CODE SWITCHING IN TEACHING ENGLISH

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A Thesis
Presented to the
Faculty of the Institute of Graduate Studies
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
Diffun, Quirino

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In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION

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CELIA B.PAHALON
November 2016
 Chapter I

INTRODUCTION
Rationale

The selection of the language of instruction is a vital decision for academic institutes and

learners as well. Language educational policy for academic institutions in a centralized system

of education is often imposed by a governing body, whether that is a ministry, educational

board, or any other forms of governing organizations. Such decisions impacts learners’

academic performance in all subjects including English subjects. Teachers and learners’ alike are

mainly affected by this selection, yet learners’ opinions and believes rarely considered, and

usually excluded from this vital decision.

English enjoys the status of a universal lingua Franca in the modern world. It has singular

importance and lofty status amidst the comity of nations. It opens up vast vistas of knowledge

in all fields. It is the language of technology, business and education. It is almost impossible to

forge ahead with the global world without English. In consequence, most of schools all over the

world, even in the rural areas are providing instruction in English. Despite this positive practice,

the standard of English is declining day by day. There are various causes of this deterioration;

one of them is the inability of the students to comprehend what the teachers deliver in the

foreign language. Code-switching is an up-shot of bilingualism. It shows mixture of two

languages in interaction.

The Philippines, like any other post-colonial country, is an environment where a

diversity of languages exists. In a linguistically-rich environment, Filipinos acquire a number of

languages, English being one of them, in addition to the vernacular and the national language.
 The beginning of bilingualism or others call it as codeswitching started with the

development of the civil rights and people’s call for equality in opportunities in education

(Baker, 2011). Code switching is a change by a speaker of a language or language variety to

another. It can take place in many situations, for instance when a speaker asks his or her

question in one language while the other person answers in a different language or variety

(Clyne , 1987). It can happen between sentences or sometimes in the same sentence: “the

alternation of two languages at the word, phrase, clause, and sentence levels” Valdés-Fallis

(1976, p. 112). Students had the chance to study the same subjects in school either in English or

in their first languages. Being a linguistic phenomenon, its use has become widespread in post-

colonial countries such as the Philippines for the functions it serves the speakers in various

domains such as personal interaction, media, business, politics, science, and scholarship.

This undertaking is in line with the notion forwarded by Bernardo (2005) that

bilingualism can provide teachers the flexibility to express concepts and ideas with more

precision than they would in only one language. Rather than conform strictly to a one-language

of instruction policy, code mixing can be “a resource for improved student learning of content

and language skills.” (Bernardo, 2007) .The speech mode can aid teachers in simplifying

concepts for the students to make knowledge more accessible and promote better

understanding in the classroom. Moreover, for schools to be adaptive to the times, the New

London Group (cited in Bernardo, 2007, p. 14) asserts:

Every classroom will inevitably reconfigure the relationships of local and

global differences that are now so critical. To be relevant, learning processes

need to recruit, rather than attempt to ignore and erase the different
 subjectivities, interests, intentions, commitments, and purposes that students

bring to learning. Curriculum now needs to mesh with the different

subjectivities, and with their attendant languages, discourses, and registers, and

use these resources for learning. This is the necessary basis for a pedagogy that

opens possibilities for greater access (2000, p. 18).

Statement of the Problem

Research Questions

1. Perception of medium of instruction in learning English topics or lessons.

Q1. What language mode do students think is the best mode to learn English lessons?

Relationship between family background/expectation and students' academic ability:

Q.2a Do students with higher ability levels have more supportive family backgrounds?
 Q.2b Do students get help from their parents when they have problems in

understanding English?

0.2c Do students with higher ability levels have higher expectations from their parents

and themselves?

Teachers' and students' English proficiency

Q.3a Are teachers proficient to teach lessons in English using the English language?

Q.3b Are students proficient to learn lessons in English using the English language?

Q.3c Do students have problems in understanding the instructional speech used by the

teachers?

Q.3cl Should able students learn English lessons using the English language?

Q4. Can bilingual textbooks/examinations help students to learn English lessons?

Q5. How do different language media affect students' reading and writing skills?

Q6. How well do students/teachers agree with the school language policy?

IL Socio-economic aspects of medium of instruction

Attitude of students towards English medium education:

Q.7a How do students feel if they need to communicate in English?

Q.7b. Do students/teachers agree that English can offer greater opportunities to tertiary

education and better career prospects?

Q.7c Do students enjoy learning in English?

Attitude of students towards the use of English medium education:

Q.8a What is the attitude of students towards English medium education?

Q.8b Do students enjoy learning in English?