Volume 02 – Issue 06, December 2014
Attitudes of Teachers and Students towards Classroom Code
Switching in Literature Classes at Tertiary Level in Pakistan
1
Beenish Riaz Gill , Mumtaz Ahmed
2
1
M.Phil Scholar, University of Sargodha, Women Campus, Faisalabad, Pakistan
2
Lecturer in English, Govt. Postgraduate College of Science, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Corresponding Author email: webmumtaz {at} gmail.com
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ABSTRACT---Classroom code switching in multilingual and multicultural classes is a common phenomenon and has many different attributes in a country like Pakistan where English is taught as a second language (ESL). In
Pakistan, students as well as teachers tend to switch between English, Urdu (national language) and Punjabi
(regional language of a province) even in literature classes at tertiary level. As a part of the worldwide change in the methods, as well as techniques, styles and strategies associated with English Language Teaching (ELT), switching a code is considered a part of teaching strategies. This paper is an attempt to give careful consideration to the specific purposes behind teachers ' code switching along with their attitudes. Attention is also paid to the attitudes of the post graduate students towards classroom code switching. A questionnaire was used to collect data from teachers as well as students of four different universities. The findings of the study highlight the reasons behind teachers ' code switching like simple communication, keeping up control in the classroom, explaining abstract things, interpretation, and introducing unfamiliar terms.
Keywords: Attitude, code switching, multilingualism, English language teaching (ELT), English as a second language
(ESL), classroom discourse.
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