English as a global language has been paid special attention to in the whole world. In China, people treat English as a foreign language, and many students may not have any chance to use it after their graduation. However, government still makes a lot of effort in the English education reform, in order to improve English teachers’ quality and raise students’ language learning consciousness. During the reform, language teachers, especially college language teachers are encouraged to speak pure English in class, so as to give students more chances to practice their communicative skills in the target language. However, the reality is quite different, and a phenomenon called “code-switching” can often be seen in EFL classes.
Code and code switching
According to Bernstein (1971), code refers to a set of signals which carries meaning, such as language. Wardhaugh (2000) also states that code is “any kind of system that two or more people employ for communication” (p. 86). In social community, people use language to talk with each other and share different view, thus language is a typical kind of code.
Cook (2000) considers code switching as a process changing from one language to a different language in the middle of conversation when all the speakers know the languages. Lightbown (2001) defines code switching to be “the systematic alternating use of two languages or language varieties within a single conversation or utterance” (p. 598). Numan and Carter also define code switching as “a phenomenon of switching from one language to another in the same discourse” (2001, p. 275).
Code switching in EFL classes
Code switching has close relationship with language classes, especially EFL language classes. According to Milroy and Muysken (1...
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...ally understand the content and achieve the teaching objective.
Finally, teachers’ own language proficiency is another factor of their in-class code switching. If the teacher has small vocabulary size or lower language proficiency level, he may not be able to use English only in class, thus code switching would be more frequent than other proficient language teachers.
In a word, teachers’ code switching is quite normal in Chinese EFL classes. We don’t need to criticize those who prefer code switching in English classes; instead, we should carefully consider our own language proficiency, our students’ knowledge background, and our teaching objectives. It is difficult to say whether it is good or bad to encourage code switching in EFL classes, however, we should be clear about our teaching aims, and find ways to appropriately adopt code switching in different classes.
In Verhsawn Ashanti Young’s article titled, “Nah, We Straight: An argument Against Code Switching,” he makes his objectives clear as he argues against people Right to their own language. The author questions the advantage of standard American English as opposed to other types of English. He refers to those aspect as code switching, which he believes can lead to racist thinking. Code switching, according to Young, calls out for one way of speaking to be omitted in favor of others, based on one's rhetorical situations. The author points out that students are required to translate from Afro-American English or Spanglish to standard English and not the other way around, which is concerning. Youngs method to get around this segregation is the usage
As a result of many negative stereotypes associated with certain variations of English many students have adapted codeswitching. When this concept came up in the book it made me think about my own language. I realized that I code switch quite often between what is seen as Standard English and African American English or Ebonics. Usually with family or other friends that speak Ebonics I use that Ebonics to communicate, but when I am in school, in a
Everyone has various styles of speaking and various ranges of vocabulary that they utilize depending upon with whom they speak. This concept, known as code switching, portrays an integral part of our lives in today’s society. The fact that different groups of people speak in different ways necessitates the use of code switching. One would not speak to a group of high school students in the manner that one would speak to a scholar, or speak to a prison inmate in the same regard that one would speak with the President of the United States. Speaking in standard American English and then in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), or Ebonics, portrays the most prominent use of code switching in today’s society, especially among American youths. Today, people utilize code switching to associate better amongst a group of people. In William Wells Brown’s Clotel, code switching plays an important role in the escape of two slaves, outwitting a train employee, and simply showing the difference between a slave’s behavior with other slaves and the slave’s behavior in the presence of his owner.
When people in todays society code-switch, we enhance our character and overall roundness to ourselves. There are instances where people code-switch to communicate with others in a different language, or we change our tone with certain groups of people. Speaking multiple languages in a household, can lead to a lot of code-switching because you can have that one relative who can’t speak english, so you become a “translator” to help them with daily tasks. Even though code-switching can happen with different languages, the most common code-switching is used when speaking to different groups of people. Talking to an adult would have a different type of tone, rather than speaking to one of your friends. Code-switching is used to help strengthen
The purpose of the study is to compare divergent teaching methods in Canada and China, and to identify which teaching approaches are effective to Chinese ELL students. The research contains pre- and post-tests, and one open-ended survey for 20 Chinese ELL students at one university in Canada.
Although the ability to encourage students to code-switch in their educational realms seems to be the remedy for the achievement gap, it can be dangerous. If the students engages in compartmentalization of their cultures, it shields their behavior and is easily swayed by the demands of the job market, even if the beliefs and customs of the job markets do not line up with the values of the home (Morton
There so many differences between code meshing and code switching. As Vershawn Ashanti Young theorized the topic between the two. Code switching means the practice of moving back and forth between two languages or between two dialects of the same language Code meshing is a strategy for blending many varieties of language with privileged standard language.
America is home for thousands of cultures and languages. Most people can speak at least two different languages either because of the environment and family or simply by taking another world language class in school. One of the advantages with knowing more than one language is that code-switching becomes a part of you and it happens naturally. In “‘ I Don’t ‘Code-Switch’ to Hide my Identity. I ‘Code-Switch’ to celebrate It,”’ Vaidehi Mujumdar states that code-switching is enriching and exciting based on her personal experience. In “learning How to Code-Switching: Humbling, But Necessary,” Eric Deggans claims that code-switching is valuable and necessary in everyday lifestyle and it is lot more than just being about cultural differences. If one were to put Deggans and
A lot of people use code-switching for those reasons: to create a connection, say things in secret, etc. That’s why she spoke in Spanish to her family members instead of us, it was something between them a joke about their family, and it wasn’t like we understood fluent Spanish, all we understood was little to know Spanish. She used code switching in order to ensure comprehension with her family members, to make a connection with specifically her cousin. In the textbook, one of the studies under mock Spanish looks at Bonnie Urciuoli’s linguistic study of Puerto Rican bilingualism.
With the huge desire and pressure from society to fit in both with black and non-blacks, people often code-switch by switching between dialects, languages and accents. As we saw in the video clip with Carlton, code switching is a result of what we call the pressure black men and women face trying to shift back and forth in order to meet the conflicting codes, demands, and expectations of different groups. Many people in American society believe proper English or as Linguist would call it Standard English should be upheld as the best way to communicate with people in their lives. It is widely known that “proper English is often connected to white people. The video clip gives a glimpse of examples of young black teenagers in America face. Often
Language has been said to effect culture and a person’s way of thinking; in addition to culture effecting language. Throughout the last 100 years there have been apparent and subtle changes in the English language. The changes an English speaking person may see throughout their life time are different catchphrases, the way language is written, the type of formality used, and how deeply English is affected by cultures; as well as how it effects other cultures around the world.
Chicano code switching has been defined by Metcalf (1974: 53) as “a variety of English that is obviously influenced by Spanish and that has low prestige in most circles, but that nevertheless is independent of Spanish and is the first, and often only, language of many hundreds of thousands of residents of California”. As explained by Florian Coulmas, “It is not necessarily for
In the twentieth century, the avoidance of the using L1 in classrooms dominated teachers’ minds; as well it was implemented in many policies and guidelines of language teaching (Cook, 2001). Thornbury (2010) listed a set of arguments against using L1 in L2 classrooms mainly for that the translation of L2 into another language will play negative effects on students’ learning process. He pointed out that the use of L1 will result learners to have a cognitive dependence on their mother tongue at the expense of developing independence TL learning. Although the two language systems are not equivalent in many aspects, students may have an awareness of the notion of equivalence of the two languages if translation serves to convey meanings. Some argue that the use of translation to convey the meaning of the TL is more efficient and more memorable. However, Thornbury (2010) sees the opposite. He stated that the simple and direct way of translation will make L2 knowledge less memorable since the process lacks mental efforts in working out meanings.
To start with, I do not want to narrowly define language as merely verbal communication. Language is far broader than that. In a few seconds a person walking past you on the street could tell you more about themselves with a sincere smile than they could with a few rushed words. Language encompasses all aspects of communication that enhance the level of our interaction. The tone in our voice demonstrating our feelings on a topic or our body language indicating our level of interest are just as important in interaction as verbally communicating content. There for I define language as any act that is involved in the interaction between two or more people.
Experiencing those days where people would laugh at other for the broken English; the grammar and pronunciation are the toughest parts of the language. People with English as a second language always stumble upon difficulties; however, the determination of learning a new language do not decrease easily as the motivation is still surrounding one’s mind. Today, English has become an international communication; even the teaching and learning of the language has already spread throughout the world. English is known as one of the most common use language and has been offering classes everywhere for years especially around Asia; additionally, the world common language has now become the number one language uses in every fields of career that is being offer everywhere. Non-American students should be required to take English class as a second language in school