Code Switching Case Study Essay

gossiping about their colleagues and bosses, which is interesting to observe. It is unconventional for Vietnamese teachers to encourage students to develop such behaviours, such as gossiping or talking bad behind one’s back. However, with the smiley tone of this turn, it can be interpreted that Haylee is actually very well aware of this issues at workplaces. What she is doing here is dramatizing her understanding of workplace relationships and frustrations to help to students feeling at ease when sharing their complaints. At the same time, going against the conventional style of Vietnamese teachers, code-switching in this case not only creates an intimacy but also indexes a stance of daring and playfulness which portrays Haylee as someone who is funny, outspoken and unconventional. These identities are
In line 16 and 25, we can see a repetition of the phrase ‘petition to god’. After assigning the task to the students, Haylee notices that Tuan is not interested in participate in the activity. In order to encourage Tuan, Haylee takes Phuong and other students as examples by pointing out how much Tuan’s friend have worked on. Haylee describes the students’ piece of paper filled with their complaints as ‘petition to god’. In Vietnam, petitions to gods are normally written in Chinese characters and performed in front of pagodas by people who have good hand writing skills. People going to pagodas normally write their wishes of good health and at times ask for god’s help if they are in difficult and suffering situations. Linking the students’ complaint sheets with Vietnamese’s traditional petition to god, Haylee creates an interesting metaphor between the students’ complaints and their frustration. This evokes an embellishing and jokey stance, which portray Haylee as a funny and humorous