The supportive nature of Classroom Codeswitching functions in a Mexican EFL higher education language center: Does Codeswitching remain inadequately misunderstood?

Abstract

Classroom codeswitching continues to be a debatable topic in current education practice as some teachers believe that the alternate codes of two languages in the classroom can conflictive as others view it as positive. Currently, in multilingual societies of the 21st century, codeswitching (CS) is an everyday occurrence where both teachers and learners’ resort to their L1 in order to achieve a specific communicative purpose. From an interactional point of view, this case study deriving from my PhD work, examines how EFL university students are using CS functions for diverse classroom purposes such as equivalence, reiteration, and socializing in a predominantly “only in English” context. Specifically, observation sessions were carried out as these depictions demonstrated what was taking place in the classroom. Field notes are used to triangulate data; therefore, a more in-depth and solid analysis is brought forth as to how these resources are used. Consequently, classroom data was analyzed using an applied CA approach as it yields an explanation of the practices at hand that enable the participants of a conversation to negotiate meaning. Findings support Macaro´s (2014) argument that for CS discourse to be authenticated, it has to be accepted by both parties (teachers and students) in the classroom context. Meaning that CS is utilized for the purpose of learning as well as communication if and only if the participants in the discourse agree that the interaction involving CS is appropriate for the purpose it was intended. This classroom data evidences whether the L1 should be present is a matter, which needs reasoned discussion among policy makers and specifically educators to fully understand the supportive nature of CS in the language classroom.

Key words: Code-switching, only in English, code- switching functions, Conversation Analysis Approach, English as a foreign language