Journal of Modern Languages

Vol. 29, (2019)

https://doi.org/10.22452/jml.vol29no1.3

ESL teachers’ perceptions and practices of code-switching in a

Malaysian Chinese independent secondary school

Wong Yee Von

[email protected]
University of Selangor, Malaysia

David Yoong
[email protected]
University of Malaya, Malaysia

Abstract
Code-switching (CS) is one of the communicative strategies used in defining and
structuring social relationships of speakers. In this study, we demonstrate how teachers
perceive and employ CS in a Malaysian Chinese Independent School (MCIS) English
classrooms to achieve communicative intents and to create a sense of belonging among
students. Ethnography recording of classroom discourse and semi-structured interviews
with seven English teachers were employed. The analysis reveals a noteworthy
commitment that CS does not only act as a pedagogical tool but also as a means of
facilitating interpersonal communication in class.

Keywords: Malaysian Chinese Secondary School, Classroom Code-switching

1. Introduction
Code-switching (CS) is a linguistic phenomenon where speakers switch one register (including
languages) to another in an interaction. Contrary to the perception that CS is evidence of deficient
language proficiency in bilingual speakers, educationists like Kuang and David (2015), and Reyes
(2004) suggest CS is natural in bilingual conversations. It serves as a device to assist interlocutors

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in achieving communicative goals. For instance, Ahmad and Jusoff’s (2009) study of 299 college
students in a Level 1 English communication proficiency class shows that the CS amongst
Malaysian college instructors was associated with their students’ learning accomplishments. When
asked, the majority of the students say that CS is utilised by their instructors to facilitate certain
actions, like checking for comprehension, clarifying new vocabulary, and overseeing classroom
exercises. CS is often used to mark social identities and relationships. CS creates etymological
solidarity, particularly between individuals who share a similar ethnocultural personality (Sert,
2005). Similarly, Crystal (2006) states that a speaker’s change from the majority dialect to the
minority one communicates solidarity with the minority group.
Within the Malaysia Chinese Independent School (MCIS) context, this indexical link
between the language choice of teachers and pedagogical practice is especially prevalent. Because
the primary level students had very little exposure to English, teachers employ the students’ native
language to engage them and to facilitate learning (Yao, 2011). In MCIS, the Chinese language is
the medium of instruction. English, on the other hand, is also taught to enable students to
communicate nationally and internationally. The use of CS in the MCIS ESL classroom does not
merely establish a means of accomplishing pedagogical goals, but also to signal a sense of
belonging. For instance, one of the teacher respondents in this research points out:

“Because we are in Chinese school, they feel like (.) If they feel like you know their
language, you have a certain connection to them(.) they will feel more connected to you
and they will be more accepting of you.”
[Teacher 3]

This teacher’s interpretation of CS reveals the existence of group membership norms and
presuppositions of language identities. CS can be a conscious strategy of constructing identity
(Thomas & Wareing, 2000). In the Malaysian context, Dumanig and David (2011) suggest that
CS are used “not because [people] have to, but because they want to”, indicating that CS serves
with a clear intended purpose. Additionally, How et al.’s (2015) study on the perceptions of
language vitality among primary vernacular school students in Malaysia discovered the frequent
use of Mandarin and Tamil in many contexts. The findings suggest that students have been
enculturated from young to use their mother tongue more than the other languages. The present

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study explores how Chinese ESL teachers use CS in classes to teach Chinese students who are not
quite competent in the English language, and it is driven by the following research questions:

i. What perception do ESL teachers have about the use of CS in the classroom?
ii. How is CS manifested in the ESL classroom?

The first question is answered using an interview research design, while the second question is
answered using an ethnographic recording research design.

2. The Formation of Malaysian Chinese Independent Schools: A Brief

Dossier
Chinese educational institutions in Malaya were established in the early nineteenth century by
Chinese settlers. This was done to provide their children with an opportunity to learn their mother
tongue languages or dialects. According to Ku (2003), Chinese Education in Malaysia was
developed to disseminate Chinese traditional values and to simultaneously instils the spirit of
nationalism and political awareness to students. However, the Chinese schools at that time were a
component of the vernacular education which were largely ignored by the British government
(Thock, 2013, p. 19).
Over time, Chinese educational institutions were seen as troublesome nests of ‘Chinese
nationalists’, and there were concerns that they could be instrumental in spreading political
sedition (Loh, 1975). Compounding this issue for the colonial masters was the May Fourth
Movement that spread anti-colonialism and democratic ideas. Not surprisingly, the Chinese
education movement in the 1920s encountered opposition from the English colonial government.
In two occasions, the Assistant Director of Education in the Straits Settlements in 1924 and the
Federated Malay States in 1931 tried to increase supervision activities of Chinese schools (Xia,
Yang & Lee, 2018). This, however, did not stop further establishments of Chinese institutions in
Peninsular Malaya. With the financial assistance of wealthy Chinese tycoons, Chinese schools
grew from 252 in 1921 to 1,015. This growth was interrupted by the Japanese occupation of
Malaya during World War II.
When the British regained administrative control of Malaya in 1945, the locals did not
receive them with open arms. There was also a great distrust towards the Chinese as the war

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reminded the populace of ethnic groups affiliations, of those who supported the Imperial Japanese
soldiers and Communism. To unite the nation, the 1951 Barnes Report aimed to nationalise all
vernacular schools, to make Malay and English the bilingual instructions, and to maintain the
English language in auxiliary schools. This was challenged by the Chinese, who wanted to use
their mother-tongue for education. In 1951, the United Chinese School Teachers’ Association of
Malaysia (UCSTAM), or ‘Jiao Zong’, was established in response to the Barnes Report of 1951 to
push for mother-tongue education. Soon after Malaysia got its independence, Chinese schools
were rebranded as Malaysian Chinese Independent Schools (MCIS).
The subsequent 1960 Rahman Talib Report and the 1961 Education Act viewed MCIS as
a ‘threat’. There was increasing pressure to convert MCISs to national medium schools in return
for state financing, and they were only allowed to conduct one-third of the school syllabus in
Chinese. Seventeen MCIS declined to conform to the arrangement (cited in Low, 2016) and
continued utilising Mandarin as the medium of instruction.
Under the supervision of Dong Jiao Zong to preserve, impart, and disseminate the Chinese
language and its culture, Chinese education streams have resisted government attempts to
assimilate into the national schools. Malaysia, to date, has become one of the few nations in the
world that has a comprehensive Chinese language education, alongside China and Taiwan, Hong
Kong, and Australia. Malaysia has a Chinese school system from elementary to advanced, forming
a complete Chinese education system (Xu & Xu, 2016). The ‘three-three’ education framework is
used, with three years of junior secondary school and another three years of senior secondary
school, similar to the school system practised in China and Taiwan. Each level often takes less
than a year, and students who fail their exams may be retained in the same level. Mandarin is the
main medium of instruction, with English and Malay being emphasised as well (Tay, 2007).
These schools execute a dual-track curriculum, in which MCIS education modules are
taught as the principal course, while the government public examination preparation is taught as
an accompaniment. The junior-middle 3 and senior-middle 2 students are required to sit for the
Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) examination. Additionally, they are required to sit for the
Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations. MCIS have
come a long way in displaying a strong sense of cultural separateness on the issue of the national
language and educational policies.

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3. Code-switching, Teachers’ Practices and Perception in the Classroom

The term ‘codes’ often means ‘speech varieties’ (Wardhaugh, 2010, p. 164), and they refer to the
use of different languages and registers. In this research, code-switching is understood as the
switch between two spoken languages - Standard English and Standard Mandarin, as these are the
registers used by the interlocutors in the recorded data. Studies show that CS in English as a Second
Language (ESL) classrooms can have desirable academic outcomes. Teachers can employ CS to
break the language barrier and assist students whenever students face difficulty by relating topics
to the students’ culture, or even to address behavioural problems (Lin, 2007). In the classroom,
teachers can also collaborate with their students using CS (Canagarajah, 2011). Indeed, Rahman
(2013)’s investigation in an ESL classroom in Assam reveals 65% of his teacher participants
employing CS to explain concepts and ideas to learners. The use of CS facilitates and supports
students in English language learning. Likewise, Simasiku et al. (2015) show that CS helps
students in mastering content subjects. In another study of CS, Yildiz and Yeşilyurt’s (2017)
Turkish participants advocate the use of Turkish in English classes. Turkish, as the students’
mother tongue is helpful in explaining new words, giving instructions, explaining grammatical
structures, checking to understand, providing feedback, joking and discussing classroom activities
with students, and testing.
Rolin-Ianziti and Brownlie (2002) show that CS can also have three main purposes:
translation, metalinguistic uses and communicative uses. Teachers can use CS to display
convergence and solidarity with their students. For instance, teachers may switch to L1 as a signal
of group membership and shared ethnicity with their students (see Chowdhury, 2012; Holmes,
2013; Barnes, 2012; Xiaofang, 2017). CS from English to the students’ mother tongue can be used
to tell jokes, talk about personal experiences, persuade others, and share ideas. Sert (2005)
proposed that CS creates etymological solidarity, particularly between individuals who share the
same ethnocultural personality. Comparably, Crystal (2002) states that a speaker’s change from
the majority dialect to the minority communicates solidarity with the minority group and builds
compatibility with the recipient.
Perception is defined as a reflection of a person to any stimulus from the outside. To form
perception, a person must first acknowledge and comprehend a certain event, and then an
individual would make a judgment and consequently react to it (Clopper et. al.,2013). In this
article, perception is referred to the teachers’ knowledge of teaching and learning in dealing with

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CS in the classroom. Numerous studies have discovered the correlation between perception of CS
and language practice in the second language classroom (Selamat, 2014; Leoanak & Amalo, 2018;
Lit et al., 2014). For instance, Selamat (2014), who focused her study on two Malaysian secondary
schools, discovered the presence of perception on her participants' towards the use of CS in the
classroom. The result, based on the context of the study, the teacher considered CS as a valuable
teaching and learning resource. Hence, the use of CS corresponds to actual CS practices. Likewise,
Leoanak and Amalo (2018) discovered that teachers in Indonesia perceive CS a positive strategy.
It enables them to facilitate teaching and to achieve lesson objectives. Liu et al. (2014) who studied
thirteen secondary schools in Korea found that teachers who did not regard the English subject as
being important used approximately less than 25% of the time in class as compared to those who
did.

4. Research Methods
This research was carried out in Chong Hwa Independent High School, one of the largest MCIS in
Kuala Lumpur with the demography of approximately 5,300 students and 400 staff members. Each
class has between 50 and 60 students. The students are generally Chinese, and it is the norm to
hear Mandarin as the lingua franca. The school employs a ‘three-three’ education framework,
where the students go through three years of junior and three years of senior secondary school
before receiving a diploma upon completion. A grade-retention system was carried out for those
who fail to acquire an average score of 60 per cent in a year. Moreover, the school manages and
groups students according to their previous academic performance.
English is an obligatory subject in the school. Junior and intermediate students attend six
English classes a week, while senior students have to attend eight classes a week. Each class is 40
minutes long. The EFL educators are from diverse academic backgrounds with teaching
experiences that range from a few months to 35 years. At the time of study, there were English
language teachers did not have English instructional training certificates, such as the Certificate in
Teaching English to Speaker of Other Languages (CELTA), Teaching English as a Second
Language (TESL), or Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).
The University of Malaya Research Ethics Committee Office approved the data collection
methods of this research, and consent was obtained from the Principal of the school and the
teachers. The teachers’ profiles are as follows:

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Table 1: Background of the Participants

Teacher Teacher Native Teachers’ Know about the term

(T) Highest Language Teaching ‘code-switching’
Academic Experience
YES NO
Background

1 Diploma Chinese 25 X

2 Masters Chinese 30 X

3 Bachelor Chinese 2 X

4 Bachelor Chinese 3 X

5 Bachelor Chinese 2 X

6 Bachelor Chinese 2 X

7 Bachelor Chinese 2 X

A total of 4.5 hours of classroom interactions and 14,744 words were recorded. As for the interview
with the teachers, the length of the session varied, ranging from 10-20 minutes. The interview and
classroom observation data were transcribed verbatim. The following methods were used to gather
classroom interaction data: First, a naturalistic approach was employed to preserve the authenticity
of the actual classroom speech. The teachers were provided with a recorder, and they switched it
on before the lessons began to reduce the observer’s paradox. Seven classroom recordings
beginning from October 2017 to November 2017 were collected. After each recording, the class
teacher was invited to participate in a one-on-one interview to answer Research Question 1. The
interview is also audio-recorded and transcribed. The survey response is then analysed using
Saldana (2015)’s first and second cycle coding. The first cycle of coding is the initial coding which
aims to identify the comprehensible codes in the transcript. In the second cycle coding, the
commonalities and grouping of the codes by similitudes are analysed. The following figure
illustrates the analysis process.

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Figure 1: Procedure of Extracting Data for Analysis

5. Results and Discussions

The analysis revealed that all teachers, through classroom observations and transcription analysis,
frequently used the Chinese language in their respective English language classrooms. However,
one of the teachers (T6) utilised 80.5% of the Chinese in her English classroom. She says that her
student prefers an instructor who speaks more Chinese in the English classroom. The recorded
number of words the teachers CS in the classroom is as follows:

Table 2: Language use in the observed Classrooms

Subject (T) English Chinese Bahasa Malaysia Total

T1 2627 483 2 3112

84.4 % 15.5 % 0.06% 99.96%

T2 830 745 1 1575

52.7% 47.3 0.06% 100.06%

T3 1523 846 0 2369

64.3% 35.7% 0.00% 100%

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T4 1225 74 1 1299
94.3% 5.7% 0.08% 100.8%

T5 1693 330 0 2023

83.7% 16.3% 0.00% 100%

T6 304 1259 1 1564

19.4% 80.5% 0.06% 100%

T7 2784 18 0 2802
99.4% 0.6% 0.00% 100%

Total 10986 3755 5 14744

(74.5%) (34.2%) (0.03%)

The collected data show how CS is a conscious strategy for teachers to enrich their classroom
learning environment. Among the emergent themes are as follows:
● Code-switching to facilitate learning (Section 5.1)
● Code-switching to compensate for students’ language deficit (Section 5.2)
● Code-switching to express personal opinions (Section 5.3)
● Code-switching to establishing rapport (Section 5.4)
● Code-switching to accommodate students’ attitude toward language learning (Section 5.5)

5.1. CS to Facilitate Learning

The teachers believe that CS aids learning. When asked about the perception of CS in the
classroom, all teachers explain that CS is ‘essential’ and ‘unavoidable’. This finding resonates with
other literature in CS (Sert, 2005; Moradkhani, 2012; Leoanak & Amalo, 2018). Among the
practical use of CS found in the present study are translating (Moradkhani, 2012; Pan & Pan, 2012)
and checking meaning and grammar (Cook, 2001).
Similarly, Lin (2008) states that translation is fundamental for students to apply what they
have learned before. In the example below, T4 & T5 performed direct translations of the lexical
items ‘吉祥物’ (mascot) and '无可否认的’ (undeniably) to assist students recognise the meaning
of the words in the lesson. Meanwhile, T2 chose first to translate the term ‘前辈’ because Chinese
kinship practices are associated with other ideas like filial piety, family loyalty and the continuity
of family lineage. The comparison of lexical items brings lessons closer to the students’ culture

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and raises an “awareness of the similarities and differences between the two languages”
(Chellappan, 1991).

Excerpt 1: CS to provide equivalent meaning

Translation T2 In this modern era, it is easy to lose tie with the tradition from our
forefathers…fore father 是前人前辈 ei 什么意思？ 在这摩登时
代, 我们很容易呢跟我们的先主们失去接触 (is fore-father ei
what’s the meaning? In this modern era, we are easily to lose tie with
our forefather

T4 Mascot, 吉祥物 (Mascot)

T5 undeniably, 无可否认的 (undeniably)

The data also show that teachers resort to CS to check meaning and grammar. The teachers
frequently ask questions in the Chinese language to check on students’ comprehension. According
to Cotton (2001), questions can be used to evaluate students’ understanding. Questions as shown
in the following excerpts can also be used as a tool for teachers to determine if students are ready
to move to another stage in the lesson.

Excerpt 2: CS questions to check comprehension

T4: 那 (then) people 加 (added with) S 是什么意思 (what meaning)?

S： Peoples

T4： Then… When do we use peoples?

S: (0.7) many people? (.) 就是很多很多人的时候（when there are many people?)

T4: Are you sure? person 是一个人（is one person), people 是两个以上 (is two and
above), peoples 是你要表达同一个区域一个以上的民族团体 (is when you
express more than one ethic group in one region)

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Excerpt 3: CS questions to check comprehension

T5: Aisyah received an offer letter 入 取 通 知 书 (offer letter) from Cambridge

University. 收到了哪里来的信件? (where does the letter from?)

S: Cambridge 的

T5: Ya... 对 （correct), Cambridge 的 (particle) 通知书 (offer letter)

Excerpt 4: CS questions to check comprehension

T1: What is crane?

S: 鹤 (crane)

T1: yes 鹤，什么颜色的 ? Yes, (crane, what is the colour?)

S: 白色 (white)

T1: 白色 (white)

In Excerpt 2, T4 tries to explain the use of ‘people’ in the singular and plural forms. The teachers
switched the ‘加‘ to check the students’ comprehension. When the student is not able to answer
the question correctly, the teacher switches to Chinese. Similarly, in Excerpt 3, the teacher (T5)
translates ‘official letter’ ‘入取通知书’ as a way of subtitling to help weaker students understand
the text. Meanwhile, Excerpt 4 is an elaboration on the word ‘crane’. The teacher begins by asking
students what the word ‘crane’ means, and then asking the colour of the crane. The teachers employ
CS in these questions to engage and assess their students’ understanding.

5.2. CS to Compensate for Students’ Language Deficit

In the ESL classroom, the teachers who are proficient English users often refrain from using
English exclusively in the classroom. Such restraint stems from the consideration of students who

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are not quite competent in English. As mentioned earlier, teachers tend to switch to Mandarin
because it is a language that is understood by the students. When asked, the teachers explain:

Excerpt 5: CS to compensate language deficits

If you speak mainly in English, some of them will not listen, just like when you want to scold
them, or you want to tell them something serious it’s better to tell them in Chinese, so they
will get the point.
(T1)

Excerpt 6: CS to compensate language deficits

Sometimes I think it’s very hard for me to just use English in the classroom, students are
weak, if I just use, they will just shut down and not listening, and don’t even want to speak.
(T4)

Excerpt 7: CS to compensate language deficits

Basically, it’s like I just felt that students would pay more attention and I felt like class is
quieter if I use Chinese language in the classroom because they will pay more attention.
(T6)

The teachers say that if they use mainly English in the classroom, their students will become
disengaged, and it will make controlling the class more challenging, thus reducing classroom
participation. As mentioned in previous studies, communicative divergence can create distance in
intelligibility between interlocutors (David & McLellan, 2011, p. 290) and such distance can be
counter-intuitive in the classroom, if learning is the main objective. Students learn better and form
healthier relationships with their instructors if their instructors are relatable. Similarly, T4 voiced
out the difficulty of engaging the students when English is the sole language use in the classroom.
Meanwhile, T6 noticed behaviour change in students when she switches her language. She found
that her students displayed more attention when she does this.

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It has been observed that the teachers commonly use English as their choice of language
when teaching English. Cook (2008, p. 181) stresses the importance of using the second language
in the beginning because it may be difficult for students to use it if teachers spoke in the native
language at the beginning of class. However, this study shows that teachers are quick to change
the language to Chinese when students are not following or are not clear about the instructor’s
guidance. This is shown in the following example:

Excerpt 8: Accommodating to students’ language needs

T2: Today we are going to go through this piece of exercise about information transfer.
So please open to this page, u should have it in your blue file. 有吗? 有人没有吗?
全部都有? (Has it? Does anyone don’t have this? Everyone has it?)

Excerpt 9: Accommodating to students’ language needs

T1: We have three more sessions before we will step into the exam hall. First, I have to
revise with your certain grammar topic that I think you should know lah. We will go
over again one or two topics, one of them is the conditional tenses…

S: 老师要做什么? (What does teacher want us to do?)

T1: 没有 (nothing)，做 (do) conditional tense，我要跟你们讨论一下。(I want to

discuss with you all for a while)

Excerpt 8 illustrates T2 informing students about the lesson of the day in English. She changes her
interaction when she finds out that students did not respond to her instruction after a long pause.
Possibly, she tries to avoid her student from being disengaged in the classroom. Meanwhile, T1
also begins his lessons in English. However, when students make inquiry in Chinese, the teacher
answers in Chinese. The teacher tries to minimise the difference between the students by switching
the language to become like theirs.

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5.3. CS to Express Personal Opinion

Another notable discovery from the data is CS is used to express the teachers' opinions, thoughts,
ideas and feelings. The following excerpt depicts teachers showing dissatisfaction towards
students’ behaviour in the classroom using CS.

Excerpt 10: CS to express feelings

T1 Tit for tat is an eye for an eye, a brat…. shhh… eh, 我不要教了 (I don’t want to
teach already) (silent) Brat is a child who is spoiled ...真的是 我不要教了 (Truly
is, I don’t want to teach already)

Excerpt 11: CS to express feelings

T1 Can do or not? Can? 很累啦 (so tired la) continue la next time, okay?

Excerpt 12: CS to express feelings

T7 Can I give this correct?

S Of course!

T7 Who teaches you that you can do this for your paper? no correction tape then
what you should do is this.... have I told you before that you should not do this?

S Yerr… why like this one?

T7 Okay, class, I will not give in if I have told you. don't tell me that you want to fight
for you marks or whatever if I have told you, I will not give in. 我如果跟你们讲
过了，我一定不会妥协。(If I have told you, I would not compromise)

T1 in Excerpt 10 is trying to explain the idioms ‘tit for tat’ is ‘an eye for an eye’. However, the
students were not listening to him. He switches his language to Chinese to express his
dissatisfaction. However, the first attempt was not successful, so the teacher switches once more
by uttering ‘真的是’ (truly is).

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CS for T7 on the other hand, happened when the students tried to plea for better the
examination marks with the teacher. She was interrupted several times too. She uses CS to express
her authority. Another example from T1 illustrates the teacher feeling fed up, and he presents a
rhetorical question of whether to continue the lesson or not. This resonates with Malik’s (1994)
study, where he asserted that tired or angry bilinguals tend to code-switch.

5.4. CS to Establish Rapport

Another notable finding in the study is the teacher’s attempt to establish rapport with the students.
Managing rapport can also include dealing with problematic students and reducing the social
distance between them. One way that teachers establish rapport is to tell CS jokes. For instance:

Excerpt 13: CS to establish rapport

T1: Okay so let’s look at the five questions on critical reading… shhh… those who
are weak at critical reading, please 来 (come), 5 题罢了 (five questions only)，我
的要求不高 (my requirement is not high), 娶老婆要求要高还是嫁老公 (but
marrying a wife or husband) Haha (S), what are your conditions？

In addition to the classroom study, the teacher endorses this in the interview because they believe
code-switching would help them to engage with their students better, hence create a more friendly
learning environment to catch students’ attention during the learning process, as shown in the
following excerpt.

Excerpt 14: CS to establish rapport

Nelson Mandela once said, if you speak to their mother tongue, you speak to their heart. If
you speak in their second language, you speak to their mind. So, having a second language
in the classroom also helps in building rapport with the students.
(T1)

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Excerpt 15: CS to establish rapport

if they feel like you know their language, you have a certain connection to them. They will
feel more connected to you and they will be more accepting of you. Supposed to sometimes,
some teachers, other races may find it difficult to control the classes, to teach the classes,
because they use different languages.
(T3)

Excerpt 16: CS to establish rapport

I must say that because their mother tongue is in Chinese language, if I use it, it does help in
building rapport, so students will pay more attention for example sometimes when I use an
English statement, they would understand but when I translate using Chinese, they will give
me response.
(T5)

T1 and T3 explain that using CS helps bridge the gap between teacher and students. Following
Sert (2005), CS allows the teacher to build a bridge from known to unknown and thus is an
essential element in language teaching when used effectively. Meanwhile, T5 talked about the
ability of code-switching in enabling students to perform and respond to the teacher’s question.
Metila (2009) says CS helps to improve class participation by inducing a relaxed class atmosphere
that allows students to perform much better.

5.5. CS to Accommodate Students’ Attitude towards Language Learning

The reason why we have teachers in the first place is the need to assist students in acquiring
knowledge for specific purposes. Therefore, students are the key person which affects teachers’
choice of language in delivering the lesson. Such diversity and dynamic of linguistic means are
found in the following excerpt:

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Excerpt 17: CS to facilitate learning

Supposed to sometimes, some teachers may find it difficult to control the classes, to teach
the classes, because they use different language.
(T3)

Excerpt 18: CS to facilitate learning

Students have complained to me that for several years when they were taught by non-Chinese
speaking teachers or by teachers who would not use Chinese language their learning
effectiveness was minimal.
(T2)

Excerpt 19: CS to facilitate learning

First, I heard, the feedback from the students that they prefer teacher who can speak Chinese
…
(T6)

Excerpt 20: CS to facilitate learning

I get feedback from the students is that ‘teacher we cannot really understand, so can u
translate. Of coz we will do that for our students, but I don’t know how to say, this is a
Chinese school, so the teacher really needs to like to communicate with students in mandarin
sometimes. The students they don’t dare to speak English if they think that their English is
weak and so on, so it is useful and I think we need to do that instead of using English only.
(T7)

T2, T3, and T6 provided feedback by comparing the situation in class with non-Chinese speaking
teachers. T7 claims that her students struggled to comprehend specific topics. Based on the
students’ feedback, she says teachers continue their pattern of teaching by employing the Chinese
language in the classroom. Meanwhile, T5, T7 and T8 stated that the characteristics of the school,
which is a Chinese school, compelled the use of the Chinese language to help them and the students

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achieve desired yields. This is a win-win situation for some teachers. As Levine (2003) states, the
year of instruction, the proficiency level of a target language, the level of motivation, and the
frequency of strategies on L2 use all have a great role in learning English. In this sense, L1 use
may yield positive results in teaching to students with low-level of proficiency or motivation, and
continuous use of target language may increase their anxiety and thus lead them to develop a
negative attitude towards the language.

6. Conclusion
This study provides insight into teaching practices and perception of CS through the investigation
of classroom discourse and a semi-structured interview with the ESL teachers in MCIS. The
analysis of the teachers’ classroom discourse suggests that teachers using CS is a common
phenomenon. It is a conscious move performed by the teacher in this institution, and it is perceived
to be a contributing factor to their professional development as it shapes the way they deliver their
lessons in the classroom. One fascinating finding is that while the Chinese language is the precept
language shared by the teachers and students, the findings show that English is still the stamped
language in the classroom.
CS is employed in both pedagogical and social function. The study corroborates all the
previous study of CS in classroom discourse. Specifically, from the present study, the teachers
widely use CS for translating, checking meaning and grammar. CS is a useful tool in transmitting
the knowledge which already existed in the students’ mother tongue language. One interesting
finding in the present study is the teacher CS by first comparing the lexical item, which is closer
to the students’ culture. A possible explanation for the findings is that the teacher hopes to raise
awareness of the similarities and differences between the two languages, which aid students in
making sense of the whole sentence. Another notable finding is that the teacher also found
employing both CS and questioning techniques to engage with the students when checking
students’ understanding of the text and grammar.
Contemporary studies often see CS as part of the translanguaging because both CS and
translanguaging consist of similar features. These features comprise of more than one language in
an interaction. CS is a switch between two different language systems and the competence of one
language is commonly above another. Translanguaging, on the other hand, attempts to co-construct
and strengthen both languages as it requires individual making meaning by engaging their

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‘linguistic repository’ and expand from that (Gracia & Liwei, 2014). In a pedagogical setting,
translanguaging is a planned strategy that enables students to make meaning and learn (Williams,
2002). In this study, all teachers do not perform translanguaging for pedagogical purposes. One
inference that can be made from the present study is that the teachers’ purpose is not to develop
bilingualism but to provide an understanding to the students in the topic. Switches happen
naturally, and the translation of Mandarin comes after what teachers say in English as a means of
helping students to understand the text so that the teachers can move on with their lessons quickly.
Apart from the pedagogical use of CS in the classroom, the analysis reveals CS as a strategy
to maintain teacher-student relationship in the English classroom. For instance, the present study
discovered teacher uses CS to accommodate students’ weak language proficiency. From here, we
can see that the teachers who are proficient in English language abruptly change the language to
learners’ mother tongue when they realised students are not giving any response to the teacher.
According to Esen (2016), speaker CS because they want to express themselves with a personal
style or flavour. In this sense, the teacher employed CS to express their opinion towards students
that misbehave in the classroom. Last but not least, it was noted by us that code-switch allow
teachers to create a stress-free environment. As a result, rapport is established between the teacher
and students when the students respond with a similar switch. CS can also elicit the students’
laughter.

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About the Authors

Wong Yee Von is a lecturer at the University of Selangor. She graduated with a Master of English as Second
Language from the University of Malaya.
Email: [email protected]

David Yoong is a linguist at the University of Malaya who specialises in Discourse Analysis.
Email: [email protected]

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