CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

The literature discussed in this chapter involves the following: Bilingualism, Code-Switching, and Code-

Switching in Educational Settings.

BILINGUALISM

To better understand the concept of code-switching, bilingualism should first be explained. According to

Moradi (2014), bilingualism is the use of at least two languages by a single person or a group of people.

Bilingualism is an established entity in all walks of life in the whole world (Shin, 2018). All people are

culturally and linguistically diverse. This diversity has paved the way for bilinguals to coexist with

monolinguals in every society since the era of nomadic and free-settling travellers. This has even caused

monolinguals to become bilinguals after some time of exposure to the latter. Although it is also essential to note

that there is no clear line between what makes up a bilingual versus a monolingual experience (Surrain & Luk,

2017, p.1).

Indeed, bilinguals are capable of speaking two languages; however, bilingualism can exist in many

ways. Some individuals are exposed to two languages from birth and continue to use both languages throughout

their lives (Kroll, J., Dussias, P., Bice, K., and Perrotti, L, 2014). Several situations might also cause someone to

become bilingual like migrating to a new place where your native language isn’t spoken, attending school

where one is needed to learn English even though his/her first language is not English, and for work-related

purposes like working at call centers and online-activities. This is why Luk and Bialystok (2013) stresses that

neither the language experiences nor the acquired competencies of bilinguals can be considered as similar and

categorical.

Additionally, highlighting the multi-dimensionality of bilingualism, Moradi (2014) suggested different

classifications of individual bilinguals which may be of help as well to the holistic understanding of this study.

A. Early and Late Bilinguals: On the one hand, early bilingualism is characterized as the securing of

more than one dialect within the preadolescent stage of life (Baetens Beardsmore, 1986: 28, as cited
 by Moradi, 2014). On the other hand, late bilingualism has been characterized as the securing of

one dialect some time recently and the other dialect after the age of 8.

B. Balanced and Dominant Bilinguals: In dominant bilingualism, the speaker is more proficient and

competent in one of the two languages, while a balanced bilingual is competent and proficient in

both languages (Moradi, 2014).

C. Compound, Coordinate, and Subordinate Bilinguals: According to Weinreich (1953, as cited by

Moradi, 2014), compound, coordinate, and subordinate distinctions deal with the properties of how

two or more linguistic codes are organized and stored by individuals.

D. Folk and Elite Bilinguals: Fishman (1977, as cited by Moradi, 2014) states that depending on the

social status of language, bilinguals can be classified into ‘folk’ and ‘elite’ bilinguals. Basically, folk

bilinguals are from the minority group; therefore, they do not have a high status in the society in

terms of language. In contrary, elite bilinguals are the complete opposite as they speak a dominant

language in the society.

E. Additive and Subtractive Bilinguals: Lambert (1974, as cited by Moradi, 2014) depicts that

depending on how one’s L2 influences the retention of one’s L1, bilinguals can be classified into

additive bilinguals and subtractive bilinguals. Bilinguals who can improve their L2 without losing

their L1 proficiency are called additive bilinguals, on the contrary, those whose L2 is acquired or

learned at the cost of losing their L1can be called as subtractive bilinguals.

CODE-SWITCHING

According to Ansar (2017), code-switching is a linguistic term where one or more languages are used in

communication particularly in a conversation. There are times wherein bilinguals may experience some

language obstacles during the whole interaction and so one strategic speech act he/she may do is to switch from

one code to another to be understood. Indeed, code switching is the most obvious indication of one’s bilingual

abilities (Gardner-Chloros, 2009, as cited by Shin, 2008).

have differently. One person may use his/her L1 at home, but his L2 at work, and one may talk to his/her friends

using both L1 and L2 simultaneously. Thus, code-switching is utilized. Consequently, it is also stressed that

bilingual speakers may also be doing extreme code switching with rapid changes of language within sentences

and phrase structures in a conversation turn (Green & Li, 2014).

Other studies have also elaborated and described the concept of code-switching. Yow, Tan, & Flynn

(2016) describes code-switching as a common phenomenon where bilingual individuals converse with one

another, switching words using two languages in that same discourse. Kharkhurin & Wei (2014) also explains

that code-switching can be viewed as a situation where various languages are mixed in a single speech

production. Additionally, code-switching is evidently a result of contact. In fact, Gardner-Chloros (2020)

stressed that code-switching is one of the most striking feature of language contact and that it clarifies a definite

synchronic evidence on how contact occurs in society.

Ansar (2017) emphasizes that code-switching may occur in an inter-sentential (between sentences) and

intra-sentential (within a single sentence) manner. She also explains the four major types of switching as a

reinforcement on her study on the observation of the use of code-switching and code-mixing during the

teaching-learning process in Indonesia. The following types are explained below:

A. Tag-switching: tags and specific set phrases in one language are embedded into an utterance

otherwise in another.

For example:

Teacher: “benar, that’s a good answer”! Tabipun, Now we come to the sociolinguistics

class. “Bagus, good job Santi”! Write geh, do not only read!

The words “that’s a good answer” can be considered a tag. Sometimes, emblematic code-

switching or tag switching can take the form of intra-sentential switching where categorical

equivalence exists between the two languages involved.

B. Intra-sentential switching: switches happen inside a clause or sentence boundary. It can take the

form such as, code changing, code mixing, insertion and congruent lexicalizations.
 For example:

Menurutku that’s a good idea! “open your matrik book and kerjakan page 10”! Can you

please tell me kalimat apa ini? I’ll give you a gift kalau kalian bisa jawab

The example above includes code-changing and completely shifts to another language system at

major constituent boundaries.

C. Inter-sentential switching: a change of language happens at sentence levels, where each clause or

sentence is in one language or the other.

For example:

T : “Have you done your homework, Aul”?

S : Sudah, Ms!

T : May I see?

S : ini Ms!

T : look at the picture and fill the blanks.

S : yang mana Ms?

T : On page 30

From the example above, inter-sentential code switches to relate speech that had already

occurred in other conversations in English. Moreover, this also happens more frequently thatn intra-

sentential code-switching.

D. Intra-code switching: a change occurs within a word boundary.

For example:

T: ujian hari ini open book! Listeningnya pake speaker Jurusan Lesson Plan kamu dah

siap belum? Scoring system IAIN seperti itu 50% final test, 30% mid test, dan 20% daily

performances

Nevertheless, it is also important to note that code-switching, used as a variable in this study, is different

from code-mixing. Code-switching and Code-mixing are most commonly treated as a phenomenon of the
spoken language, and in linguistics referring to using more than one language or variety in conversation

(Akhand & Hasan, 2015).

CODE SWITCHING IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS

A wide variety of studies have been conducted on code-switching in a sociolinguistic and pedagogical

perspective. Hall and Cook (2013) conducted a global study across 111 countries with 2,785 teachers. The

results showed widespread L1 use within English Language Teaching (ELT) classrooms. Teachers reported that

learners found L1 use easier to clarify ambiguous vocabulary and grammar. The researchers also identified L1

role in developing a positive classroom atmosphere. Yet, Cheng (2013) cautioned that despite the widely

acceptable use of CS, L1 should only be used in a controlled manner to explain difficult grammatical rules and

obscure linguistic concepts.

Research studies on the realism of classroom code switching (CS) showed differences in students and

teachers’ perspectives (Adriosh & Razi, 2019). In the Australian context, Ma (2019) investigated the various

functions of L1 use by the teacher and the students at elementary level with adult migrants. The results revealed

that the teachers used L1 frequently for pedagogical and social reasons. They also argued that it regulated the

classroom behavior. L1 was employed by the teachers to give instructions, to elicit answers, and to give

explanations. This proves how code-switching is fairly high in EFL classes and shows how students are prone in

using the L1 frequently in class (Horasan, 2014).

Finally, Al-Azzawi, Saadoon, and Madi (2015) also concluded how conversations that include people

from different social ranks bring about code switching too because French in Senegal is the language of the

educated elite. That means it will be a good idea to switch to French in such situations. Switching into Arabic is

the result of their need to talk to Arab students. They also used Arabic to practice it because they are studying

Arabic language these days. Thus, exploiting Arabic is part of their indulgence within their foreign setting of

study. It is a kind of accommodation strategy employed by the students.

With all the aforementioned literature on code-switching, the researcher believes there is an urgency to

conduct the study since most literature on code-switching and their application in the educational setting mostly
focuses on pedagogical and social aspects, but do not really shed light on code-switching’s effect and benefit in

teaching foreign literature.