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Code-switching of Experienced and Less Experienced Teachers in
Online EFL Classrooms on Distance Learning Television:
A Case Study
Jaturaphorn Kongbang
1
Michael Crabtree
2
Received 29 May 2020
Revised 26 June 2020
Published 8 July 2020
Abstract
The purpose of the present study is to examine any possible correlation between a
teacher’s years of professional experience and the frequency of code-switching in hisor her
classroom and to investigate the frequent functions and factors of code-switching made by
experienced and less experienced teachers. The subjects of this study were one Thai less
experienced teacher and one Thai experienced teacher from the Foreign Language Department
who use English as a medium of instruction in online classrooms on the Distance Learning
Television of Wang Klai Kangwon School. Data were collected from four online classroom
videos and a questionnaire for teachers. The results show there is no significant correlation
between Huberman 1989’s model of teachers’ professional experience and the frequency of
code-switching in the classroom. In fact, the experienced teacher switched back and forth
between Thai and English slightly more often than the less experienced teacher, which is not in
line with the stated hypothesis. The most frequent functions of code-switching were: asking
questions for the less experienced teacher and explaining concepts for the experienced
teacher, which in both cases may have been the result of teachers’ and students’ insufficient
command of English.
Keywords: Teaching Experience, Teacher’s code-switching, Frequency, Factors, Functions
1
Master’s degree student in English Department, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok,
Thailand
2
Lecturer in English Department, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
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บทคัดย่อ
1
1 4
2
English as a medium of instruction)
Distance Learning Television)
Huberman (1989)
1. Introduction
In Thailand, the English language has been integrated into the primary and secondary
school curriculum (English as a Foreign Language). This means that English is a required
course in schools nationwide. Moreover, an increasing number of programs at all levels of
education are conducted in English (Hengsadeehkul, Hengsadeekul, Koul, & Kaewkuekool,
2010). One major reason for this is the perceived need to equip Thai students with an adequate
command of English and to improve their opportunities for getting a job in a multinational
company Todd, 2006. Nevertheless, since the Thai language is the mother tongue of most
teachers and students, it is reasonable to assume that in English classrooms in Thailand,
language switching—or code-switching, which is a phenomenon involving two or more
languages used within the same utterance, occurs frequently.
Over the past decades, there have been many studies on code-switching in educational
settings. These have investigated its functions, factors, types, as well as the attitudes of both
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students and teachers towards the use of code-switching in the EFL classroom e.g. Azlan et.al,
2013; Yataganbaba, 2014; Iqbal, 2011; Jingxia, 2010; Üstünel, 2016; Ahmad & Jusoff, 2009.
Nevertheless, to the best of my knowledge, few studies have focused their attention on the
experience of teachers as a factor in the frequency of code-switching in classrooms.
Specifically, there is an apparent lack of studies which examine any possible correlation
between a teacher’s years of professional experience and the frequency of code-switching in
hisor her classroom, and this is what this paper will examine.
Huberman, 1989 (as cited in Villegas-Reimers, 2005)believed that teachers’
professional experience plays a key role in their teaching effectiveness. He defined the first
three years of teaching as the time for ‘survival and discovery’. Teachers at this phase are
considered ‘less experienced’ and often report feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. They are
struggling to cope with problems relating to students’ discipline through a continuous process
of trial and error. In short, less experienced teachers tend to struggle to teach compared to their
more experienced counterparts. This is especially true when the content they are assigned to
teach is sophisticated, as they frequently have a limited array of instructional strategies
(Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). Therefore, they are more likely to rely heavily on the
scope of textbooks and curriculum provided by the school or other teachers. In other words,
when teaching, inexperienced teachers tend to follow the materials or other teachers’ lesson
plans without employing any additional knowledge or strategies. However, Stern (1983found
that less experienced teachers become more established after two or three years of teaching.
They are more skilled at employing pedagogical strategies, identifying and managing the
content, constructing learning activities, and presenting knowledge in different formats. At this
stage, they become ‘experienced teachers’.
Given that less experienced teachers tend to lack strategies to cope with classroom
challenges, it may be hypothesized that less experienced Thai teachers of English tend to
code-switch more to their mother tongue compared to experienced teachers, since code-
switching is likely to be the default response of less experienced teachers to difficulties in the
EFL classrooms. The present study, therefore, aims to investigate whether any possible
correlation exists between a teacher’s years of professional experience and frequency of code-
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switching in hisor her classroom. Specifically, this paper will attempt to answer the following
questions.
Research Questions
1. Is there a significant correlation between Huberman 1989’s model of teachers’
professional experience and the frequency of code-switching in the classroom?
2. What are the functions of code-switching made by experienced and less experienced
teachers in online EFL classrooms on Distance Learning Television?
3. What are the factors of code-switching made by experienced and less experienced
teachers in online EFL classrooms on Distance Learning Television?
2. Literature Review
In this section, discussions on definitions, functions and factors of code-switching for
teachers in EFL classrooms as well as Huberman 1989’s model of teachers’ professional
experience will be provided respectively.
2.1 Code and Code-switching
Bernstein 1971 defines ‘code’ as any system of signals such as words, numbers,
letters and sounds which carry concrete meanings. Mayerhoff 2019put forward the concept of
‘code’ as any kind of lexical items within the same or across conversation which is a common
phenomenon in communities where two or more languages are used i.e. multilingual societies.
For example, ‘I’ refers to a Thai code ‘chăn. Any lexical items used by a person within the
same utterances can be called code-switching.
There have been various definitions of the term code-switching put forward. Crystal
(2008) defined code-switching as a phenomenon whereby two or more languages are used
within the same utterance. Gumperz 1972posited that code-switching is ‚the juxtaposition
within the same speech belonging to two different grammatical systems or subsystems‛ p.59.
As defined by Cook 2001, the term ‘code-switching’ refers to the process whereby one
language is used in another mid-speech when the interlocutors know the same languages. In
short, code-switching is a change from one language to another within a conversation or an
utterance which can happen either outside or inside the sentence.
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Research has also shown that code-switching can occur at either inter-sentential or
intra-sentential levels Poplack, 1980. In inter-sentential code-switching, the language is
switched outside the sentence, which is seen most often among fluent bilingual speakers. This
is, words, phrases or sentences are inserted either at the beginning or at the end of a sentence.
For instance, Thai speakers of English sometimes code-switch between ‚I don’t
understand.) and what are you talking about?‛ In contrast, in intra-sentential code-switching,
the shift between languages is only done within a sentence without hesitation or pause
indicating a shift. To be more specific, words or phrases are inserted in the middle of a
sentence such as ‚I am going to have) dinner.‛ and ‚I will) go to
market).‛
In the context of English as a foreign language classrooms EFL, code-switching is a
student’s or a teacher’s alternate use between his or her first language and the target language,
and this is the subject of this study. In sociolinguistics, some linguists use the terms code-
switching and code-mixing interchangeably, since both involve the use of words, phrases,
clauses or sentences within the same utterance (Mayerhoff, 2019); however, the present study
will use the term code-switching only.
2.2 Functions of Code-switching for Teachers in EFL Classrooms
There have been many attempts to classify the functions of code-switching in the
teaching-learning process. Reyes 2004, for example, found that functions of code-switching
are topic shift, situation switch, person specification, imitate quotation, giving emphasis, and
clarification and persuasion. Similarly, Uys and Van Dulm 2011 indicated in their study of
classroom code-switching that teachers frequently switched to their mother tongue for the sake
of translation. They found that teachers translated and explained some terms in Indonesian
when it was difficult to elaborate in the target language. This is substantiated by an excerpt from
interviews with teachers ‚Because language is about meaning and actually when we transfer
from Indonesian to English, English to Indonesian the possibility for us to be lost is easy. So, I
need to explain in Indonesian to make sure they understand the message‛. Jingxia 2010also
confirmed that Chinese teachers very often switch back to their mother tongue so as to translate
vocabulary words for their students. For instance, a teacher asked a student ‚what does ‘on the
ground ’mean?‛, and later switched to Chinese to provide a translation: ‚It means
由于
on
the ground.‛
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Moreover, code-switching by teachers in the language classroom was found to show
power and status Üstünel, 2016. For instance, it was observed that teachers at a Turkish state
university sometimes switched back to their L1 so as to react to disobedient behaviour of
students. Kiranmayi 2010 found that code-switching served to explain project procedures and
clarify directions for assignments. Teachers believe that students may misunderstand when they
read everything in English, and therefore switch back to their mother tongue to explain
procedures and directions, so that students get a clearer picture of what they should do. In a
study on teacher code-switching in classrooms for low English proficiency learners, Ahmad and
Jusoff 2009 indicated that teachers frequently code-switch in their L1 to check students’
comprehension. They observed that teachers explain the content in English, but they sometimes
go back and forth between Malaysian and English to make sure that students in fact do
understand the content.
Heigham and Crocker 2009observed that these various functions of code-switching
can be divided into two main categories: methodological and social functions. They found that
methodological functions relate to the pedagogical strategies of teachers in teaching the target
language — such as translation, explaining difficult concepts, giving emphasis etc. In contrast,
the social functions of code-switching relate to social activities between teachers and students
in the classroom such as disciplining students, dealing with students’ emotional needs, building
solidarity, and praising students. These functions are not directly relevant to target language
teaching.
2.3 Factors of Code-switching for Teachers in EFL Classrooms
There are many factors of code-switching by teachers in foreign language classrooms.
In Polio and Duff 1994’s study of foreign language classrooms, it was found that distance
between the L1 and the target language often resulted in code-switching by classroom
teachers. For instance, Thai and English do not share the same language systems such as
syntactic structures of passive constructions, vocabulary etc. Therefore, teachers may find it
difficult to explain some grammar concepts in the target language and use their mother tongue
to give clarification. In a subsequent study of teachers’ code-switching in EFL classrooms,
Jingxia 2010 posited that different features between L1 and L2 could be a factor in code-
switching, and this factor depends largely on teachers’ target language proficiency. That is,
when Chinese teachers of English cannot think of some English word, they switch back to use
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Chinese. This suggested that teachers who have a high proficiency in the target language
code-switch less to their L1. In addition to the proficiency of teachers, the researcher observed
that students’ proficiency also played a significant role in the code-switching of teachers—that
is, teachers often switch back to Chinese when their students ask them questions. Moreover,
Uys and Van Dulm 2011found that factors of code-switching in the EFL classroom come from
pedagogical materials and content. For instance, when teachers encounter complex directions
or some sophisticated grammar concepts in the materials, they often use their L1 instead of the
target language to explain these.
2.4 Code-Switching in EFL Classrooms
There have been many studies on code-switching in the foreign language classroom,
often focused on whether code-switching in the EFL classroom is beneficial. Many researchers
support the view that exclusive target language use is helpful. For instance, Fillmore 1985
posited that if learners adhere to their L1, they have no chance to develop their own in-built
language systems. This means that if teachers do not use the TL in the classrooms, they will
deprive learners of valuable TL input. Similarly, Krashen 1981argued that if learners are
exposed to extensive periods of the TL, they are more likely to master it. This suggests that
teaching entirely in the TL helps learners acquire the language more successfully.
In contrast, Azlan et al. 2013, whostudied the reasons for code-switching in the
classroom in a tertiary setting in Malaysia, found that teachers preferred code-switching in the
classroom, which they considered as a communicative strategy to help clarify difficult ideas for
their students. Similarly, code-switching was a teaching strategy used by bilingual teachers in
Pakistan to inspire their students to learnIqbal, 2011. Moreover, Simasiku et al. 2015found
that code-switching can support academic achievement. They suggested that learners will
understand more when teachers code switch to their mother tongue. Then and Ting 2009
found that teachers switched back to L1 in the classroom in order to make sure that students
understand what they had already said in English. They asserted that the alternating use of the
L1 and the TL is beneficial in facilitating learning.
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2.5 Huberman’s Model of Teachers’ Professional Experience
It is believed by Huberman 1989 that teachers’ professional experience plays a key
role in teaching effectiveness overall. Huberman, 1989 (as cited in Villegas-Reimers, 2005)
proposed five stages of teachers’development as follows:
Stage 1— ‘survival and discovery’ occurs around the first 3 years of teaching. Teachers
at this phase are considered ‘less experienced ones’, and often report feeling overwhelmed and
exhausted. They are struggling to cope with problems with students’ discipline through a
continuous process of trial and error.
Stage 2 — ‘stabilization’ occurs around the first 4-6 years of teaching. Teachers at this
stage become more established in their profession and passionate in the teaching community.
They also learn to develop their own pedagogical skills and use instructional strategies more
frequently. They are, therefore, considered ‘experienced teachers’. Similarly, Stern (1983found
that less experienced teachers become more established after two or three years of teaching.
They are more skilled at employing pedagogical strategies, identifying and managing the
content, constructing learning activities, and presenting knowledge in different formats.
Stage 3 — ‘experimentationactivism and stocktaking’ occurs around 7- 18 years of
teaching. Teachers need to experiment with new materials and more instructional strategies.
They become more active which leads to additional professional responsibilities such as head
of department and coordinator.
Stage 4 — ‘serenity and conservativism’ covers years 19- 30 of teaching. There are two
possible orientations: serenity or conservativism. Serene teachers may lose engagement in
teaching and often find that teaching is boring. In contrast, conservative teachers are skeptical
about educational innovations and educational policy. Huberman, 1989 (as cited in Villegas-
Reimers, 2005)further indicated that teachers at this stage are very experienced. Moreover,
they are found to attend formal workshops and conferences to develop their knowledge
frequently.
Stage 5 — ‘disengagement’ begins around 30 years of the career. Although teachers at
the stage are very experienced, they are likely to reduce their ambition and pay more attention
to their personal goals instead. They show decreased participation in training activities related
to their subjects, contents and performance standard and teaching methods.
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In light of the classifications above, it may be hypothesized that less experienced Thai
teachers tend to code-switch more to their mother tongue compared to experienced teachers,
since they may lack pedagogical strategies to cope with classroom challenges. The present
study, therefore, aims at identifying any significant correlation between Huberman 1989’s
model of teachers’ professional experience and the frequency of code-switching in the
classroom.
3. Methodology
This section discusses the research methodology, providing information on the subjects
3.1, a description of instruments3.2, data collection 3.3 and data analysis 3.4.
3.1 Subjects
The present study focused attention on teachers who teach in EFL online classrooms of
‘Distance Learning Television’, which is a well-known channel in Thailand. This distance
television is organized by Wang Klai Kangwon School under the patronage of His Majesty King
Rama IX to help eliminate educational inequality in remote area schools. The television has
many classrooms, teaching different subjects such as English, social studies and science, from
kindergarten to secondary level. Specifically, English classrooms at the secondary 1-3 level
were the subjects of investigation in this study, since the English language is used as a medium
of instruction (EMI) at this level but not for the secondary 4-6 level. This suggests that the
frequent switching between Thai and English among teachers and students is more likely to
occur in English classrooms of Online Distance Learning Television compared to other teachers
who exclusively use Thai in the classroom.
Therefore, the subjects were two Thai teachers from the Foreign Language Department
who use English as a medium of instruction in online classrooms on Distance Learning
Television of Wang Klai Kangwon School. They were selected on the basis of their years of
experience. One teacher had less than five years of teaching experience and received her
Bachelor’s degree in English, and the other teacher had more than five years of teaching
experience and received her Bachelor’s degree in English education. Both were assigned to
teach English grammar at secondary 1 – 3 level.
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3.2 Instruments
There were three instruments used to collect the data in this study: an online
questionnaire for teachers 3.2.1, the online classroom videos 3.2.2 and a code-switching
observation checklist 3.2.3.
3.2.1 An Online Questionnaire for Teachers
An online questionnaire was designed to collect personal and academic information
about teachers See Appendix 1. The teacher questionnaire had one section with nine items—
such as teaching experience, education and department. The items in the questionnaire were
drawn from the related literature.
3.2.2 Online Classroom Videos
There were four online classroom videos: two from the experienced teacher and two from
the less experienced teacher. Each video was approximately 52.50 minutes long. The online
classroom videos were used to collect data on the frequency, functions and factors of teachers’
code-switching.
3.2.3 A Code-Switching Observation Checklist
The observation checklist was constructed to investigate the frequency of functions and
factors of code-switching in online English-medium classrooms made by the experienced and
less experienced teachers. The observation sheet had fifteen expected functions and three
factors of code-switching which have been found to occur in English-medium classrooms. Some
expected functions, which were based on a study on code-switching in the EFL classrooms by
Bhatti et.al (2018), were chatting, greeting, asking questions, praising listeners, making listeners
attentive, explaining concepts, translating new words, amusing, quoting examples from life,
explaining difficult vocabulary, repeating important points and warning listeners. Some predicted
factors, given on the basis of Jingxia 2010’s study on teachers’ code-switching in the EFL
classroom, were materials/lesson and proficiency of students and teachers See Appendix 2.
3.3 Data Collection
An online questionnaire in the form of a Google sheet was administered via e-mail to all
lower secondary level teachers of the Department of Foreign Language at Wang Klai Kangwon
School to determine their teaching experience. Teachers were asked to scan a QR code given
and fill out a questionnaire within one week. Teachers who were found to teach in online
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classrooms on Distance Learning Television were chosen to be the target subjects, and they
were categorized based on their years of teaching experience.
The online English-medium classroom videos of the selected teachers were observed in
order to investigate the frequency of code-switching and its functions and factors. These videos
were transcribed, and the amount of Thai L1 and English TL spoken by teachers was
quantified. A starting point was set at 0:00, and from then on, every instance of switching from
English to Thai or vice versa was noted on the observation checklist by the researcher. Only the
teachers’ discourse was taken into consideration for code-switching.
3.4 Data Analysis
The answers from the online questionnaire were gathered to determine the teachers’
years of teaching experience. This was then used in analyzing teachers’ code-switching in the
following analysis to determine whether there is a correlation between a teacher’s years of
professional experience and the frequency of code-switching in hisor her classroom.
The data from online classroom videos was transcribed to analyse the functions and
factors of teachers’code-switching. The frequency of every instance of switching was counted
out of 52.50 minutes of class time, using the formula below:
N: Number of instances of each function
T: Total number from multiplying number of functions
Then, the factors for the teachers’ alternating use of L1 and the TL were identified by
observing the online video recordings based on the particular criterion. Since the analysis was
carried out by the researcher, it was important that another researcher who is an English
lecturer in the English Department, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University rechecked the
analysis to obtain inter-rater reliability. Eighty percent agreement on accuracy between the
researcher and the co-rater was acceptable. Then, the researcher reanalysed the data to
achieve the intra-rater reliability. In light of this, the analysed data were finalised.
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Finally, the frequency of code-switching by the less experienced teacher and the
experienced teacher was compared and calculated in the form of percentages to examine the
possible correlation between the teachers’ years of professional experience and the frequency
of code-switching in their classrooms.
4. Results
This section discusses the results and analysis of data. The results of the less
experienced teacher’s code-switching are discussed first 4.1, followed by the experienced
teacher’s code-switching 4.2, and the overall frequency of code-switching between the less
experienced and experienced teachers 4.3.
4.1 The results of the less experienced teacher’s code-switching
In terms of the functions of code switching made by the less experienced teacher noted
in two online classroom videos, six functions were identified from thirty five switches. In order of
frequency, they were: asking questions 34.28%, followed by translating new words and
sentences 22.86%, explaining concepts 14.29%, giving directions of content 14.29%,
quoting examples from life 8. 57 % and greeting 5.71 %See Table 1.
Table 1: Frequency of code-switching functions from two online classrooms videos made by
the less experienced teacher
Functions
Instances of
switching
%
Examples
Asking Questions
12
34.28%
1 ‘What else do you think I have in my
bag?
?.‛
Translating new
words and sentences
8
22.86%
2 ‚Diplomat ‛
Explaining concepts
5
14.29%
3 ‚Future events is like
right, I will go to
school late.‛
Giving directions of
5
4 ‚This exercise, you can draw a picture
in your notebook and answer the following
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Functions
Instances of
switching
%
Examples
content and
exercises
14.29%
questions
5 ‛
Quoting examples
from life
3
8.57%
5‚Style is a way who you are without
having to speak
...
‛
Greeting
2
5.71%
6 ‚Good Morning. How are you today?
‛
TOTAL
35
100%
Table 1 illustrates the functions of code-switching made by the less experienced teacher
noted in two online classroom videos. It was found that the teacher switched back to the Thai
language most often 12 times calculated as 34.28%so as to ask students questions.
Meanwhile, the teacher switched between L1 and the TL for the sake of translating new words
and sentences 8 times calculated as 22.86%. It was found that the teacher sometimes switched
back to her L1 to explain some grammar concepts 5 times, and to give the directions of content
and exercises 5 times, each accounting for 14.29% of total instances. On only 3 occasions or
8.57 % were the instances of switching found to convey the meaning of examples from her life,
and twice the teacher code-switched for greetings 5.71 %.
In terms of factors, it was observed by the researcher that the teacher sometimes or very
often switched back and forth between Thai and English because students could not or did not
respond to the questions asked in English. This suggested that they did not understand these
utterances in the target language, so the teacher switched back to her L1 to make sure that
students understood what she had already said in English. It is, therefore, reasonable to assume
that students’ insufficient command of the English language was a factor accounting for code-
switching.
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4.2 The results of the experienced teacher’s code-switching
There were seven functions of code-switching made by the experienced teacher
which were identified from thirty-eight switches from two videos. In descending order, these
functions were: explaining concepts 36.84%, followed by asking questions 18.42 %, giving
directions 15.80%, translating new words and sentences 13.16%, greeting, amusing and
quoting examples from life 5.26 %as the least See Table 2.
Table 2: Frequency of code-switching functions from two online classrooms videos made by
the experienced teacher
Functions
Instances of
switching
%
Examples
Explaining concepts
14
36.84%
7 ‚Past tense is used to refer to the
actions that happen in the past ?
‛
Asking Questions
7
18.42%
8‚These two sentences share the same
story or different story?
‛
Giving directions of
content and
exercises
6
15.80%
9‚Exercise 7.1, you practice more. You
put verbs past simple or past continuous.
Verb..‛
Translating new
words and sentences
5
13.16%
8‚Go out Phrasal Verb ‛
Quoting examples
from life
2
5.26%
9 ‚The best predictor of future events is
probably past events
‛
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Functions
Instances of
switching
%
Examples
Greeting
2
5.26%
10 ‚Good morning ‛
Amusing
2
5.26%
11 ‚I took a shower this morning
‛
TOTAL
38
100%
Table 2 shows the functions of code-switching made by the experienced teacher in two
online classroom videos. It was found that the experienced teacher switched back to her L1 14
times 36.84 % in order to elaborate on some grammar concepts. Asking students questions
was the second most common function, totaling 7 times or 18.42%. Moreover, the teacher
alternated between Thai and English to give directions of the content and exercises 6 times
15.80% and attempted to provide her learners with Thai equivalents of words and sentences 5
times, or 13.16%. Finally, the teacher code-switched 2 times 5.26% for amusing, greeting and
quoting examples from her personal life.
In terms of factors, it was observed that the experienced teacher very often drew upon
Thai when she found it difficult to explain certain grammar concepts in English when doing so
required complex language. During the lectures, it was observed that students were silent when
they were asked some questions in English, so the teacher switched back to her L1 to make
sure that students understood what she had already said in English. This suggests that
students’ insufficient command of the English language may have been a factor for the
experienced teacher’s code-switching.
4.3 Comparison of overall frequency of code-switching between less experienced and
experienced teachers
The results indicate that the experienced teacher switched back to Thai slightly
more frequently than the less experienced teacher See Table 3.
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Table 3: Comparison of overall frequency of code-switching between less experienced and
experienced teachers
Table 3 above displays the results of overall frequency of code-switching made by the
less experienced teacher and the experienced teacher. The less experienced teacher’s code-
switching accounted for 47.95 % of the total which is lower than the experienced teacher, who
accounted for the remaining 52.05%. The results indicate that the experienced teacher tended
to code-switch between Thai and English more often than the less experienced teacher.
5. Discussion
Clearly, the experienced teacher code-switched back and forth between Thai and
English slightly more often than the less experienced teacher. This means that the hypothesis,
that a less experienced Thai teacher tends to code-switch more than an experienced teacher, is
not confirmed by the results. Specifically, Huberman 1989’s model of teachers’ professional
experience is a general schema of teachers, but this study is examining teachers teaching
English as a foreign language. Therefore, there appeared other factors such as language
proficiency, making teachers switch back to their language. For example, it was found that the
less experienced teacher, who was younger, was more fluent in English than the experienced
teacher, owing perhaps to the fact that in the past, English language teaching in Thailand
employed a grammatical approach which focused on teaching English for knowledge about the
language, while a communicative approach is favored today Darasawang, 2007.
Consequently, this suggests that teachers who have more than five years experience may have
knowledge about the language, while teachers who have less experience and are generally
younger are likely to be better able to use English communicatively. Therefore, no significant
correlation between Huberman 1989’s model of teachers’ professional experience and the
frequency of code-switching in the classroom was found to exist.
Frequency (Percentage)
A less experienced teacher
An experienced teacher
47.95%
52.05%
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The functions of code-switching made by the less experienced teacher and
experienced teacher were mostly methodological, which is in accord with a study of code-
switching in the EFL classrooms by Bhatti et.al (2018). These functions primarily relate to the
pedagogical strategies of teachers in teaching the target language—such as translation,
explanation of difficult concepts, giving directions of the content and exercises, etc. Meanwhile,
code-switching also appeared to serve two social functions which are not directly relevant to
target language teaching— amusing and greeting. Specifically, although both teachers taught
English grammar, code-switching appeared to fulfill different functions. This is, the less
experienced teacher very often drew upon her L1 to ask students questions, which could have
been the result of students’ English proficiency. During the lectures, it was found that students
were unable to respond to the questions asked in English and were sometimes silent. Therefore,
the teacher switched back to Thai, and students tended to answer these questions willingly,
thus indicating a lack of comprehension accounted for the initial silence. In contrast, the
experienced teacher frequently code-switched to Thai in order to elaborate on grammar
concepts. This switching appeared to be the result of the teacher’s insufficient command of
English. This is, the teacher could not explain some grammar concepts using the English
language. For instance, the teacher could not explain an ongoing action of a past event, as she
often stopped explaining and self-corrected some sentences, showing that she had to deal with
complexity of language in explaining. Moreover, the experienced teacher switched back to L1
to amuse students, suggesting that she may employ a pedagogical strategy to inspire students
to learn. This idea is in line with Huberman 1989’s model of teachers’ professional
experience—that is, teachers who have more than five years of experience use instructional
strategies more often than less experienced teachers. Clearly, the factors are similar to those
Jingxia 2010 found in her study on teachers’ code-switching in EFL classrooms. That is, the
teacher’s code-switching is often caused by the fact that students and teachers have
insufficient command of the target language.
It can be seen that code-switching seems to be a pedagogical strategy of teachers in
teaching the target language, since it helps facilitate rather than hinder teaching and learning in
the classrooms. This is similar to results reported in previous studies by Azlan et al. 2013,
Iqbal 2011, Pollard 2002 and Then and Ting 2009.
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6. Conclusion
The findings show that the experienced teacher switched back and forth between Thai
and English slightly more often than the less experienced teacher, which is not in line with the
hypothesis stated. Therefore, code-switching is not the default response of a less experienced
teacher to difficulties in the EFL classrooms, and there is no significant correlation between
Huberman 1989’s model of teachers’ professional experience and the frequency of code-
switching. That is, the frequency of code-switching between less experienced and experienced
teachers is not significantly different in terms of percentage. The most frequently found functions
were: asking questions by the less experienced teacherand explaining concepts by the
experienced teacher, which may have been the result of teachers’ and students’ insufficient
command of English. Nevertheless, code-switching appeared to help rather than impede the
teaching and learning in online EFL classrooms on Distance Learning Television.
The implication here is that teachers should employ code-switching as a pedagogical
strategy because it helps facilitate teaching and learning and enables students to understand
what teachers have already said in English.
A major limitation of this study was the fact that this is a small scale case study, involving
a small number of subjects from a particular place. Therefore, it could not identify with any
certainty a correlation between a teacher’s years of teaching and his or her code-switching, and
the results are not generalizable enough. To see a clearer picture of this aspect, there should be
a large number of less experienced and experienced teachers involved.
Another limitation is that some variables were not taken into consideration in this study
such as the English proficiency of students and teachers and the content of the lessons, which
tend to have an influence on a teacher’s code-switching. Further study can be conducted to
investigate the role of teaching experience on code-switching in classrooms when students
have the same level of English proficiency. It could be that if students’ English proficiency is
different, it may not reflect the role of teaching experience on code-switching because teachers
tend to switch more often for students who have low English proficiency. Moreover, if teachers
do not come from the same educational background, it may not reflect the frequency of code-
switching, owing perhaps to the fact that teachers who major in English are likely to be more
Jaturaphorn Kongbang and Michael Crabtree 19
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fluent in English than those majoring in English education. Finally, only grammar classes were
the focus of this study. An examination of student conversation practice may yield different
results in the amount of code-switching which occurs.
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Appendix 1: A Questionnaire for Teachers
Dear participants,
This survey is conducted as part of a research project to determine whether the teaching
experience of teachers has influence on code-switching i.e. using English and Thai in the same
discoursedialogue in a classroom setting. The information you provide will be treated strictly as
confidential and be used purely for academic purposes.
Best regards,
Mr. Jaturaphorn Kongbang
Mater’s student in English Department,
Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
__________________________________________________________________________
PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC INFORMATION
PLEASE PUT A TICK-MARK ON THE APPROPRIATE ANSWER AND GIVE SOME
INFORMATION.
Name: ____________________________________________________.
E-mail:____________________________________________________.
Department: English Science Social Studies Other ___________
Age: __________years old
Gender: Male Female
Academic Qualification
English Proficiency: CEFR______ TOEFL______ IELTS______ TOEIC_____
Education: Bachelor in __________ Master in__________ Above_________
Teaching Experience: Less than 5 years More than 5 years
Jaturaphorn Kongbang and Michael Crabtree 23
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Appendix 2: Code-switching Observation Checklist
TEACHER NUMBER___________________________TIME_______________________
NO.
FUNCTIONS
FREQUENCY OF EACH FACTOR
(50 MINUTES)
MATERIAL/
LESSON
3PROFICIENCY
OF STUDENTS
4PROFICIENCY
OF TEACHERS
OTHERS
1
Greeting
2
Chatting
3
Building solidarity and
intimate relationship
4
Asking question
5
Praising listeners
6
Making listeners
attentive
7
Motivating students
8
Quoting examples from
life
9
Explaining concepts
and sentence meaning
10
Translating new words
and sentences
11
Repeating important
points
12
Explaining difficult
vocabulary
3
Content and Language Comprehension; Students may ask the teachers to translate some
sentences, repeat or explain the content again in their mother tongue due to some complexity.
4
Teachers’ ability to express particular knowledge and use the English language in teaching
Jaturaphorn Kongbang and Michael Crabtree 24
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NO.
FUNCTIONS
FREQUENCY OF EACH FACTOR
(50 MINUTES)
MATERIAL/
LESSON
3PROFICIENCY
OF STUDENTS
4PROFICIENCY
OF TEACHERS
OTHERS
13
Giving direction of the
content and exercises
14
Warning listeners
15
Amusing
