Effectiveness of Code-Switching in Language Classroom in India at Primary Level: A Case of L2 Teachers’ Perspectives

Abstract

The current study explores the effectiveness of code-switching (CS) in language classroom, a case of second language (L2) teachers’ perspectives. Code-switching (CS) refers to a usage of the two languages in conversation and it also relates to a ‘language mixing’. CS may occur between sentences, known as ‘inter-sentential code-switching’; and it may also occur within a sentence, known as ‘intra-sentential code-switching’. Code-switching is a linguistic feature of multi-lingual societies, as they are gifted with more privileges to use various languages. The current study points out the perceptions of language teachers towards code-switching in the classroom in the process of teaching and the purposes of code-switching in teaching. The data for the study includes the responses of the attitudinal test questions designed on a Likert Scale of 20 teacher- respondents from the two government schools of Delhi-NCR. The outcome of the study illustrates that the predominance of code-switching in the classrooms is used to interpret complex ideas, translate questions, seek confirmation, check students understanding, also to build solidarity and code-switching is most prevalent in primary education. Hence, code-switching is a distinctive linguistic requirement in education but there is a negative towards the use of CS in the classroom.