabic and (iv) Code-Mixed. Syntactical analysis later groups the code-mixed utterances into 11 syntactical categories which are pronoun, adverb, verb, conjunction, verb phrase, noun, noun phrase, adjective, determiner, tag question and interjection. The content analysis discovers Code-Mixed utterances as the most dominant feature of this lecture followed by English utterances. Descriptive analysis ranks the syntactical features of the code-switched data in which pronouns are found to be the most switched item while Malay interjections like pulak and Ya Allah are switched the least. We conclude that code-switching used by this content instructor serves some pedagogical purposes which might bring positive effects to students. The institutional rigidity in seeing English as a medium of instruction should thus be renegotiated.
Downloads
References
Al Heeti, N. H. & Al Abdely, A. A. (2016). Types and functions of code-switching in the English language used by Iraqi doctors in formal settings. International Journal of Advanced Research and Review. 1 (8). 10-18. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306031490
Alenezi, A. A. (2010). Students’ language attitude towards using code-switching as a medium of instruction in the college of health sciences: An exploratory study. ARECLS, 7, 1-22.
Andita, P. D. (2013). Code switching in Indonesian Idol 2012 program: A case study of the judges’ comments and the viewers’ attitudes. Passage, 1 (2), 99 – 108.
Ariffin, K., & Husin, M. S. (2011). Code-switching and code-mixing of English and Bahasa Malaysia in content-based classrooms: Frequency and attitudes. The Linguistics Journal. 5 (1), 220-24.
Ariffin, K., & Shameem, R. G. (2009) Code-switching as a communication device in conversation. Language & Society. 5 (9), 145-204.
Benavides, R. & Medina-Jerez, W. (2017). No puedo “I don’t get it”: Assisting Spanglish-speaking students in the science classrooms. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315758059
Bista, K. (2010). Factors of code switching among bilingual English students in the university classroom: A survey. English for Specific Purposes World. 9 (29). 1-19
Brice, A. & Anderson, R. (1999). Code mixing in a young bilingual child. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 21 (1), 7-22.
Chen, D. & Ting, S. H. (2011). Researching code switching in teacher classroom discourse: Questioning the sufficiency of informant report. Language, Society & Culture. 33, 8-18. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233224500
Cheng, L. & Butler, K. (1989). Code-switching: A natural phenomenon vs language deficiency. World Englishes, 8 (3), 93-309.
Chowdhury, N. (2012). Classroom code switching of English language teachers at tertiary level: A Bangladeshi perspective. Stamford Journal of English. 7, 40-61. http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/sje.v7i0.14462
Gardner-Chloros, P. (2009). Code Switching. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books
Grosjean, F. (1982). Life with two languages: An introduction to bilingualism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Grosjean, F. (1996). Living with two languages and two cultures. In Parasnis, I. (Ed.). Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Grosjean, F. (2001). The bilingual's language modes. In Nicol, J. (Ed.). One Mind, Two Languages: Bilingual Language Processing. Oxford: Blackwell.
Gulzar, M. A. (2010). Code-switching: Awareness about its utility in bilingual classrooms. Bulletin of Education and Research. 32 (2), 23-44.
Hoffman, C., & Stavans, A. (2007). The evolution of trilingual codeswitching from infancy to school age: The shaping of trilingual competence through dynamic language dominance. International Journal of Bilingualism, 11 (1), 55-72. doi: 10.1177/13670069070110010401
Hughes, C. E., Shaunessy, E. S., Brice, A. R., Ratliff, M. A., McHatton, P. A. (2006). Code switching among bilingual and limited English proficient students: Possible indicators of giftedness. Journal for the Education of the Gifted. 30 (1), 7–28.
Inbar-Lourie, O. (2010). English only? The linguistic choices of teachers of young EFL learners International Journal of Bilingualism, 14 (3), 351-367.
Jiang,W. (2000). The relationship between culture and language. ELT Journal, 54 (4), 328–334, https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/54.4.328
Kabuto, B. (2010). Code-switching during parent–child reading interactions: Taking multiple theoretical perspectives. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. 10(2). 131–157. doi: 10.1177/1468798409345109.
Kuang, C. (2017). The implications of lah, ah, and hah as used by some speakers in Malaysia. Journal of Modern Languages, 14 (1), 133-153. Retrieved from https://jml.um.edu.my/article/view/3801
Lehti-Eklund, H. (2012). Code-switching to first language in repair – A resource for students’ problem solving in a foreign language classroom. International Journal of Bilingualism, 17 (2), 132–152.
doi: 10.1177/1367006912441416
Liu, J. (2010). Teachers’ Code-Switching to the L1 in EFL Classroom. The Open Applied Linguistics Journal, 3, 10 – 23.
Meyers-Scotton, C. (1997). Duelling Languages: Grammatical Structure in Code Switching. Clarendon. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books.
Navracsics, J. (Interviewer) & Grosjean, F. (Interviewee). (2002). Interview on Bilingualism [Interview transcript].Retrieved from http://www. francoisgrosjean.ch/interview_en.html.Ortega, L. (2014). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. London, Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books.
Poplack, S. (1980). Sometimes I'H start a sentence in Spanish Y TERMINOE EN ESPẬNOL: Toward a typology of code-switching. Linguistics, 18, 581-618. Retrieved from https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10315/.../CRLC00161.pdf
Skiba, R. (1997). Code switching as a countenance of language interference. The Internet TESL Journal, 3 (10). Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Skiba-CodeSwitching.html
Themistocleous, C. (2015). Digital code-switching between Cypriot and Standard Greek: Performance and identity play online. 19 (3). 282–297. doi: 10.1177/1367006913512727
Weston, D. A. (2012). Code-switching variation in Gibraltar. International Journal of Bilingualism. 17 (1). 3–22.
doi: 10.1177/1367006911429526