Author(s)

Haiyu Zhang ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne VIC, Australia

Corresponding Author

Haiyu Zhang

ABSTRACT

This article conducts a case study investigating how two English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers viewed code switching as a pedagogical strategy adopted in the secondary level of EFL teaching at a complementary language school in Chinese Mainland. Specifically, it aims to reveal the perceptions of Chinese teachers in three attitudinal components (cognition, affection, behavior) towards the underlying reasons, functions, and possible factors of code switching in EFL classrooms. This qualitative research conducted a detailed inquiry analysis via data collected from three-phase in-depth interviews. The study illustrates that both participants share positive cognitive attitudes regarding pedagogical code-switching strategy in classes due to its functional effectiveness, convenience, and communication benefits. Though holding contradictory personal preferences on code switching, both participants firmly believe code switching would be served as a long-term teaching strategy in their classes. Additionally, students' English proficiency is discovered as a prominent factor resulting in teachers' code-switching performances in class, followed by factors such as national education mode, teachers' language ability, and curriculum settings. The findings reported in this paper will present the voice of EFL teachers at a complementary language school, and contribute to our further understanding of teachers' considerations behind attitudes towards pedagogical code switching, as well as raise the awareness of the influence of sociocultural dimensions on code switching in EFL teaching. Meanwhile, the study is expected to call on increasing the awareness of the diversity of teachers' stances on pedagogical code switching, and to deepen the understanding of the reasons behind their attitudes by providing plausible factors and elaborations.

KEYWORDS

Teachers' code-switching, EFL teaching, pedagogical strategy, attitudinal components, influential factors

CITE THIS PAPER

Haiyu Zhang, Chinese Teachers' Attitudes towards Code Switching as a Pedagogical Strategy in EFL Classrooms. Curriculum and Teaching Methodology (2023) Vol. 6: 82-93. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/curtm.2023.061814.

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