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A Sociolinguistic Investigation of Code-switching and

Code-mixing Practiced in Pakistani ESL Class Room

Name of Research Scholar Introduction of Supervisor

Name: Riffat Siddique Name: Mamoona Shahzadi

Roll No: 24 Designation: Lecturer

Class: M.Phil Applied Linguistics Department: English

Session: 2019-2021 Spring Institute: Minhaj University Lahore

School of English

Faculty of Languages

MINHAJ UNIVERSITY LAHORE

HAMDARD CHOWK TOWNSHIP LAHORE

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Program: M. Phil Session: 2019-2021 (spring)

Subject: Applied Linguistics

Name of Student: Riffat Siddique Roll No: 24

Father’s Name: Muhammad siddique

The title of the Research:

A Sociolinguistic Investigation of Code-switching and Code-mixing Practiced in

Pakistani ESL Class Room.

Introduction:

Language is vital to understanding of a society and the promotion of that society

Sultana (2009). Languages have great impact on each other when they are in contact

therefore variation or change in a language is a natural consequence. Code-mixing and

code-switching are the consequent phenomenon of language contact and a marked feature

of a multilingual society. While keeping aside regional languages this code-switching and

code-mixing involves Urdu our national language and English, the symbol of economic

power social realities political force and in fact the Lingua Franca. It means that learning

and teaching in classrooms is supported by this blend of Urdu and English.

Mushtaq and Zahra (2012) pointed out that code-hybridization is a significant

phenomenon and a natural by-product of language interaction and evolution. Code-

switching and code-mixing have been researched by linguists, sociolinguists and

psycholinguists who view this phenomenon with their respective lenses. Actually
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bilinguals mix two languages when speaking. In fact, this situation of bilingualism is

present in every country in all classes of society and at all age levels. In Pakistan, which

is a multilingual society and where many people have the knowledge of two or more

languages, the linguistic phenomenon of mixing languages is quite common. For

example, if Urdu the national language of Pakistan is taken then one can find that the

insertion of English items in Urdu sentence is a frequent feature in the speech of educated

bilingual Pakistani speakers. Even if they do not possess the ability to speak in English

they employ English words and phrases to give their discourse a touch of English that has

social meaning. When fluent bilingual speakers of various languages make conversation

they often include words, phrases, clauses and sentences from different languages in a

single discourse. This alternative use by bilinguals of two or more languages in the same

conversation is called code-switching.

Ronald Wardhaugh (1986) explained that the term code can be used to refer to any

kind of system that two or more people employ for communication whether it is language

or dialect or pidgins and creoles all are codes. Nevertheless when this spoken form of

language or dialect etc. Turns into writing then it is called codification. On the other hand

‘switching’ it appears just a movement, movement from one object to another. This

means that you shift switch or move from one code to another while speaking. This shift

switch and movement of bilingual speakers from one code (language) to another code are

called code switching. Coming to classroom context the pedagogical and communicative

functions of classroom code-switching and code-mixing justify its use in teaching and

learning context. In Pakistani classroom code-switching across a range of curricular

subjects is a widespread phenomenon. Apart from language classes universities use

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English as a medium of instruction. Whether it is mathematics class EFL, ESL class or

any other language class English language is supplemented with other languages. It

means that code-switching and code-mixing exists in some proportion.

It is also important to briefly elaborate the terms that have intrigued debates for the

researchers. English as a Second Language (ESL) is defined as the teaching of English to

people who are living in an English-speaking country but whose first language is not

English (Longman’s online dictionaries).English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is defined

as the teaching of English to people whose first language is not English and who do not

live in an English-speaking country (Longman’s online dictionaries). Therefore in this

study the focus will be on EFL and ESL where English is not the native language of the

people such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China,

Vietnam, Thailand, etc.

Objectives:

 To investigate frequency level of linguistic features in code-switching and code-

mixing used by the teacher in ESL class room.

 To find out factors that causes teachers to do code-switching and code-mixing in

class room.

 To identify the solutions how to prevent code-switching and code-mixing in class

room.

Rationale of the Study:

This study will focus on Sociolinguistic investigation of code switching and code

mixing practiced in ESL class room. In Pakistan which is a multilingual society and

where many people have the knowledge of two or more languages the linguistic
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phenomenon of mixing languages is quite common. For example, if Urdu the national

language of Pakistan is taken then one can find that the insertion of English items in Urdu

sentence is a frequent feature in the speech of educated bilingual Pakistani speakers. The

chief rationale of the study will be calculation to find those frequencies at word, phrase,

clause, and sentence level. The main reason behind this study will be to investigate the

linguistic and structural features of code-switching and code-mixing while using

classroom interactions.

Research Question:

1. What is frequency level of linguistic features in code-switching and code-mixing

used by the teacher in ESL class room?

2. What are the factors that cause teachers to do code-switching and code-mixing in

class room?

3. What are the solutions to prevent code-switching and code-mixing in class room?

Literature Review:

Wardhaugh (2010) emphasized to investigate the relationships between language

and society with the goal being a better understanding of the structure of language and of

how languages function in communication. Term code can be used to refer to any kind of

system that two or more people employ for communication whether it is language or

dialect or pidgins and creoles all are codes. Nevertheless, when this spoken form of

language or dialect etc. turns into writing then it is called codification. On the other hand

if we look at switching it appears just a movement, movement from one object to another.

This means that you shift, switch or move from one code to another while speaking. This

shift, switch, and movement of bilingual speakers from one code (language) to another
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code, is called code switching. Coming to classroom context,the pedagogical and

communicative functions of classroom code-switching and code-mixing justify its use in

teaching and learning context.

Callahan (2004) elaborated that sociolinguistic approach to code-switching are

concerned with the social and pragmatic functions it fulfills for individual speakers and

for social groups. In Pakistani classroom code-switching across a range of curricular

subjects is a widespread phenomenon. Apart from language classes, universities use

English as a medium of instruction. Whether it is mathematics class EFL, ESL class or

any other language class. English language is supplemented with other languages. It

means that code-switching and code-mixing exists in some proportion. While keeping

aside regional languages this code-switching and code mixing involve Urdu our national

language and English the symbol of economic power social realities and political force

and in fact the Lingua Franca. It means that learning and teaching in classrooms is

supported by this blend of Urdu and English.

Code-switching and code-mixing in a school classroom usually refers to bilingual

or multilingual setting and at its most general entails switching by the teacher and/or

learners between the language of learning and teaching (LOLT) and the learners main

language. Code-switching is a practice that enables learners to harness their main

language as a learning resource.

Karen Wong (2000) argued that there is well-documented sophisticated literature,

which rejects the negative claim that code-switching is a sign of laziness and deficiency

in language. Rather, it claims that bilingual speakers have the prestige of exploiting their
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treasure of linguistic knowledge to express meaningful thoughts and ideas. Code-

switching and code-mixing emphasized a bi/multilingual speaker’s use of language from

one grammatical system to another. Code-switching and code mixing cannot occur

simply at any point of the sentence because it is governed by the grammatical

constraints of the languages that are used. That means bilingual speech is fluent in

case when a bilingual speaker follows these constraints and it is not fluent if

a bilingual does not switch grammatically. So, the fluency of the bilingual

speaker is measured mainly by the correct usage of the grammatical rules of both

languages, despite the wide knowledge of the speakers in both languages.

Mingfa Yao (2011) elaborated that Functions related to classroom context are

translation of unknown vocabulary items, explaining grammar, managing class. The

terms code-switching and code-mixing is different from the term borrowing. Borrowing

is defined as the incorporation of lexical elements from one language in the lexicon

of another language. The term incorporation refers to the moment at which the code

switched word becomes a borrowed word. This is because when the word is used for

the first time it is called code-switching but when it is used frequently later on

instead of the original word in the native language it becomes a borrowed word.

So this word will enter the lexicon of the recipient language as a new word. The

present study is not interested in borrowing. It rather focuses on code-switching as a

phenomenon that requires a certain level of fluency in the subordinate language.

Ahmad (2009) stated that code mixing also called intra-sentential code switching

or intra-sentential code-alternation occurs when speakers use two or more languages

below clause level within one social situation. Switching Inter-sentential code-switching
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involves switching at sentential boundaries where one clause or sentence is in one

language and the next clause or sentence is in the other. Inter-sentential code-switching

takes place within the same sentence or between speaker turns it entails fluency in both

languages such as a speaker is able to follow the rules of the two languages. For example,

Mn to yahan hoon. What happened?

I can explain you again. Kya ap ko mari bat sumjh ai hy? Did you get me?

David (2008) stated that cases of code- switching as above can be classified in

accordance with two different classification we called here, they are grammatical and

contextual classification. The grammatical classification of code- switching is based on

where in the sentence or utterance the switching appears while the contextual

classification of code-switching is based on the reason why a bilingual switches. In

intra-sentential code switching the shifts is done in the middle of a sentence with no

interruptions hesitations or pauses indicating a shift. The speaker is usually unaware of

the shift. Different types of switch occur within the clause level including within the

word level. Some researchers call it also code mixing. For example: Roznama express

Peshawar office Ky lye assistant page maker ki zrort hy. Tag-switching involves

inserting a tag or short phrase in one language into an utterance that is otherwise entirely

in another language. This type of CS occurs the most easily for the reason being that tags

typically contain minimal syntactic restrictions; thus, they do not break syntactic rules

when inserted into a sentence that is given in the L1 include interjections fillers and

idiomatic expressions. Examples of common English tags are you know I mean and

right.
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Karen Wong (2000) argued that there is well-documented sophisticated literature,

which rejects the negative claim that code-switching and code-mixing is a sign of

laziness and deficiency in language. Rather it claims that bilingual speakers have the

prestige of exploiting their treasure of linguistic knowledge to express meaningful

thoughts and ideas. Its use can also help in effective instruction. The use of code-

switching while making use of native language when students are not clear about a point

or when participation is needed not only makes instruction effective but also develops

student’s report with teacher and develops confidence to interact.

Ernesto Macaro (2001) Explained that excluding L1 from classroom is not only

impractical but also means depriving learners from one of the learning tools. When two or more

people communicate with each other in speech we can call the system of communication

that they employ a code. Therefore, people are usually required to select a particular code

whenever they choose to speak and they may also decide to switch from one code to

another or to mix codes sometimes in very short utterances and it means to. A code is a

system that is used by people to communicate. When people want to talk to each other

they have to choose a particular code to express their feeling. The code is a particular

language, dialect, style, register or variety. Code is a set of conventions for converting

one signaling system into another. In other words a code is a system of rules that allow us

to give in formation in symbolic form. Human language is also a code consists of words

that represent ideas, events, and objects. When it put together in certain circumstances it

will help us to communicate.

Myres and Scotton (2006) explained that the use of two language varieties in the

same conversation. Code-switching and code-mixing can be distinguished from other

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language contact phenomena such as loan translation (calques), borrowing, pidgins and

creoles, and transfer or interference. Learners can make use of code-switching and code-

mixing in both participants -related functions which involve the role of students and

teacher in classrooms and also in discourse-related functions which include bilingual

practices outside classrooms. One can find its feasibility as a means of developing

bilingualism which is the ability to use two languages in varying degrees of proficiency

and in different contexts such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Comprehensible input is necessary for language acquisition. It means that there is a need

of scaffolding process and the best way of scaffolding which fits well here in this context

is code-switching. This means that language development takes place through samples of

language which are appropriate and code-switching may be signaling the need for

provision of appropriate samples.

Callahan (2004) elaborated that sociolinguistic approach to code-switching and

code-mixing are concerned with the social and pragmatic functions it fulfills for

individual speakers and for social groups. Code-switching is integrated into the activities

which are formulated for second language teaching. This allows the balance use of both

languages according to the situation and hence facilitates both teacher and students.

Therefore, this study is conducted to make teachers aware that code-switching is a quite

common occurrence in Pakistani EFL and many other subjects classroom and it may be

helpful in changing teachers negative beliefs about code-switching practice as

incompetence in both languages. Code-switching is a complex process which involves

different levels of switching according to the proficiency in both the languages. This

study provides quantitative analysis of the linguistic features of code-switching which

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serve a variety of pedagogical functions whether in teacher-led classroom discourse or in

teacher-student interaction or in students-students interaction. In this study teacher’s

classroom interaction is will be used to refer to teachers lectures and teachers discourse

with students.

Kim (2006) found out why do bilinguals switch depends on so many factors

including interlocutors, situations, messages, attitudes, and emotions towards a particular

code. There are some universal factors that can motivate or trigger code-mixing and

code-switching in all contexts. It is believed that the study will change teacher’s

stigmatized beliefs about code-switching use in EFL and other subject classrooms and

would contribute to the field of language education and educational research. The second

important aspect, which this study will be focused, is the ratio by which the two

languages are to be used while switching from one language to another. For instance let

teachers attitudes are changed about code-switching and they are willing to code switch

then what should be the ratio between the two languages during instruction because

language management is a very important concern of bilingual education.

Research Gap:

In term of Code-Switching a significant study Alkhresheh, M. (2015). Where

researcher has find out code-switching and mixing of English and Arabic amongst Arabic

students. There are some more researches on code-switching and code-mixing contrast of

English languages with other languages. But this study will fill the gap a sociolinguistic

investigation of code switching and code mixing practiced in ESL class room.
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Research Design and Methodology:

The main reason behind this study will be to investigate the linguistic and

structural features of code-switching while using classroom interactions. Here, all sixteen

HEC recognized universities of Lahore city were included in the population. However,

lectures delivered at postgraduate and B.S level will be taken into account and will be

observed. Purposive sampling was used and eight out of sixteen universities were

selected. Two or three classes from each university were taken and hence a total number

of fourteen lectures will be observed and recorded. The data, based for this study, will be

a corpus of approximately ten hours of classroom lectures. Observation a basic and

important tool of data collection, which is the most appropriate for this type of research,

will be used. Observation of classroom interactions involved teacher’s lectures. The

researcher himself as a non-participant observer made observations, which were recorded

through an audio recorder. However, in some classes due to practical difficulty and

ethical consideration when the researcher’s presence could have disturbed classroom

interactions, the researcher had not been able to sit in the classrooms and teachers

themselves made recordings of the lectures. The data will be collected mostly teachers

words which require appropriate method to capture the exact language. Maykut and

Morehouse (1994) stated that teachers may find it difficult to articulate the practice of

using code-switching in classroom interactions, therefore, for this purpose to collect data

on how teachers make use of code- switching and use language in classroom interactions,

the researcher used digital recorder to record teachers‟ lectures, which provided access to

the verbal output of the teachers. This study will be focus on different linguistic features

of code-switching among bilingual teachers and instances of teacher’s code-switching are

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identified and transcribed from audio recordings of university teachers lectures. Data will

be collected willingly and unwillingly. In this way while strictly focusing on audio-

recorded lectures data were collected, transcribed and analyzed which will be help in the

completion of the process in the form of a descriptive report. A mixed method will be

used in this research.

Limition of research

Current study will be delimited focuses on the instances of different linguistic

features of code-switching and not their motivations, functions and purpose where long

discussion and description is needed. So long description is avoided. Efforts were made

to just bring into account the actual frequencies and percentage values of Code-switching

and Code-mixing at word, phrase, Clause, and sentence level. Research will also find out

the frequency of intra-sentential and inter-sentential code-switching by teachers in classroom

interactions. This study will also investigate factor that cause teachers to do code-switching and

code-mixing and solutions how to minimize it in class room.

Proposed Chapters for Thesis

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Chapter No.1 Introduction

This chapter will introduce the topic along with the objectives of the research. It

will also introduce the research questions of the research and research methodology

adopted for this research.

Chapter No.2 Review of the Literature

A comprehensive review of existing literature on constructs and keyword will be

encoded in this chapter. Further this chapter will also consist of literature on adopted

methodology of the research and it’s implemented.

Chapter No.3 Methodology/Data Collection

This proposed chapter will address the methodology of the research. It will

describe the source of data collection and tools required to collect required data for that

sources. It will also address the methods of data analysis adopted by the researcher to

evaluate the collected data.

Chapter No.4 Results and Discussions/Data Analysis

Results produce by collected data from the data collection source will be

evaluated. This evaluation will be discussed in detail in order to answer all research

questions.

References:
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Ahmad, B. H., & Jusoff, K. (2009). Teachers' Code-Switching in Classroom Instructions

for Low English Proficient Learners. English Language Teaching, 2(2), 49-55.

Bonvillain, N. (1993). Language, culture and society: The meaning of messages.

Brice, A., & Nye, C. (1997). Code switching and code mixing: Dual language issues

affecting the school speech-language pathologist. Tejas Journal.

Bradby, H. (2002). Translating culture and language: a research note on multilingual

settings. Sociology of Health & Illness, 24(6), 842-855.

Cook, V. (2013). Second language learning and language teaching. Routledge.

Fought, C. (2002). Chicano English in context. Springer.

Grosjean, F. (1982). Life with two languages: An introduction to bilingualism. Harvard

University Press.

Gulzar, M. A. (2010). Code-switching: Awareness about its utility in bilingual

classrooms. Bulletin of Education and Research, 32(2), 23-44.

Heredia, R. R., & Altarriba, J. (2001). Bilingual language mixing: Why do bilinguals

code-switch?. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(5), 164-168.

Iqbal, L. (2011). Linguistic features of code-switching: A study of Urdu/English bilingual

teachers’ classroom interactions. International Journal of Humanities and Social

Science, 1(14), 188-194.

Iqbal, L. (2011). Linguistic features of code-switching: A study of Urdu/English bilingual

teachers’ classroom interactions. International Journal of Humanities and Social

Science, 1(14), 188-194.

Jingxia, L. (2010). Teachers’ code-switching to the L1 in EFL classroom. The Open

Applied Linguistics Journal, 2(1).

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Khan, K. R. (2004). Classroom bilingual discourse: Problems and prospects. Language

policy planning and practice: A South Asian perspective, 175-186.

Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition.

Levine, G. S. (2003). Student and instructor beliefs and attitudes about target language

use, first language use, and anxiety: Report of a questionnaire study. The Modern

Language Journal, 87(3), 343-364.

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Name: Riffat Siddique

Research Scholar

Report of the Supervisor

Her work is commendable.

Mamoona Shahzadi

Supervisor Head, School of ___________________

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Time Table / Work Plan

Semester3rd (16 week)

04weeks Literature Review Comments by Supervisor

02weeks Methodology Do
08weeks Data Collection Do
02weeks Data Analysis Do

Semester4th (16weeks)

10weeks First Draft Comments by Supervisor

03weeks Second Draft Do
02weeks Final Draft Do
01week Submission of Thesis Do