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Degree Project with Specialization in English Studies in Education
15 Credits, Second Cycle
Code-Switching in the Upper Secondary School EFL Classroom in Sweden
Kodväxling i gymnasieskolans engelskklassrum i Sverige
Moa Torvaldsdotter
Master of Arts/Science in Education, 300 credits English Studies in Education 7 June 2020
Examiner: Chrys Malilang Supervisor: Shaun Nolan
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
Department of Culture, Languages, and Media
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Abstract Code-switching has been shown to be beneficial for students’ language learning and for
strengthening their identities. Despite this, it can be interpreted that code-switching is
not encouraged in the syllabus for English in upper secondary school in Sweden.
Because of this potential disagreement, this study aims to broaden the knowledge of
how upper secondary school teachers relate to code-switching in their different
classrooms. Thereby, this study seeks to examine some upper secondary school EFL
teachers’ understanding of code-switching as well as the use of code-switching in their
different classrooms. In this qualitative study, four upper secondary school teachers of
English participated in semi-structured interviews followed by classroom observations.
The teachers represent all courses of English at upper secondary school level and they
represent schools with different programs and students with different first languages.
The results show that the teachers have limited knowledge of code-switching and that
they believe that a large amount of target language use in the classroom is favorable.
Nevertheless, the results also show that the teachers as well as their students use code-
switching both intentionally and unintentionally for various purposes, but none of the
participating teachers seem to use code-switching as a strategy to promote long-standing
language acquisition. However, the results indicate that the teachers seem to effectively
adapt their code-switching behavior to their student group. The findings of this study
are in line with earlier research where it, for instance, is argued that code-switching is
more suitable for classes with students with lower language proficiency.
Keywords: Code-switching; English language teaching; Multilingual classrooms; Upper
secondary education
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Table of Contents 1. Introduction...............................................................................................................4
2. AimandResearchQuestions................................................................................6
2.1. ResearchQuestions...........................................................................................................6
3. Background:Theory,PolicyDocuments,andRecentResearch...............7
3.1. MonolingualandMultilingualEducation...................................................................73.2. Code-Switching....................................................................................................................83.2.1.Code-SwitchinginForeignLanguageEducation...............................................................93.2.2.DifferenceBetweenCode-SwitchingandTranslanguaging.......................................113.2.3.ThePlaceofCode-SwitchingintheSteeringDocuments...........................................11
3.3. RecentResearchonCode-SwitchingintheClassroom.......................................12
4. Method.......................................................................................................................15
4.1. TheParticipants..............................................................................................................154.2. MaterialsandProcedure..............................................................................................164.2.1.Semi-StructuredInterviews....................................................................................................174.2.2.Observations..................................................................................................................................18
4.3. Analysis...............................................................................................................................194.4. EthicalConsiderations...................................................................................................19
5. ResultsandDiscussion........................................................................................20
5.1. EFLTeachers’AwarenessofCode-Switching.........................................................205.2. EFLTeachers’andTheirStudents’UsageofCode-Switching...........................245.2.1.IntentionalCode-Switching.....................................................................................................245.2.1.1. FocalizationonForm............................................................................................................245.2.1.2. CommunicationEffectiveness..........................................................................................255.2.1.3. RelationalPurposes..............................................................................................................285.2.1.4. Convenience.............................................................................................................................29
5.2.2.UnintentionalCode-Switching................................................................................................305.3. DifferenceintheUseofCode-SwitchingDependingontheStudents’
LanguageLevel.............................................................................................................................31
6. Conclusion................................................................................................................34
7. References................................................................................................................36
8. Appendix...................................................................................................................39
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1. Introduction Up until recently, the generally accepted approach to foreign and second language
(henceforth FL and L2) education was the monolingual approach, which advocates the
target language (TL) being the only language used in the classroom (García & Wei,
2013; Lundahl, 2019; Cummins, 2007). Within this approach, the use of students’ first
language (L1) is often seen as a failure and a sign of language deficiency (Cummins,
2007; Liebscher & Dailey-O’Cain, 2005). However, in an article by Cummins (2007) it
is stated that there is minimal pedagogical evidence supporting the exclusive use of the
TL in FL teaching. And as the world has become more globalized, the monolingual
approach has been questioned (García & Wei, 2013). Many researchers now perceive
students’ L1 as a resource in both language teaching and learning (Lundahl, 2019;
Cummins, 2007). Furthermore, it has been shown that code-switching, the switch
between two or more languages within a sentence or conversation, is a natural
phenomenon in bilingual speakers’ language use (Poplak, 1980). Using code-switching
as an educational approach in the FL classroom is to encourage students to use their
whole language repertoire, and it has not only been shown to be beneficial for students’
language learning (Moore, 2002; Liebscher & Dailey-O’Cain, 2005) but also for
strengthening their identities (McKay, 2012).
Although much research on code-switching has been done internationally, there is a
lack of studies regarding code-switching in English language education in a Swedish
context. Therefore, it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of code-switching in this
context. Lundahl (2019), however, states that the use of code-switching is dependent on
the students’ language level and, therefore, it might not be a beneficial approach in the
English language education in countries like Sweden where the students’ linguistic
levels are high. This view has also been prevalent within the courses of English in my
teaching training, where it has been conveyed that one should only use the TL in the
English classroom at upper secondary level. Furthermore, it can be interpreted that
code-switching is not encouraged in the syllabus for English in upper secondary school
in Sweden as it is stated that “Teaching should as far as possible be conducted in
English” (Skolverket, 2011a). However, in the commentary material for the subject
English provided by Skolverket (2011b), the National Agency for Education, it is
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expressed that on occasion, elements of other languages may occur in the classroom but
that it is dependent on the teachers’ professional judgment of the students’ need for
support. This clarification is in line with Lundahl (2019) highlighting that code-
switching could be used in classrooms with students with a lower linguistic language.
In contrast to the negative view of code-switching in the courses of English in my
teacher training, it has been viewed more positively within the courses of Swedish as an
L2 in the same teacher training. One possible explanation for this is that the syllabus for
Swedish as a second language (Skolverket, 2011c) emphasizes the importance of
multilingualism more explicitly, and it is, for example, stated that multilingualism is an
asset both for individuals and for the society. As such, there seems to be a disagreement
in the attitude towards code-switching within the subjects English and Swedish as an
L2, even though they are both being taught as an L2 or FL in Swedish upper secondary
schools. Considering the above, and the fact that FL classrooms are multilingual as
such, there is a reason to examine the approach to code-switching in English in upper
secondary school.
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2. Aim and Research Questions The aim of this study is to broaden the knowledge of how upper secondary school
teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Sweden relate to code-switching in
their different classrooms. Thereby, this study seeks to examine some upper secondary
school EFL teachers’ understanding of code-switching as well as the use of code-
switching in their different classrooms.
2.1. Research Questions 1. What is EFL teachers’ awareness of code-switching?
2. What are EFL teachers’ and their students’ usage of code-switching in the
classroom?
3. How does the use of code-switching differ depending on the students’ language
level?
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3. Background: Theory, Policy Documents, and Recent Research In this section, the theoretical concepts underpinning this study will be unpacked and
explained, namely monolingual and multilingual education. Thereafter, the key term
code-switching will be defined, unpacked and discussed in the context of the curriculum
documents. Lastly, relevant research on code-switching in EFL education will be
presented.
3.1. Monolingual and Multilingual Education As mentioned above, the monolingual principle has long prevailed in EFL teaching and
has been called the English-only discourse (Cummins, 2007; Liebscher & Dailey-
O’Cain, 2005; McKay, 2012). Cummins (2007) explains that this principle “emphasizes
instructional use of the target language (TL) to the exclusion of students’ L1, with the
goal of enabling learners to think in the TL with minimal interference from L1.”
(p.223). As it was believed that the languages interfered with each other, Liebscher and
Dailey-O’Cain (2005) explain that the monolingual principle, therefore, is based on the
idea of “compartmentalizing languages in learners’ minds in a kind of coordinate
bilingualism” (p.235). This principle evolved within the notion of learning an L2
through the direct method, which imitates the way a first language is acquired, meaning
that the TL is used both as medium and means of the language learning (Cummins,
2007). Support for this approach can be found, as greater use of the TL results in higher
achievement in the TL (Cummins, 2007). Therefore, in the context of FL teaching, the
use of students’ L1 is often seen as a failure by researchers and teachers (Cummins,
2007).
However, Cummins (2007) argues that there is minimal pedagogical evidence
supporting the exclusive use of English in ESL-education and that there is “no empirical
justification for any absolute exclusion of students’ L1 from TL instruction” (p.227). As
a result of this, it has been a shift in FL research over the years to an approach where the
students’ L1 is viewed as a resource and that the goal of language education is to
develop bilingual and bicultural identities and skills (Lundahl, 2019). Furthermore,
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Lundahl (2019) states that if students’ language ability is limited, it is natural that they
use all the language resources they have. Similar claims are made by Cummins (2007),
stating that conscious usage of students’ L1 can function as scaffolding to higher
language achievement. However, EFL education in a country like Sweden does not
fully apply to this approach, as the students’ language proficiency is high (Lundahl,
2019). Lundahl further argues that in this context it is beneficial to retain the English-
only principle, as this will help the students develop their language more. Therefore, he
concludes that the multilingual approach should be weighed against the importance of
using the TL.
Even though Swedish students’ language proficiency in English is high, Lundahl (2019)
states that Swedish often is used as a reference when teaching English in Sweden. This
could be problematic as Swedish classrooms consist of many students with other L1s
than Swedish, and therefore, might be disfavored by such an approach. As such, the
teachers’ intended scaffolding might become an additional barrier for these students. In
multilingual classrooms where the teacher does not know the students’ L1s, the teacher
could instead, for instance, create opportunities for students with the same L1 to support
each other with translations (Allard, Apt & Sacks, 2019).
3.2. Code-Switching One form of multilingual language use is code-switching, which is defined as “the
ability of plurilingual speakers to switch within or between sentences from and to the
codes in their repertoire, in order to fulfill communication needs triggered by decisions
concerning the communicative context in which they are immersed.” (Corocoll López
& González-Davies, 2016, p.69). This alternation occurs naturally in bilingual
communities where it requires a large degree of linguistic competence (Poplak, 1980;
Lightbown & Spada, 2013). That is, code-switching can be used in conversations where
all interlocutors share the same language repertoire (Lightbown & Spada, 2013), which
is often seen in bilingual settings such as Spanish-speaking communities in the United
States (Poplak, 1980). Code-switching can, in these settings, be used for various
purposes, for example to express solidarity, making a joke, or to signal personal identity
(Lightbown & Spada, 2013; McKay, 2012). The identity aspect is well discussed in
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research on multilingualism where it is argued that multilingualism is a fundamental
part of the creation of an identity (Auer, 1988; García & Wei, 2013; McKay, 2011).
Despite code-switching being a natural language phenomenon, and requires a large
degree of linguistic competence, it could also be a sign of insufficient language
proficiency. For example, a code-switching behavior might be the result of insufficient
knowledge in the L2 such as a lack of relevant vocabulary (Liebscher & Dailey-O’Cain;
2005; Lightbown & Spada 2013), or a way to avoid expressing oneself in the TL
(Lundahl, 2019). It might also be the result of speakers being too lazy to search for the
appropriate word (Gardner-Chloros, 2009). Because of this, code-switching has for a
long time been a stigmatized practice (García & Wei, 2013).
The concept code-switching, as presented in research (see, e.g. Auer, 1988; Corcoll
López & González-Davies, 2016), seem to exclusively cover oral language and thereby
excludes writing. Therefore, in conformity with previous research, this study defines
code-switching as an oral phenomenon. Moreover, in research, the different codes
within the concept of code-switching seem to mainly refer to recognized languages, and
therefore, this is also the definition of codes used in this study.
3.2.1. Code-Switching in Foreign Language Education
There are several purposes for using code-switching in the FL classroom. One purpose
is focalization on form (Moore, 2002), where the teacher, for example, chooses to use
the L1 when explaining certain unknown words or grammatical aspects in the TL
(Lundahl, 2019). Bensen and Çavtşoğlu (2013) show that teachers switch languages in
these situations for the purpose of clarifying meaning. This has also been shown to be
done by the teachers with the purpose of saving time in their teaching (Bensen &
Çavtşoğlu, 2013). That is, a second purpose of code-switching is communication
effectiveness (Moore, 2002) where it can function as a support for reading, listening, or
conversational comprehension (Lundahl, 2019). One example of such code-switching
can be found in teacher-student communication where the focus is on content, for
instance after reading a text. This can result in the teacher asking a question in the TL,
and the students are allowed to answer in the L1 to not break the flow of the
conversation in order to ensure that the students have understood the content. Moore
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(2002) states that in situations where the focus is on both content and language, code-
switching can be especially beneficial as it, for example, can enrich new concepts.
As shown, code-switching can be used both by teachers and students in educational
settings to facilitate learning. One example of how code-switching can be used to
benefit the language learning process is through the learning strategy Pedagogically
Based Code-Switching (PBCS) (Corocoll López & González-Davies, 2016). PBCS is
described as a strategy designed by the teacher aiming to create informed ways for
students to move between languages. This strategy is beneficial, Corocoll López and
González-Davies (2016) argue, since the learning of a language does not only involve
using the language but also to reflect on language use. Therefore, Corocoll López and
González-Davies (2016) highlight that code-switching should be used in FL learning as
it can facilitate the recognition of different language aspects.
McKay (2012) argues that it is beneficial to encourage code-switching in EFL
classrooms as it gives equal status to the students’ languages and allows students to use
their L1 to develop their English proficiency. Further, Liebscher and Dailey-O’Cain
(2005) found that students use code-switching both for participant-related functions,
such as adapting the choice of language to the language used by the individuals in the
conversation, and also for discourse-related functions, such as repeating one’s utterance
in another language if it was not being replied to in the first language. These examples
could be seen as informed strategies to support the communication, which corresponds
to one of the goals for the subject of English: “The ability to use different language
strategies in different contexts” (Skolverket, 2011a, p.2). Despite this, Moore (2002)
states that many L2 teachers still believe the notion of avoiding the use of L1 in L2
classes as much as possible. Yet, code-switching occurs in the classrooms, especially in
those consisting of students with a low linguistic level (Moore, 2002). It is also in these
classrooms that teacher code-switching has been found to be most beneficial for
students’ language development (Lee & Macaro, 2013). Lee and Macaro (2013) show
that even though both young and adult learners benefit from code-switching for
vocabulary acquisition, young learners’ gains were shown to be higher and also led to
higher vocabulary retention. For the adult groups, the result of vocabulary retention did
not differ between a code-switching instruction and an English-only instruction.
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3.2.2. Difference Between Code-Switching and Translanguaging
Lundahl (2019) highlights that since code-switching has negative connotations, many
researchers use the term translanguaging to refer to various approaches of using the
students’ language repertoire to facilitate learning. However, code-switching and
translanguaging are not synonymous. Translanguaging is defined by Canagarajah
(2011) as “the ability of multilingual speakers to shuttle between languages, treating the
diverse languages that form their repertoire as an integrated system” (p.401).
Translanguaging, García and Wei (2013) explain, differs from code-switching in that it
refers to “the speakers’ construction and use of original and complex interrelated
discursive practices that cannot be easily assigned to one or another traditional
definition of a language, but that makes up the speakers’ complete language repertoire.”
(p.22), whereas code-switching refers to a shift between two or more recognized
languages. That is, code-switching is a learning and communicative strategy that is
situated within the framework of translanguaging (Corcoll López & González-Davies,
2015). In this thesis, it is, therefore, relevant to use articles on translanguaging where
the code-switching aspect is transparent.
3.2.3. The Place of Code-Switching in the Steering Documents
In the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (Council of
Europe, 2001), a plurilingual approach to language teaching is promoted. In this
approach, the knowledge of more than one language is not understood as different
monolingual competences where the languages are strictly separated in the brain.
Instead, plurilingualism is explained as the notion of all the languages an individual
knows to be interrelated and together build up “a communicative competence to which
all knowledge and experience of language contributes” (p.4). A plurilingual
competence, they state, therefore allows alternations of the languages one knows where
a person can code switch during an utterance to achieve effective communication. A
plurilingual approach enables students to develop enriched identities and increases the
ability for further language learning (Council of Europe, 2001).
This positive attitude towards plurilingualism can also be found in the syllabus for the
subject English in upper secondary school (Skolverket, 2011a), where it is stated in the
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aim of the subject: “Teaching should encourage students' curiosity in language and
culture, and allow them to develop plurilingualism where skills in different languages
interact and support each other.” (p.1). Despite this promotion of plurilingualism, the
syllabus does not give more support to this approach. Instead, it is emphasized that
“Teaching should as far as possible be conducted in English.” (Skolverket, 2011a, p.1)
which can be interpreted as being somewhat in disagreement with the previous
statement. In the commentary material for the subject English (Skolverket, 2011b),
some reasons for the English-only approach are presented. These include increased
opportunities for input in the TL and that it will encourage students to use the TL
themselves. Nevertheless, it is also highlighted that occasional elements of Swedish or
students’ L1 can occur in the teaching, if the teacher considers it to contribute to
increased understanding.
3.3. Recent Research on Code-Switching in the Classroom Recent research indicates that teachers’ attitudes towards code-switching in the EFL
classroom are predominantly positive since they believe it can be useful for various
purposes (Allard et al., 2019; Lo, 2015; Simasiku, Kasanda & Smit, 2015; Yuvayapan,
2019; Zhu & Vanek, 2017). For example, it has been shown that teachers believe code-
switching to be useful for making students more active in the classroom, making
students more actively involved in their learning, giving access to content and ideas,
helping low proficiency students, and building bonds with the students (Allard et al.,
2019; Simasiku et al. 2015; Zhu & Vanek, 2017; Yuvayapan, 2019). Further, Allard et
al. (2019) state that the use of code-switching made the teacher avoid the “infantilizing
nature of the English-only classroom” (p.83), meaning that instead of having the
students rely on the teacher’s explanation each time they did not understand an
utterance in English, they could be more autonomous in their language learning by, for
example, translate and confer with their peers in the L1. Moreover, it has also been
shown that teachers use code-switching to provide translation, repetition, and to deliver
content (Lo, 2015; Zhu & Vanek, 2017). However, some teachers instead prefer a TL-
only principle to strengthen their students’ linguistic competence (Simasiku et al.,
2015). Similarly, Yuvayapan (2019) found that many teachers avoid using the L1 in the
classes, as it interferes with their notion of helping the students achieve a native-like
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competence in English. Yuvayapan (2019), further, discusses that this monolingual
teaching practice could be the result of factors such as the formulations in the
curriculum and the expectations from colleagues or institutions.
In the current research, students’ beliefs of code-switching in the classroom differ.
Kocaman and Aslan (2018) show that the majority of the students in their study
believed that some usage of L1 in the EFL classroom could be beneficial for instance
when explaining grammar, new words as well as differences between the L1 and L2. As
the students in this study expressed the necessity of the use of L1 in the classroom,
Kocaman and Aslan (2018) conclude that a bilingual approach should be taken, as it can
be good for maintaining good relations with the students. However, Allard et al. (2019)
found that some students were unsatisfied with their English development due to code-
switching in the classroom, and in Simasiku et al. (2015), teachers believed that their
students prefer to speak the TL in the classroom.
Despite the varying attitudes towards code-switching in the classroom, its use has
shown different results. For example, Allard et al. (2019) show that code-switching is
more beneficial when the students use it themselves rather than their teachers using it,
and that code-switching is not as beneficial for the students who do not share the same
L1 as the majority of the class. However, it has been found that code-switching
increases students' activity in the language classroom (Lo, 2015; Rahayu & Margana,
2018; Zhu & Vanek, 2017). Zhu and Vanek (2017) show that the use of code-switching
in the classroom enhances the level of student engagement and student talk. Similarly,
Lo (2015) shows that classes that adopted a code-switching pedagogy were more
interactive and less teacher-centered than classes with a TL-only principle. Rahayu and
Margana (2018) also found that code-switching made students more active, but they
highlight that this occurs negatively. That is, the students were more talkative but did
not speak English. In the compared classrooms, which applied a TL-only principle, the
students made more effort to pronounce words correctly as well as to comprehend the
meaning of the teachers’ utterances. In these classrooms it was found that the students
were more active in using the TL than the students taught through code-switching-based
instruction who were instead more comfortable using their L1.
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As mentioned in section 3.1 and 3.2.1, it is argued that the use of code-switching should
be adapted to the student group as its use differs depending on the students’ language
level. This is also found in current research showing that the teacher makes use of
students’ L1 more in classes where students' TL proficiency level is low (Lo, 2015). In
these classes, Lo found, the teacher mainly used the L1 and code-switched to English
mostly to teach English academic language or, for instance, to provide a translation of a
student’s L1 utterance into the L2. In the classes with students of higher language
ability, the teachers mainly used English, but occasionally made use of the L1 to help
deliver the content of the subjects to students. Moreover, in these classes, some teachers
switched to L1 for explaining difficult or abstract concepts, whereas others instead
elaborated more in the TL.
Even though it has been shown that some teachers adapt the use of code-switching to
the students’ language ability, research argues for a more conscious code-switching
pedagogy for it to benefit the students (Allard et al., 2019; Yuvayapan, 2019; Zhu &
Vanek, 2017). Yuvayapan (2019) states that the teachers’ usage of the L1 in class did
not seem to be a conscious strategy to promote a long-standing language acquisition,
but instead, it functioned as a tool to reduce the time for clarifications in the classroom.
Similar findings are presented in the study by Zhu and Vanek (2017), and they,
therefore, argue that code-switching should be used more efficiently as careless use of
the L1 gives students fewer opportunities to interact in the TL. Additionally, Allard et
al. (2019) also highlight the importance of hearing and using the TL in meaningful ways
in order to learn it. Zhu and Vanek (2017), therefore, suggest that code-switching could
be optimized by the teacher and the students together deciding on norms about language
use in the classroom.
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4. Method To achieve the purpose of this study, which is to examine upper secondary school
teachers’ understanding and use of code-switching in Swedish EFL classrooms, a
qualitative approach has been adapted. Two sets of data were collected to increase
validity, namely: semi-structured interviews with upper secondary school teachers of
English, and observations of digital video-based English lessons. The following section
describes and discusses the chosen methods, their implementation, the participants and
ends with a presentation of the ethical considerations.
4.1. The Participants Four teachers of EFL who work at different upper secondary schools in southern
Sweden participated in this project. For the participants to remain anonymous they have
been given the aliases such as T1 and T2. Table 1 below provides information about the
teachers’ age, their working experience, and the English courses they currently teach.
The teachers whose classes were observed were T2, T3 and T4.
The participants were selected through both convenience sampling and purposive
sampling. Due to the time limitation attributed to this project and the prevailing Corona
pandemic that has drastically changed teachers’ workdays, teachers who were already
known to the author were directly contacted to increase the likelihood of them
participating in the interviews. Nevertheless, Bryman (2016) states that convenience
sampling could be problematic as the participants might not be representative of
teachers as a whole and that it, therefore, is not possible to generalize the findings.
Therefore, a purposive sampling were also applied to ensure that “the sampling is
conducted with reference to the research questions” (Bryman, 2016, p.410), which in in
this study’s case implies that the interviewed teachers are representing all courses of
English at upper secondary school level, that is English 5, English 6 and English 7.
Furthermore, it implies that the teachers represent schools with both university
preparatory and vocational programs, and also schools where the majority are Swedish
L1 speakers and schools where most students have a different L1 than Swedish.
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It is also worth noting that T3 is not qualified to teach English. Nevertheless, T3 teaches
two courses of English, and therefore, it was motivated to include this participant as
T3’s English teaching activities reflect the reality in Swedish upper secondary schools
(Skolverket, 2019).
Table 1
Participating Teachers in This Study
Teacher Age Teaching Diploma
Subjects
English Courses They
Currently Teach
Work
Experience
Date of the
Interview
T1 28 History &
English
English 6 &
English 7
2 years 10 April 2020
T2 28 English
& Religion
English Elementary
Level, English 5 &
English 6
1,5 years 14 April 2020
T3 31 Swedish as a L2
& French
English 5 &
English 6
1,5 years 16 April 2020
T4 30 Swedish &
English
English 5 &
English 6
1 year 17 April 2020
4.2. Materials and Procedure As previously mentioned, a qualitative approach was adopted to address this study’s
research questions. Since the research questions focus on teachers’ understanding and
use of code-switching, the main empirical data is based on the interviews with the four
teachers. To increase the validity and reliability of the interpretation of the teachers’
assertions, observations of three of the teachers’ lessons were also made.
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4.2.1. Semi-Structured Interviews
To investigate teachers’ awareness and usage of code-switching, the main method for
this study is semi-structured interviews. Bryman (2016) states that semi-structured
interviews are commonly used when the investigation has a fairly clear focus and when
the interest lies in the interviewee’s point of view, which is the case of this study. The
interviews were conducted by using an interview guide (see Appendix 1), in which
questions to be covered were formulated. The questions are inspired by some of the
questions listed in Yuvavapan’s (2019) article, but modified to fit the purpose of this
study. During the interview, the order of the questions was then customized to the
answers given by the interviewee. Furthermore, follow-up questions were asked to gain
rich and detailed answers (Bryman, 2016).
To facilitate the carrying out of the interviews during the Spring 2020 Corona
pandemic, the interviews were held via the online video conferencing service Zoom
through Malmö University’s server. To manage Zoom’s security issues which became
apparent during this time, the following actions were taken: the invitations were e-
mailed to the participants with a personal note and it was made sure no one but the
interviewer and the interviewee entered the meeting. The video interviews were,
furthermore, recorded since, as Bryman (2016) states, this helps the interviewer pay
attention to what the interviewee answers and thereby ensures that no utterances go
unnoticed and that the right post-interview follow-up questions can be asked if needed.
Since Zoom does not allow recording audio only, video was also recorded. However,
the participants were informed that only the audio was going to be used in this study,
and therefore, the video files were deleted directly after the interviews.
The interviews took between 15-30 minutes and were carried out in Swedish, as this is
the participants’ first language and could perhaps therefore result in more detailed
answers. Shortly after the interviews were conducted they were transcribed. Kvale
(2007) states that the choice of transcription style should be chosen based on the
purpose of the research. Since the main interest in this study is on what the interviewees
said, and not on how they said it, the interviews were transformed into a written style
but it was chosen to include pauses and oral emotional expressions such as laughter, as
this could give clues to the interviewees’ attitudes.
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4.2.2. Observations
Since interviews only provide access to the reported behavior of the participants, it is
not certain that this behavior is accurate (Bryman, 2016). Therefore, to examine
teachers’ actual use of code-switching in a classroom setting, participant observations
with three of the four interviewed teachers were carried out, as not all wanted to
participate. Table 2 below provides some information about the observed lessons.
Table 2
Observed Lessons
Teacher English Course Date of the Observation
T2 English 6 30 April 2020
T3 English 5 22 April 2020
T4 English 5 28 April 2020
At the time of the observations, the participants’ schools had implemented distance
learning due to the prevailing Corona pandemic and the three observed lessons,
therefore, were online video-based lessons carried out on Google Meets. The teachers
had both their video and microphone turned on, whereas their students’ turned their
microphones on only when speaking. To not interfere with the lesson, the author’s
camera and microphone were turned off and the author remained passive throughout the
lessons. The observations were carried out a few days after the interviews were
conducted, which means that the teachers were aware of the focus of the observation.
This, together with the author’s presence in the online classroom, could have had an
impact on the behavior of both the teacher and the students.
The observations were carried out in terms of incidents, which Bryman (2016) explains
is to wait for something to happen and then record what follows from it. Furthermore,
19
Bryman states that when the focus of the observation is on a specific question, the
observation itself should be oriented to that research focus. As the focus of the
observation was on the possibly occurring code-switching in the classroom, the author
solely concentrated on what type of code-switching that occurred, when it occurred and
with what functions. During the observation, detailed field notes were taken to
remember what happened (Bryman, 2016).
4.3. Analysis After the data collection, the material was analyzed through a qualitative data analysis.
While reading through the material, meaningful units were identified and categorized
based on this study’s research questions. The first category regards teachers’ awareness
of code-switching and includes the teachers expressed knowledge, or lack of
knowledge, about code-switching. The second category regards the habits of code-
switching in which several sub-categories were found. These sub-categories were
partially inspired by the categories found in Bensen and Çavtşoğlu (2013) (see section
3.2.1). Lastly, the final category includes to what extent teachers adapt their code-
switching behavior to their student group. As the interviews were conducted in
Swedish, all quotations are translated into English. The quotations and their original
transcription in Swedish can be found in Appendix B.
4.4. Ethical Considerations In this study, the four main ethical guidelines stated by Vetenskapsrådet (2002) have
been applied in the design, the implementation and the synthesis of the interviews and
the observations. All the participants were informed of the purpose of the study and that
the participation was voluntary (the information requirement). The participants’ consent
was acquired through signed consent forms where the participants were informed that
they could cancel or revoke their participation at any time (the consent requirement),
they have been disidentified and they have received information about who will be able
to read this paper and that the collected material will be stored at Malmö University’s
server (the confidentiality requirement). Lastly, the participants have been informed that
the material will not be used for anything else but this paper and will be deleted when
this thesis has been examined (the requirement for usage).
20
5. Results and Discussion In this section, the results are presented according to the research questions of this
study. The first question regards EFL teachers’ awareness of code-switching, and the
second question regards EFL teachers’ and their students’ usage of code-switching in
the classroom. This question is, further, divided into two overall themes named
intentional and unintentional usage. The first theme, intentional usage, is then divided
into subsections that correspond to the different purposes of code-switching. Lastly,
results related to the third research question, namely how the use of code-switching
differ depending on the students’ language level, will be presented. These results are
subject to analytical discussion throughout this section.
5.1. EFL Teachers’ Awareness of Code-Switching The awareness of code-switching differed among the interviewed teachers. Only one of
the participants, T3, reported that he had knowledge of it whereas the other three were
unfamiliar with the concept prior to the interviews.
T3 remembered that he learned about code-switching when taking courses in Swedish
as a L2 during his teacher education. He expressed that code-switching both can
concern switching languages if the speaker is multilingual, but that it can also concern
“switching [language] styles” depending on the recipient and situation. An example of
this switch, T3 explained, can be to “shift between ‘chat language’ and written language
when writing an essay versus when writing on Messenger”. This explanation provided
by T3 does not fully correspond to the concept of code-switching (see the definition of
code-switching presented in section 3.2.) since T3 seems to interpret ‘codes’ as if it also
pertains to intra-language variety rather than recognized languages. However, in
conformity with code-switching, a switch in language styles requires the speaker to
adapt his or her utterances to the recipient and can be used for various purposes such as
to signal personal identity (Gardner-Chloros, 2009). Furthermore, T3’s explanation also
goes beyond the code-switching framework by including written text. As mentioned in
secion 3.2, the concept code-switching seem to exclusively cover oral language and
thereby excludes writing (see, e.g. Auer, 1988; Corcoll López & González-Davies,
21
2016). Accordingly, that T3 has understood code-switching in this way reveals some
limitations in his awareness.
In contrast to this, neither T1, T2, nor T4 expressed that they had any knowledge of
code-switching before the interviews, and both T1 and T2 mentioned that they searched
for the concept before the interview took place. Yet, T1 and T4 vaguely recalled the
concept code-switching being mentioned in the English courses during their teacher
education but did not remember the purpose of it. Upon the question of whether they
believed that code-switching could help students develop English language proficiency,
T1 replied hesitatingly: “I do not know how to answer that question” and continued
“well, yes, maybe”. T1 further said that one could of course learn English through the
use of Swedish by working with vocabulary lists and translation. These findings show
that the interviewed teachers have little to no knowledge about code-switching and its
potential benefits. By comparison, T3 shows awareness of the potential benefits of
code-switching in saying that he believes code-switching could help students develop
their English language proficiency. He stated:
“I do not think that there is any teacher who in good conscience could say that they only
speak English in class, and I do not think it is the most successful way either. I mean you
must be able to switch between explaining the assignment in English and provide
clarifications of some parts in Swedish.” (T3)
This utterance is in line with what Lundahl (2019) and Moore (2002) state being one of
the purposes for code-switching, namely to make communication more effective by
using code-switching as a support for listening comprehension.
Furthermore, T3 and T2 provided similar descriptions of today's students frequently
switching between Swedish and English, and that code-switching, therefore, is
inevitable and natural. These findings align with the foundations of code-switching
expressed by Poplak (1980) and Lightbown and Spada (2013), namely that code-
switching is a natural language phenomenon. However, T2 expressed that it occurs “not
in a positive sense” in the classroom. One interpretation of this utterance is that T2
believe students’ switch of language to be a sign of insufficient language proficiency.
This is in line with Liebscher & Dailey-O’Cain (2005) stating that code-switching could
22
be the result of insufficient knowledge in the TL, and also with Lundahl (2019) who
state that code-switching could be a way to avoid expressing oneself in the TL. T2’s
statement could, furthermore, be a result of his lack of knowledge of code-switching
and the impact of the syllabus (Skolverket, 2011a). As will be presented further down in
this section, T2 interprets the syllabus as a TL-only principle is being promoted, and
thereby, it signals that the L1 should be avoided. Another interpretation of T2’s
utterance is that he believes that the code-switching that appears in the classroom does
not occur in an informed way. This idea is supported in Zhu and Vanek (2017), who
found that aimless use of the L1 deprives students of important L2 interaction time.
This, furthermore, indicates that T2 gained some knowledge about code-switching from
searching for the concept before the interview as he, by expressing that code-switching
does not appear in a positive sense, reveals that he understands that code-switching
could occur in a positive sense. This is also in line with Rahayu and Margana (2018)
who found that allowing code-switching in the classroom made the students more
talkative but in a negative way as they did not speak English, whereas the students in
classrooms permeated by a TL-only principle were more active in using the TL.
In conformity with research (see, e.g. Yuvayapan, 2019; Allard et al., 2019), T3 argued
that it could be favorable to “use it [code-switching] consciously and clarify to the
students [...] when it is efficient and not to do it”. T3 further explained that even though
the goal is to speak English in the classroom, he does not believe in a classroom culture
where students are forbidden to use Swedish as this might result in students not daring
to ask questions or ask for clarifications in class. Instead, T3 believes that one should
lower the students’ bar to switch between the languages. This idea is supported in both
Zhu and Vanek (2017) and Lo (2015) who found that an adoption of a code-switching
pedagogy made the students more active in the classroom and it enhanced the level of
student talk. This is, furthermore, relevant to the communicative classroom as it is
stated in the aim for English in upper secondary school (Skolverket, 2011c) that
students’ should be given opportunities to interact in speech and to produce spoken
language.
All the interviewed teachers expressed that the TL should be used as much as possible
in the language classroom and provided different reasons for that. For example, T2
explained that code-switching is not promoted in the guidelines by Skolverket and he
23
interprets the guidelines as one should abide by English as much as possible in the
classroom. This finding partly agrees with the statements in the syllabus for English in
upper secondary school (Skolverket, 2011a) where it is state that “teaching should as far
as possible be conducted in English” (p.1), but does not take the expression of the
promotion of plurilingualism, expressed in the same syllabus, into account. T2’s
explanation is also supported in Yuvayapan (2019) who proposes that, despite the
potential advantages of code-switching, a TL-only practice could be the result of the
impact of the curriculum. A similar view as T2 presented was communicated by T3 who
said that one should mainly use the TL in language education in school. Although T3
did not explain this statement further, it is interpreted as he was referring to the same
passage in the syllabus as T2 did. Moreover, T1 said that he almost exclusively uses
English in the classroom and believes that “it generally does not impair the learning in
any way”. Here it can be seen that T2 relates to the commentary material for the subject
English (Skolverket, 2011b) where it is expressed that occasional elements of L1 could
be used in teaching if the teacher considers it as helpful to increase understanding.
Consequently, these ideas of using the TL as much as possible in the language
classroom expressed by both the syllabus and the participating teachers are in line with
Cummins (2007) and Lundahl (2019) who state that a greater use of the TL can result in
higher language achievement. Similarly, that T1 expressed that a TL-only practice did
not impair learning in any way, is also supported by the findings by Lee and Macaro
(2013). They show that adult students’ vocabulary acquisition did not differ between a
code-switching instruction and a TL-only instruction. In Lee and Macaro’s (2013)
study, adult learners refer to students at university level, and they state that proficiency
levels often accompany age differences. Since T1’s reports that his students are
relatively proficient in English (see section 5.3), a TL-only principle in T1’s classrooms
seems to be well-motivated.
Furthermore, T4 explained that she tries to use English for the most part in the
classroom to “create an English education which is as authentic as possible” and T2
mentioned that he assesses his students based on the idea that an English speaking
person should understand the students’ production. Therefore, if the student switches
between Swedish and English too much, the English speaking person would not
understand the message. This notion of using the TL as much as possible also
corroborates the findings by Simasiku et al. (2015) and Yuvayapan (2019) who found
24
that teachers prefer a TL-only principle to help students strengthen their linguistic
competence to acquire a native-like proficiency. This goal of reaching native-like
proficiency is not stated in the syllabus (Skolverket, 2011a). Instead, it is expressed that
students should develop knowledge of English “so that they have the ability, desire and
confidence to use English in different situations and for different purposes” (Skolverket,
2011a, p.1) in order to increase their opportunities to participate in “different social and
cultural contexts, as well as in global studies and in working life” (p.1).
5.2. EFL Teachers’ and Their Students’ Usage of Code-Switching Although most of the interviewed teachers lack knowledge of the concept of code-
switching, and they all expressed that a large amount of TL-use is favorable, all
participating teachers presented examples of code-switching in their teaching. Some of
these occurrences of code-switching were intentionally planned for whereas others
happened unintentionally.
5.2.1. Intentional Code-Switching
The examples of intentional code-switching found in the material regard the use of
code-switching to focalize on form, for communication effectiveness, for relational
purposes, and due to convenience to avoid using the TL.
5.2.1.1. Focalization on Form
All teachers but T2 spoke of using code-switching to focalize on form. For example, T1
expressed that he occasionally switches to Swedish to explain something grammatical
that he believes his students need to revise or if he, for example, “needs to explain the
difference in what the student says and what he instead should say”. That is, T1 clarifies
the inaccurate use of English in an utterance by providing an example of how the same
utterance would sound in Swedish. This finding is in line with what Moore (2002) and
Lundahl (2019) express as being one of the functions of using code-switching in the
classroom. Furthermore, this idea of using code-switching for a form focus is also
supported by Kocama and Aslan (2018) showing that students find it positive to make
use of the L1 for explaining grammar or for highlighting differences between the L1
25
and the L2. T1’s use of code-switching for this purpose is also in line with the
commentary material for English (Skolverket, 2011b) where it is expressed that
occasional elements of the L1 can occur if the teacher considers it to contribute to
increased understanding.
Moreover, T3 expressed that he uses code-switching when talking about difficult words
and their meaning. In those cases, he said, he can make quick comparisons between
different Latin languages since “many of the difficult words in both English and
Swedish have their origin [there]”. Furthermore, he tries to link difficult words to as
many languages as possible for the students to see connections between the languages.
In correspondence with the result presented above, T3’s examples of code-switching are
also in line with theory (Lundahl, 2019; Kocama & Aslan, 2018; Moore, 2002) where it
is expressed that code-switching can function as an effective tool for explaining new
words. Also, this use of code-switching can be promoted both by the desirable
plurilingual approach expressed in CEFR (Council of Europe, 2001) and in the syllabus
for English (Skolverket, 2011a) where it is stated that teaching should encourage
students’ curiosity in language.
5.2.1.2. Communication Effectiveness
All the participating teachers use code-switching for communication effectiveness. For
example, both T3 and T4 explained that if their students are uncertain of a specific word
or want to ask a question in Swedish, they encourage them to try to explain the word or
question in English, but if it does not work they allow them to use Swedish instead.
These findings corroborate the findings by Lo (2015) and Zhu and Vanek (2017), who
found that teachers use code-switching to provide translation in order for the students
to, for instance, access content. In the situations explained by T3 and T4, one could also
argue that the use of code-switching is a result of the lack of relevant vocabulary
(Lightbown & Spada, 2013). However, as the students await the teachers’ approval to
use the L1, it appears to be an informed strategy that students are able to use in the
classroom, which corresponds to one of the goals for the subject of English: “The
ability to use different language strategies in different contexts” (Skolverket, 2011a,
p.2). The idea of letting students code-switch is further supported by Zhu and Vanek
26
(2017) who show that code-switching encourages more student interactions, which is
relevant for promoting the communicative English classroom.
Furthermore, T4 explained that she shifts to Swedish on occasions where it is
particularly important that the information is getting through. For example, because of
the prevailing distance learning, she has sent e-mails to her students in Swedish to
ensure that important information gets through. This is in line with Allard et al. (2019)
who found that teachers believe code-switching to be useful for giving access to
content. Another example of code-switching in T4’s classroom is that T4 and her
students have agreed on her switching to Swedish when explaining or talking about the
knowledge requirements since the students must understand them. This was also shown
in the observed class of T4 where she explained a new assignment in English and
suddenly shifted to Swedish:
T4: Och eftersom det handlar om betygsättning går jag över till svenska
And since this is about grading I will move on to Swedish
This finding is an example of an intentionally planned code-switching and thus is what
Zhu and Vanek (2017) suggest as an optimized use of code-switching. Zhu and Vanek
(2017) state that the teacher and the students should agree on norms about language use
in the classroom, which is exactly what T4 has done in her classroom. She has
consequently given the students possibilities to influence the teaching and has adapted
the teaching to the students’ conditions and needs, which are two aspects required from
Skolverket (2011c).
In the same class, it was also shown that T4 uses code-switching to translate specific
words within a sentence:
T4: Do you need props, rekvisita, for your movie
props
Here, in contrast to the focalization on form (see section 5.2.1.1), the purpose of this
utterance by the teacher was to convey a message, that is, to explain an assignment, and
not specifically to teach the students this new word. Thereby, according to the author’s
27
interpretation, the purpose of this code-switch was to make the communication more
effective. This finding is in line with Lo (2015) and Zhu and Vanek (2017), showing
that teachers in their studies used code-switching for the same purposes.
Similar occurrences of code-switching were found in T3’s lesson. To exemplify, T3
gave the students the task to “write the headlines in abbreviations” and one of his
students’ immediately asked, in Swedish, what they were supposed to do. In this
particular case, T3 explained the task again, but this time in Swedish. This finding
corroborates the findings by Allard et al. (2019), showing that teachers use code-
switching to give access to content. Furthermore, Yuvavapan (2019) also shows that
teachers use code-switching to help low proficiency students, which the example from
T3’s class could be an example of. Other examples of code-switching for
communication effectiveness were when Swedish was used by the students to answer
questions, which is illustrated by the following example:
T3: What is a noun?
S: Substantiv
Noun
In cases like these, T3 explained after the observation, where T3 asks a relatively simple
question to see if the students are following, he finds it more efficient to let students
answer in Swedish instead of having them trying to explain what a specific term is in
English. That is, code-switching is used to make the communication more efficient,
which is also found in Moore (2002).
Lastly, T2 declared that in his classes of English at the elementary level he “has to rely
on Swedish to, for example, explain assignments”. He explained that when speaking
English in class he has to repeat and explain in Swedish what he just said so that his
students who “do not understand English” will get the message. In these classes,
student-coaches who speak the students’ L1s, which are not Swedish, aid T2 in
explaining the given assignments in the students’ L1s. Besides this, T2 also expressed
that he asks his students to use the online dictionary Lexin where they can use their L1
to understand an assignment or translate a word. These examples of code-switching
have a content focus and functions, as Moore (2002) and Lundahl (2019) state, as a
28
support for listening, reading, or conversational comprehension. That is, code-switching
is used for the students to be able to carry out assignments and the teacher adapts his
choice of language to the pupils so that they can develop their English, which is in line
with what McKay (2012) states being beneficial for the development of their English
proficiency. As T2 explains, his students are not that proficient in English, which means
that this finding is also in line with the findings in Lo (2019), showing that L1 is used to
a greater extent in classes where students’ TL proficiency level is low.
Throughout this section, several examples of the use of Swedish in the English language
classrooms are presented. Although the participating teachers seem to adapt their
teaching to their specific group of students, both Allard et al. (2019) and Lundahl
(2019) highlight that a shift from L2 to L1 in the classroom is not as beneficial for the
students who do not share the same L1 as the majority of the class. In all the
participating teachers’ classes, there were students with other L1s than Swedish. As
such, these students might be disfavored by the approach where Swedish is used as a
reference when learning English. Nevertheless, as the participating teachers are not
proficient in the students’ L1s, they cannot use those languages when giving
instructions. Instead, when they notice that the students do not understand what is being
said in English, they switch to Swedish. As such, they make use of the languages they
know, intending to fulfill communication needs. Also, the teachers provide other
communicative support for the students who might not be benefited by this code-switch.
One example of this is T2’s classroom practices where student-coaches who speak the
students’ L1s are able to assist the students, and that T2 encourages students to use
translations.
5.2.1.3. Relational Purposes
Both T1 and T4 mentioned that they use code-switching for relational purposes. T1
pointed out that if a student comes to him after class and explains that he or she is not
feeling well or is feeling stressed, he switches to Swedish; “if I notice it [that the student
is not feeling well] and still would continue with English, it just feels annoying”.
Instead of talking to the students in English with the purpose of developing their skills
in those situations, T1 wants to “talk to them for real”. Similar examples were provided
by T4 who explained “I get a completely different relationship with them [the students]
29
when I speak Swedish”. This was also shown in the lesson observation with T4, where
one of the students stayed in the virtual classroom while the rest of the class logged out.
The conversation that took place between T4 and the student, in which the student was
crying and told T4 that she was stressed and T4 tried to support the student, was
conducted solely in Swedish. These results corroborate the findings by Yuvayapan
(2019) who shows that the teachers in her study believed code-switching to be useful
for building bonds with the students. This is furthermore an example of where the
teachers step out of their professional roles as teachers, where their main goal is to teach
students the TL, and enters a more informal role where their main goal is to maintain a
good relationship with their students.
5.2.1.4. Convenience
All the participating teachers provided examples of code-switching due to convenience
in their classrooms. Based on these findings, it seems like this occurrence of code-
switching is due to students’ insecurity. For instance, T1 explained that a few of his
students show resistance towards speaking English in front of the class. Likewise, T2
said that his students prefer to speak Swedish or Arabic in the classroom because he
believes they “prefer to speak what they are more comfortable speaking”. Similarly, T3
said that most of his students prefer to speak Swedish in the classroom because “in
general, they do not speak it [English] outside the classroom”. These examples of code-
switching could be a sign of students’ lack of proficiency in the TL. As Lundahl (2019)
states, a code-switching behavior could be a way to avoid expressing oneself in the TL.
Or it could also be the result of the lack of relevant vocabulary (Lightbown & Spada,
2013). Another interpretation of this could be that the students are lazy seeing that
Gardner-Chloros (2009) states that bilingual speakers themselves report that they
sometimes use code-switching when they cannot be bothered to find the appropriate
word in the language. In these cases of code-switching due to convenience, code-
switching does not function as an informed way to reach higher linguistic competence,
but it could potentially function as a way to signal personal identity, which Lightbown
and Spada (2013) and McKay (2012) state is one of the functions of code-switching.
These findings are also examples of using code-switching to avoid expressing oneself in
the TL (Lundahl, 2019).
30
Furthermore, T2 mentioned that some of his students do not dare to express themselves
in English because they are ashamed of their language. T2 believes that the students do
not want to expose themselves to say something or pronounce a word incorrectly
because they are afraid that the class will laugh. A similar description was also shown
by T4, where she expressed that in her English classes, most students are Swedish L1
speakers, but some are English L1 speakers. In these classes, T4 has noticed that some
Swedish L1 students do not dare to speak English to the same extent, as she believes
they would have done if there were no English L1 students in the class.
5.2.2. Unintentional Code-Switching
The examples of unintentional code-switching found in the material regard code-
switching due to forgetfulness. All the participating teachers explained that both their
students and themselves sometimes tend to forget to speak English. T1 described how if
a student comes up to him outside of class and asks about something, he answers in
Swedish because he is not “in an English mode”. Also, both T2 and T3 said that they
occasionally forget to speak English themselves in the classroom, and T2, therefore,
sometimes receives complaints from his students for doing that. The example from T2’s
classroom is in line with what Allard et al. (2019) found in their study, namely that
some students are unsatisfied with their English language development due to the use of
L1 in the classroom. It is also in line with what Simasiku et al. (2015) found, namely
that teachers believed that their students prefer to speak the TL in the classroom. In the
study by Zhu and Vanek (2017), they also warn against L1 overuse in these types of
settings but argue for a need to optimize the use of L1 to ensure comprehensible input.
Moreover, T2, T3, and T4 all provided stories of their students forgetting to speak
English in the classroom. For example, T2 reported that many of his students switch to
Swedish unconsciously while speaking and, for example, frequently add the Swedish
filler word “liksom” while speaking English. Furthermore, T3 said that his students tend
to forget to speak English while working in class and that it usually is enough for him to
walk around in the classroom for the students to realize that they are speaking Swedish
and immediately switch to English again. A similar report was given by T4 who showed
an understanding of the tendency to forget to speak English as she expressed that it is
unnatural to speak another language with someone whom you know speaks your L1.
31
Therefore, she pointed out that “one must force ones’ brain” to focus on the L2 and that
is why she finds it important that everyone in the class tries to solely speak English. An
example of forgetting to speak English was observed in T4’s lesson:
S: Vilka filmer har blivit tagna?
What movies have been taken?
T4: Can you say that in English?
S: Oh, yes, which movies are already taken?
In this example, the student asks a question in Swedish upon which T4 reminds her to
speak English. The student reacts with an “oh” which indicates that she had forgotten to
speak English and immediately after she repeats the question in English.
These examples of unintentional code-switching could be explained by the nature of
code-switching, namely that it occurs naturally in bilingual settings and that it can be
used in conversations where all interlocutors share the same language repertoire
(Lightbown & Spada, 2013). As shown in this section, code-switching seems to happen
frequently in these settings where the teacher shares the same L1 as the students. That
is, a code-switching behavior is functional, yet to some extent undesirable, in the
participants’ classrooms. This is, for example, the case with the students’ use of the
Swedish filler word “liksom”. This filler word does not have a corresponding word in
English, and therefore, code-switching, in this case, does not seem to be a sign of
insufficient language use. Instead, it seems to be consistent with the nature of code-
switching as it is used to fulfill communicative needs (Corocoll López & González-
Davies, 2016).
5.3. Difference in the Use of Code-Switching Depending on the Students’ Language Level The third research question seeks to answer how teachers’ choices of code-switching in
the classroom differ depending on their students’ language level. As illustrated by the
interviewed teachers, the use of other languages than English seems to differ between
the different English courses as well as their student groups. One exception to this is
illustrated by T4 who said that she does not adapt her language at all regardless of the
English course since she tries to “have this genuine English in the classroom always”.
32
As previously mentioned, T1 practices an English-only principle in his classrooms and
motivated this by explaining that an exclusive use of English will make the students
learn more of the language. T1 explained that his students are “generally very, very
good at speaking English” and that some of his students have English as their L1
whereas other Swedish L1 students speak English as if it was their L1. T1 said that “I
would say that all my students keep up with everything we do, even though I am only
speaking English” and instead of switching to Swedish, he adapts his language to
different levels. He gives an example of when the students are working with a project
about, for instance, the climate and they are supposed to use difficult vocabulary he tries
to “take it down to a less abstract level and talk about what the terms mean instead of
blurting out the terms and thereby lose the students”. Another example of adaptation to
the students’ levels was provided by T2 who explained that he is much more strict with
the English-only principle in English 6 than he is in English 5. He described that “in
English 5, if they happen to say something in Swedish or if they maybe ask how
something is pronounced or so, one can overlook it in English 5, but not in English 6”.
These findings are in line with previous research and theory (Lo, 2015; Lundahl, 2019).
For example, Lundahl (2019) argues that the usage of code-switching should be
dependent on the students’ language level, which both T1 and T2 seem to have adapted.
Similarly, in the study by Lo (2015), it was found that the teacher makes use of
students’ L1 more in classes where the students TL proficiency level is low. In this
study it was found that in classes with students of higher language ability, as is the case
for T1 and T2’s classes, the teachers occasionally made use of the L1 as a support, but
in some cases the teachers instead elaborated more in the TL. Moreover, both T2 and
T3’s code-switching behavior is in line with the recommendations from Skolverket
(2011c), namely to adapt the teaching to the specific students’ needs.
T3 said that he speaks more Swedish in the course English 5 than in English 6 because
the language requirements are lower in English 5. Furthermore, T3 explained that the
students taking that course are in a vocational program, and “their goal only has to be to
get an E in the course to get their school leaving certificate”, and therefore he puts more
effort into pushing them over that finish line. On the other hand, in the English 6 course,
T3 explained that “the idea is that you should be able to study at university afterward
and be able to have course books in English and lectures in English, so therefore one
does one's students a disservice if one adapts too much there”. These findings, similar to
33
the findings presented above, are supported by the recommendations by the national
curriculum (Skolverket, 2011c) where it is expressed that education should be adapted
to the students’ conditions and needs. However, in the same curriculum (Skolverket,
2011c) is stated that each person working in the school should give all students support
and stimulus so that they can develop as far as possible. As such, T3’s statement on
students in the vocational program only has to get an E in English could potentially be
problematic as they might not be encouraged to develop as far as possible.
34
6. Conclusion To summarize, although code-switching has shown to be beneficial for students’
language learning and for strengthening their identities, it can be interpreted as it is not
encouraged in the syllabus for English in upper secondary school. Because of this
potential disagreement, this study aimed to broaden the knowledge of how upper
secondary school teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Sweden relate to
code-switching in their different classrooms. And thereby, this study sought to examine
some upper secondary school teachers’ understanding of code-switching as well as
their, and their students, use of code-switching in EFL classrooms.
The first research question of this study aimed to examine EFL teachers’ awareness of
code-switching. The data suggests that all participating teachers have limited knowledge
of code-switching and that they believe that a large amount of TL use in the classroom
is favorable. Nevertheless, the data shows that the participating teachers use code-
switching both intentionally and unintentionally for various purposes. The intentional
use of code-switching is to focus on form, for communication effectiveness, for
relational purposes, and due to convenience. The unintentional use of code-switching,
though, is due to forgetting to speak the TL. Based on the teachers’ reports and the
lesson observations, it was found that the students also use code-switching for the same
purposes as the teachers, but not to the same degree to focus on form. Notably, none of
the participating teachers seem to use code-switching as a strategy for promoting
students’ long-standing language acquisition. Instead, code-switching seems to be used
for time-saving purposes, for giving access to content for students with low TL
proficiency, and for relational purposes. Thereby, the second research question (What
are EFL teachers’ and their students’ usage of code-switching in the classroom?) has
been answered. Moreover, regarding the third research question (How does the use of
code-switching differ depending on the students’ language level?), it seems as all the
participating teachers adapt their code-switching behavior effectively to their student
group. In conclusion, the findings of this study are in line with earlier research arguing
that code-switching is more suitable for students with lower language proficiency.
Considering this being a small-scale study based on participants with limited teaching
experience, it is not possible to draw any general conclusions from these findings.
35
Nevertheless, this study contributes to a somewhat deeper knowledge about how upper
secondary school teachers of EFL in Sweden relate to code-switching in their
classrooms. Although a triangulation was used for data collection to increase the
validity and reliability of this study, the study is based on a small number of participants
and observations. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether the teachers’ reports of code-
switching in fact match their teaching practice. Nonetheless, based on the findings of
this study it could be argued that EFL teachers should get training in how to effectively
use code-switching in the classroom in a way that it can facilitate language learning.
Based on this study, it is not possible to say whether the use of code-switching impacts
students’ language learning. Similarly, much of the previous research has focused on
teachers’ use and beliefs about code-switching. Therefore, further research could focus
more on the consequences of a code-switching pedagogy. For instance, a larger-scale
long-term study of learners at different language levels could be carried out to
investigate to what extent the use of code-switching affects students’ FL learning.
Further, it could be examined to what extent students find it useful to use code-
switching as a conscious language learning strategy to develop their language
proficiency.
36
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8. Appendix
Appendix A: Interview Guide
Background questions:
How old are you? When did you graduate?
What is your study background?
What is your working experience within the teaching profession?
What English courses are you teaching now?
Understanding:
What do you know about code-switching?
Do you remember learning about code-switching in your teacher education?
Do you believe using code-switching in the EFL classroom can help students develop
their English language proficiency? In what way/why not?
Do you believe using code-switching in the EFL classroom can have other benefits for
the students? What?/Why not?
Use:
What languages do you use when teaching English? Why?
Do you use code-switching in the English classroom? When? For what purposes/Why
not?
What language do you prefer your students to speak during the English lesson? Why?
What language do you perceive that your students prefer to speak during the English
lesson? Why?
What languages do your students use in the English classroom? Why?
Do your students use code-switching? When? For what purposes/Why not?
Do you encourage your students to use code-switching in the classroom? Why/Why
not?
Do your teaching methods differ depending on your students’ language level? How?
If you do not use code-switching: Do you have any other strategies to support
multilingual students?
40
Appendix B: My Translations of Participants’ Quotes
Page
Number
Participant My translation in English
(the highlighted words)
The original transcription in Swedish
(the highlighted words that are
translated)
p.20
T3 but that it can also concern
“switching [language] styles”
depending on the recipient and
situation.
det kan liksom både handla om byta språk
om du är flerspråkig, eh, och att du byter
stil så att du kan gå mellan att till exempel
prata förortsslang och mer, ehm,
majoritetskultursvenska
p.20 T3 An example of this switch can be
to “shift between ‘chat language’
and written language when
writing an essay versus when
writing on Messenger”.
Och att man kan liksom aa växla mellan
chattspråk och skriftspråk när man skriver
uppsats versus när man skriver på
messenger eller liknande.
p.21 T1 “I do not know how to answer
that question” and continued
“well, yes, maybe”.
Ja, ehm, jag vet inte alls hur jag ska vara
på den frågan. Ehm. Vad sa du, kan du
säga det igen? [...] Ehm jaa kanske det
p.21
T3 “I do not think that there is any
teacher who in good conscience
could say that they only speak
English in class, and I do not
think it is the most successful way
either. I mean you must be able to
switch between explaining the
assignment in English and provide
clarifications of some parts in
Swedish.”
men jag tror att det inte finns någon lärare
som med gott samvete kan säga att man
bara pratar engelska på lektionen, och jag
tror inte heller att det är det mest
framgångsrika sättet, alltså du måste
kunna växla mellan att förklara uppgiften
på engelska och komma med
förtydliganden av vissa delar på svenska
p.21 T2 However, T2 expressed that it
occurs “not in a positive sense” in
the classroom
så de gör ju en del code-switching redan
som det är, men inte i positiv bemärkelse
skulle jag säga att det anses
p.22 T3 T3 argued that it could be
favorable to “use it [code-
switching] consciously and clarify
to the students [...] when it is
men det finns absolut fördelar med att
göra det medvetet, och att tydliggöra för
eleverna när vissa saker passar sig och när
vissa saker inte passar sig och när det är
41
efficient and not to do it”.
såhär effektivt och inte att göra det liksom
p.23 T1 Moreover, T1 said that he almost
exclusively uses English in the
classroom and believes that “it
generally does not impair the
learning in any way”.
Och jag tycker att det generellt sätt inte
liksom förstör i inlärningen på något sätt,
att det är så att jag liksom tappar bort
elever, att de inte hänger med på grund av
språket eller såhär
p.23 T4 Furthermore, T4 explained that
she tries to use English for the
most part in the classroom to
“create an English education
which is as authentic as possible”
jag försöker till allra största del använda
engelska, för att vi ska skapa liksom en så
genuin engelskundervisning som möjligt
p.24 T1 For example, T1 expressed that he
occasionally switches to Swedish
to explain something grammatical
that he believes his students need
to revise or if he, for example,
“needs to explain the difference in
what the student says and what he
instead should say”.
det är väl i så fall om man kommer in på
någonting grammatiskt som man känner
att folk behöver repetera eller har någon
slags genomgång om, ehm, jag vet inte, låt
säga någon verbböjning, eh, och man
behöver liksom förtydliga skillnaden i det
eleven säger och vad den istället borde
säga, eh, eller skriva, eh, genom att liksom
lyfta fram ett svenskt exempel
p.25 T3 T3 expressed that he uses code-
switching when talking about
difficult words and their meaning.
In those cases, he said, he can
make quick comparisons between
different Latin languages since
“many of the difficult words in
both English and Swedish have
their origin [there]”.
när vi pratar om svåra ord och så, och vad
de betyder, då kan man ju komma in på
andra latinska språk ofta för det är ju där
många av de svåra orden både i engelska
och svenska har sitt ursprung, att man
liksom kan göra snabba jämförelser och
såhär
p.27 T2 Lastly, T2 declared that in his
classes of English at the
elementary level he “has to rely
on Swedish to, for example,
explain assignments”.
Så på min grund-klass där måste jag
förlita mig på svenskan för att till exempel
förklara uppgifter.
42
p.27 T2 He explained that when speaking
English in class he has to repeat
and explain in Swedish what he
just said so that his students who
“do not understand English” will
get the message.
Som jag pratar engelska men så måste jag
förklara det på svenska för de som inte
förstår engelska.
p.28 T1 T1 pointed out that if a student
comes to him after class and
explains that he or she is not
feeling well or is stressed out, he
switches to Swedish; “if I notice it
[that the student is not feeling
well] and still would continue
with English, it just feels
annoying”. Instead of talking to
the students in English with the
purpose of developing their skills
in those situations, T1 wants to
“talk to them for real”.
allts låt säga att nån kommer till mig och
säger att det är jättejobbigt och man mår
dåligt över uppgiften osv, eh, är
skitstressade och om jag då märker det
och fortfarande skulle köra vidare på
engelskan så känns det bara liksom drygt,
istället för att liksom bara prata, jamen,
utan något syfte om att utveckla deras
kunskaper utan bara liksom prata med
dem på riktigt
p.28 T4 Similar examples were provided
by T4 who explained “I get a
completely different relationship
with them [the students] when I
speak Swedish”.
nu har jag ju både svenska och engelska,
så jag märker det ganska tydligt det är ju
att jag får en helt annan relation med dem
när jag pratar på svenska
p.29 T2 Likewise, T2 said that his
students prefer to speak Swedish
or Arabic in the classroom
because he believes they “prefer
to speak what they are more
comfortable speaking”.
Men jag tror som sagt att de föredrar nog
att prata det som de är mer bekväma i att
prata.
p.29 T3 Similarly, T3 said that most of his
students prefer to speak Swedish
in the classroom because “in
general, they do not speak it
[English] outside the classroom”
de pratar inte det utanför klassrummet i
stort sett
p.30 T1 T1 described how if a student snarare utanför lektionstid om någon
43
comes up to him outside of class
and asks about something, he
answers in Swedish because he is
not “in an English mode”
kommer till mig och vill ta det och jag inte
är inställd på engelska så blir det på
svenska
p.31 T4 Therefore, she pointed out that
“one must force ones’ brain” to
focus on the L2 and that is why
she finds it important that
everyone in the class tries to
solely speak English.
så är det fullständigt onaturligt att prata på
ett annat språk, man måste tvinga hjärnan
och det är därför det är så viktigt att alla
håller sig till engelskan
p.31 T4 One exception to this is illustrated
by T4 who said that she does not
adapt her language at all
regardless of the English course
since she tries to “have this
genuine English in the classroom
always”
engelska 6 kräver ganska mycket mer,
men just eftersom att jag försöker att ha
liksom ändå det här genuina engelska i
klassrummet alltid så blir det väldigt likt
p.32 T1 T1 explained that his students are
“generally very, very good at
speaking English” and that some
of his students have English as
their L1 whereas other Swedish
L1 students speak English as if it
was their L1
jag måste säga att mina elever är
sinnessjukt, generellt sett, väldigt väldigt
duktiga på att prata engelska
p.32 T1 T1 said that “I would say that all
my students keep up with
everything we do, even though I
am only speaking English” and
instead of switching to Swedish,
he adapts his language to different
levels.
jag skulle nog säga att alla mina elever
hänger med i allting vi gör trots att jag
bara pratar engelska
p.32 T1 He gives an example of when the
students are working with a
project about, for instance, the
climate and they are supposed to
use difficult vocabulary he tries to
och man ska slänga in svåra ord, att
försöka dra ner det på en mindre abstrakt
nivå och prata om vad begreppen innebär
istället för att slänga med begreppen och
därav tappa bort eleverna
44
“take it down to a less abstract
level and talk about what the
terms mean instead of blurting out
the terms and thereby lose the
students”.
p.32 T2 He described that “in English 5, if
they happen to say something in
Swedish or if they maybe ask how
something is pronounced or so,
one can overlook it in English 5,
but not in English 6”.
alltså att i engelska 5 om de råkar säga
någonting på svenska eller ifall de kanske
frågar om hur någonting uttalas eller något
liknande, man kan ha överseende med det
på engelska 5, men inte i engelska 6.
p.32 T3 T3 explained that the students
taking that course are in a
vocational program, and “their
goal only has to be to get an E in
the course to get their school
leaving certificate”
dom behöver inte läsa engelska 6, utan
deras mål behöver bara vara att få E på
kursen för att de ska liksom få sin
yrkesexamen
p.32 T3 On the other hand, in the English
6 course, T3 explained that “the
idea is that you should be able to
study at university afterward and
be able to have course books in
English and lectures in English,
so therefore one does one's
students a disservice if one adapts
too much there”.
medans om man har valt engelska 6 så är
ju tanken att du ska kunna klara av att sen
läsa på universitetet och kunna ha
kursböcker på engelska och föreläsningar
på engelska, så då blir det också så att då
gör man också eleverna en otjänst om man
anpassar för mycket där