The Cambridge Open-Review Educational Research e-Journal (CORERJ)

An exploratory study on teachers’ code-switching from per-spectives of Vietnamese EFL experienced teachers and student teachers

corerj

July 12, 2019

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 1 There have existed different perspectives on teachers’ use of code switching (CS) in second/foreign language (L2) classrooms. While some suggest teachers’ exclusive use of L2 in L2 classrooms, others argue that switching to first language (L1) has its valuable contributions to foreign language teaching. This exploratory qualitative study aims to investigate the perspectives of student teachers and experienced teachers towards CS use in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Vietnam. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with fourteen Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers. Findings revealed that all student teachers and experienced teachers had positive attitudes toward CS. They believed that CS could be used for different pedagogical functions in L2 classrooms, such as explaining grammar points, clarifying difficult concepts, checking students’ comprehension, and dealing with students’ misbehaviours or mixed levels of proficiency. In addition, they perceived CS as beneficial in facilitating students’ comprehension, saving time, and motivating students. The study also showed that student teachers might be influenced by their mentor teachers during practicum and their awareness about CS needs to be raised to be more confident. Based on the findings, this paper argues that CS can be considered as instructional strategies and EFL teacher education programs in Vietnam should consider incorporating training on balancing L2 use with L1 support for optimal efficiency in L2 classrooms.

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 Key words: code switching; English as a foreign language; teachers; student teachers; perspectives

Introduction

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 In foreign/second language (L2) teaching, the use of first language or mother tongue (L1) in L2 classrooms has been discussed over recent years and attracted contradictory opinions. Some researchers recommend L2 teachers using L2 exclusively in their classrooms as it can enhance students’ motivation when they see its usefulness immediately and it can make the language real (e.g. Chambers, 1991; MacDonald, 1993; Moeller & Roberts 2013). Others believe that switching to L1 has its valuable contributions to foreign language teaching (e.g. Atkinson, 1987; Campa & Nassaji, 2009; Cook, 2001; Critchley, 2002; Harbord, 1992; Macaro, 1997, 2001, 2005; Schweers, 1999). Some argued that excluding teachers’ use of L1 in L2 classrooms is impractical and prevents learners from using a crucial tool for their L2 learning (e.g. Atkinson, 1993; Macaro, 1997).

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 In the context of Vietnam, the issue of whether teachers should use L1 in L2 classrooms is still controversial. Only a few studies have investigated this issue (e.g. Grant & Nguyen, 2017; Le, 2014; Nguyen, 2012) while no research has examined how Vietnamese EFL student teachers perceive code-switching during their student teaching experiences, the most influential part in teacher education programmes (Glenn, 2006; Tang, 2003). For student teachers, the role of mentoring is undeniably important and many experienced teachers are assigned to guide student teachers during practicum; thus, experienced teachers can be seen as important models for student teachers. It is, therefore, necessary to understand the beliefs of both student teachers and experienced teachers on using code-switching in L2 classrooms to inform relevant policies and teacher training programmes.

Literature review[A1] 

Different  perspectives on code-switching

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 Code-switching (CS) in L2 classrooms refers to teachers’ choice of languages between the foreign language which is taught and the language of either school or society (Simon, 2000). There have existed different perspectives on the use of CS in L2 classrooms.

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 0 Opponents of CS advocated L2 use in L2 classrooms. Krashen (1985) suggested English as the medium in ESL/EFL classrooms, arguing that L2 environment is of “paramount importance to success in a new language” (p. 13). Similarly, Chamber (1992) suggested that students should be exposed to L2 in L2 classrooms as much as possible. MacDonald (1993) argued that excessive reliance on L1 could be demotivating to students and negatively affect their need to develop their understanding of L2. Moeller and Roberts (2013) commented that: “Together with best pedagogical practices, maximising the TL [target language] in the classroom will ensure a lively and engaging language experience that can approximate authentic language use and make language learning meaningful to learners” (p.35).

¶ 7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 0 Proponents of CS use, however, take its merits into considerations. Macaro (1997, 2001, 2005) viewed L1 usage as a natural practice in the L2 acquisition process and that using both languages seems to be a more time-efficient strategy than using only target language. Similarly, some other researchers also considered CS as a time-saving method in EFL classroom (Atkinson, 1987; Critchley, 2002; Harbord, 1992; Medgyes, 1994) since using L1 could reduce dramatically the amount of time spent on explaining the lessons[A2] . In addition, Cook (2001) supported incorporating CS because he contended that the use of L1 was a natural phenomenon and could create authentic learning environments and it thus should not necessarily be discouraged. A number of studies have moved away from the debates of whether to use CS or not to investigating the functions of CS in L2 classroom, which is reviewed in the next section.

¶ 8 Leave a comment on paragraph 8 0 Functions of code-switching

¶ 9 Leave a comment on paragraph 9 0 Teachers’ CS has been reported to serve different functions for both teachers and students. As regards teachers, L1 was suggested to help them in explaining difficult concepts as well as grammar instruction (e.g. Kim & Petraki, 2009; Levine, 2003; Macaro, 2001; Schweers, 1999). Atkinson (1987) indicated that the switch between L1 and L2 could provide “useful reinforcement of structural, conceptual and sociolinguistic differences between the native and target language” (p.224). Atkinson (1987) also noted that using L1 to check comprehension of the underlying concepts in either a listening or a reading text was even much quicker and more effective than other techniques. Medgyes (1994) considered L1 as “ an indispensable teaching device for explaining structures and vocabulary, giving instructions, doing various kinds of exercises, and so on” (p.65).

¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 0 In addition, Macaro (1997, 2001) reported other uses of L1 for various purposes in EFL classroom, such as giving instructions for pair or group activities, dealing with students’ misbehaviours, fostering relationship with students, making instructions clearer to students and coping with the lack of time in class. Polio and Duff (1994) pointed out that teachers could switch to L1 for isolated words or phrases in L2 with the goal to ensure the key information was conveyed to students or for rapport-building and interpersonal purposes with the view to relieving the anxiety of students. These functions were also mentioned in Cahyani et al. (2018). In Orland-Barak and Yinon’s (2005) study on Jewish and Arab student teachers, they used CS for different functions in communicative L2 classrooms, including comparison and clarification of L2 meanings, encouraging communication and student participation, enhancing classroom management and rapport with students.

¶ 11 Leave a comment on paragraph 11 0 For students, CS was suggested to reduce the anxiety and pressure on them (Schweers, 1999). Schweers (1999) reported that his students seemed to be enthusiastic about classroom activities and learnt L2 actively and positively when L1 was used in the classroom, justifying that using L1 in EFL classrooms proved teachers’ respect for culture and native language of their students and thus reduced the negative attitudes of students toward L2 learning process. Atkinson (1987) also suggested that using the L1 encouraged students as well as teachers to actively say what they wanted to say. He indicated that teachers could, by means of CS, encourage their students to brainstorm effectively to express their thoughts, which helped them to speak the target language. Additionally, Kharma and Hajjaj (1989) and Franklin (1990) suggested that advanced learners demonstrated good progress when they learned grammar in L1.

¶ 12 Leave a comment on paragraph 12 0 Beliefs of teachers and student teachers about code–switching

¶ 13 Leave a comment on paragraph 13 0 Teachers’ belief systems are considered the main sources of teachers’ classroom practices when they illustrated the information, values, attitudes, expectations, assumptions and theories related to teaching along with learning (Richards, 1998). Teachers’ beliefs can have an impact on the approach to their instructional practices as well as language teaching (Burns, 1992). On the other hand, student teachers, or pre-service teachers, who may experience high levels of stress and anxiety during their practicum (Agustiana, 2014; Paker, 2011), can bring their specific ideas and beliefs into their teaching programme, which can affect their knowledge construction together with the approach that they follow during practicum (Kagan, 1992; Mattheoudakis, 2007). In other words, student teachers’ beliefs can “influence what they say and do in classroom, which, in turn, shapes their beliefs” (Zheng, 2009, p.80). Considering the importance of teachers and student teachers’ beliefs, studies investigating them are necessary.

¶ 14 Leave a comment on paragraph 14 0 A number of publications have been discussed beliefs of teachers and student teachers concerning CS and generally they held positive attitudes towards it (Batemen, 2008; Macaro, 1997, 2001, 2005; Schweers, 1999). Macaro (2005) found that most bilingual teachers considered CS as “unfortunate and regrettable but necessary” (p. 68), which he found common among teachers in different age phases and educational contexts. Schweers (1999) reported that all teachers reported using L1 to some extent. Bahous et al. (2014), however, reported that teachers had mixed views towards CS use. Some teachers supported using CS while other denying it, but classroom observations showed that they all used CS but some were not aware of using it. Regarding student teachers, Bateman (2008) found that they advocated using CS because they they found it difficult to manage their class by using L2 only and beginner students or those having trouble with cognitive ability and abstract grammatical concepts could face more difficulties in L2 acquisition than advanced students.

¶ 15 Leave a comment on paragraph 15 0 Code-switching in Vietnam

¶ 16 Leave a comment on paragraph 16 1 In Vietnam, Le (2011) revealed that Vietnamese EFL teachers often switched to Vietnamese to check students’ understanding of meta-language as well as to explain grammatical rules. They had a tendency to use English first and then translated the message into Vietnamese since they perceived that low English proficiency students could understand grammar thoroughly with L1 support. More recently, Grant and Nguyen (2017) found that Vietnamese EFL teachers used CS frequently for both pedagogical and affective reasons, such as students’ low English proficiency, lesson content, students’ attitudes and emotion, along with teachers’ lack of awareness of CS. Nguyen’s (2012) study on the use of CS in tertiary context in Vietnam found that contextual factors, including time budget in class, students’ English proficiency levels, cultural values, teacher evaluation systems, and teacher cognition can affect CS use.

¶ 17 Leave a comment on paragraph 17 0 Research gaps

¶ 18 Leave a comment on paragraph 18 0 In the context of Vietnam, a few studies have investigated CS in L2 classes and found that it is frequently used in EFL classes and supported by the majority of Vietnamese EFL teachers and students (Grant & Nguyen, 2017; Nguyen, 2012; Nguyen et al., 2010; Le, 2011, 2014). No studies to date, however, have investigated the perspectives of Vietnamese EFL student teachers on CS use. An answer to that question may have important implications for EFL teacher education since it can shed light on whether these students teachers are fully aware of CS use in their teaching, which is considered essential (Bahous et al., 2014). [A3] For that reason, this study was conducted to address the following research questions:

0. ¶ 19 Leave a comment on paragraph 19 0
1. What are the attitudes of Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers towards CS?

¶ 20 Leave a comment on paragraph 20 0 2. In which situations do Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers think CS should be used?

¶ 21 Leave a comment on paragraph 21 1 3. What do Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers think are the benefits of CS?

Methodology

Participants

¶ 22 Leave a comment on paragraph 22 1 A total of 14 Vietnamese participants including 7 student teachers (7 females, 1 male) aged 21-22 and 7 experienced teachers (all females) aged 37 to 40 in various public[A4]  high schools in both rural and urban areas[A5]  in northern Vietnam participated in this study. All the experienced teachers held a university degree in English language education and their class sizes often ranged from 35 to 40 students. [A6] Their self-reported English proficiency was upper-intermediate, or equivalent to B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The seven teachers in this study had extensive experience in tutoring student teachers in their teaching practicum. These experienced and students teachers were selected based on their teaching experience as well as their willingness to participate in the study[A7] . All the names mentioned in this paper are pseudo names to preserve the participants’ anonymity.[A8] 

Instrument

¶ 23 Leave a comment on paragraph 23 0 Semi-structured interviews were employed because, as Payne (2000) suggested, the semi-structured interviews are flexible enough to allow the respondents to not only expand on the relevant issues but also initiate new topics.The interview was conducted in either Vietnamese or English on the participants’ discretion. Because the participants were based in different places, the interviews were thus conducted via Skype and Facebook video calls (10 via Skype and 2 via Facebook)[A9] . Each interview lasted approximately 30 minutes.

Procedure

¶ 24 Leave a comment on paragraph 24 0 First, the participants and researchers agreed on schedules for interviews through Skype or Facebook. Then, consent forms were sent to the interviewees to ask for their permission to record and use their data anonymously for the study. After the interviews, all recordings were transcribed. The transcripts were offered to the interviewees to confirm their accuracy. ‘Member checks’, i.e. participants’ reading data to check, are important to establish credibility in a qualitative study (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The participants read, commented and made suggestions for some corrections when necessary. Afterwards, those transcripts were coded and analysed. The answers from both Vietnamese EFL teachers and student teachers were categorised into three aspects, including their general attitudes toward CS, the perceived situations in which they used CS and the perceived advantages of CS in English classrooms. [A10] These categories were later used to identify the similarities and differences between experienced teachers and student teachers’ beliefs.

Findings

Overall, the interviews revealed that both Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers showed their positive attitudes towards using CS. The situations where they reported to use CS as well as their perspectives on the benefits of CS, however, slightly differed. [A11] 

Research question 1: What are the attitudes of Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers towards CS?

The attitudes of Vietnamese EFL student teachers towards CS

¶ 25 Leave a comment on paragraph 25 0 All Vietnamese EFL student teachers reported positive attitudes to CS. The interviewed Vietnamese EFL student teachers generally viewed CS as an effective and realistic method in their teaching English in Vietnamese context that can benefit both teachers and students. CS was considered both challenging and interesting, as commented by two student teachers:

¶ 26 Leave a comment on paragraph 26 0 I love to use CS in my English class. It’s so easy for me to actively switch two languages. It’s very interesting. ( Lan)

¶ 27 Leave a comment on paragraph 27 0 I am a type of person who cannot do something repeatedly for a long time, but using CS in teaching English is like reading books in a new pattern and I can thus stick with it for a long period of time because it’s extremely interesting for me. (Ngoc)

¶ 28 Leave a comment on paragraph 28 0 Code-switching is useful but can sometimes be quite challenging because some English words don’t have exact Vietnamese equivalents and it takes more efforts to translate those English words into Vietnamese and make them clear for my students. (Thuy)[A12] 

¶ 29 Leave a comment on paragraph 29 0 Another student teacher said CS was effective since it could help all students understand the lesson adequately and correctly regardless of their English proficiency:

¶ 30 Leave a comment on paragraph 30 0 For me, switching from English to Vietnamese in my English classrooms is an effective tool to help students of different levels to learn English lessons. (Van)

¶ 31 Leave a comment on paragraph 31 0 The student teachers also considered CS realistic in the Vietnamese context, saying English-only classrooms are not suitable for Vietnamese EFL learners whose language skills are not yet good enough to due to their limited exposure to English outside their classrooms:

¶ 32 Leave a comment on paragraph 32 0 For me, using CS in teaching English is necessary because Vietnamese students do not have a suitable English speaking environment to get used to using English only in the class. That is to say, their speaking and listening are not well developed, they thus may not understand when their teachers use English only. Accordingly, I think CS is suitable for Vietnamese students to understand the lessons. (Sa)

The attitudes of experienced teachers towards CS

¶ 33 Leave a comment on paragraph 33 0 All Vietnamese experienced high school EFL teachers held positive views towards CS.

¶ 34 Leave a comment on paragraph 34 0 One of the main reasons for their positive attitude was that CS was reported to give the teachers more confidence and motivation. As one experienced teachers said:

¶ 35 Leave a comment on paragraph 35 0 At first, CS was so challenging for me but then I gradually got used to it and found that it was much easier. Consequently, I could use it confidently. This somewhat motivated me in my teaching. (Ly)

¶ 36 Leave a comment on paragraph 36 0 CS made some experienced teachers feel more interested in teaching English:

¶ 37 Leave a comment on paragraph 37 0 When I used English only to teach my students, they showed their tiredness towards learning English which really demotivated my willingness to teach English, but when I switched into Vietnamese to teach them in some difficult cases, I realised that CS in this case seemed to urge them to think in and learn English. Thus, CS inspired me to teach. (Hien)

¶ 38 Leave a comment on paragraph 38 0 CS was also perceived to be an effective tool to encourage their students’ willingness to learn English:

¶ 39 Leave a comment on paragraph 39 0 I think using CS in teaching English is so interesting and effective because I do not need to force students to remember a number of difficult terms and concepts by heart, which is too stressful for them. In fact, besides learning English, they need to learn other subjects at school, so I think that is one of the reasons why they are not interested in English. However, when I use CS in class, my students seem to feel much more comfortable, which can facilitate their English learning process. (Lan)

Research question 2: In which situations do Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers think CS should be used?

¶ 40 Leave a comment on paragraph 40 1 In general, both Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers reported to frequently use CS in teaching their EFL classes in a variety of situations. The Vietnamese EFL student teachers, however, all showed their lack of confidence about when and how CS should be used and questioned whether it would be theoretically appropriate to use CS or not. The most common situations in which these student teachers reported to use CS were to explain grammar points and to clarify difficult concepts. These student teachers reported that they mostly employed CS in these cases with the hope of helping students understand the knowledge and pass their examinations:

¶ 41 Leave a comment on paragraph 41 0 I can frankly say that, during English lessons I mostly used Vietnamese while teaching both grammar and vocabulary because I wanted to help my students can understand the key knowledge to pass the tests successfully. (Ngoc)

¶ 42 Leave a comment on paragraph 42 0 Interestingly, the influence of mentor teachers on the use of CS during practicum was acknowledged by six out of seven student teachers:

¶ 43 Leave a comment on paragraph 43 0 I had to use Vietnamese when teaching not only grammar but also vocabulary because my supervisor suggested that by doing so all of my students can understand the lesson effectively. Thus, I followed her because she is an experienced teacher. (Thuy)

¶ 44 Leave a comment on paragraph 44 0 The second most common situation where the student teachers said they used CS was to check students’ comprehension. When realising students’ uncertainty about the knowledge that they taught, these Vietnamese EFL student teachers had a tendency to switch into Vietnamese to check their understanding.

¶ 45 Leave a comment on paragraph 45 0 Sometimes, when realising that students seem to be worried about the content knowledge, I often switch into Vietnamese to check their understanding with the hope of helping them understand the lesson. (Van)

¶ 46 Leave a comment on paragraph 46 0 The interviewed student teachers also reported to sometimes use CS to give instructions for in-class activities and deal with students’ misbehaviours.

¶ 47 Leave a comment on paragraph 47 0 Since students’ English proficiency was not high enough, I had to switch to Vietnamese whenever I needed to make my instruction understood or deal with their inappropriate behaviours in class. (Lan)

Situations of using CS from the perspectives of Vietnamese experienced EFL teachers

¶ 48 Leave a comment on paragraph 48 0 All the experienced teachers in this study, similar to the student teachers, viewed that L1 was mainly employed to teach grammar and clarify difficult concepts. They reported that they used CS in these situations with the view to helping students understand the lessons more easily. In terms of grammar, these experienced teachers perceived that there were significant differences between L1 and L2 and thus using CS in this case could help their students easily visualise the changes in the grammatical structure of L1 and L2.

¶ 49 Leave a comment on paragraph 49 0 I often use Vietnamese to teach both grammar and vocabulary because I realise that it can help my students understand the lessons easily. (Sa)

¶ 50 Leave a comment on paragraph 50 0 Due to the differences between Vietnamese and English, when I teach them the positions of adjectives, students can hardly understand grammatical structures. Therefore, I had to use Vietnamese to make it easier for them. (Lan)

¶ 51 Leave a comment on paragraph 51 0 Additionally, experienced teachers further reported that CS was commonly used to address students’ misbehaviour. This is because experienced teachers believed that their students’ levels were quite low, thus they might not understand experienced teachers’ requests as well as advice in English only:

¶ 52 Leave a comment on paragraph 52 0 It’s hard for me to use English to solve the issue of my students’ improper behaviours because their English levels are quite low. I’m therefore afraid that they cannot understand what I say. When I switch into Vietnamese, this issue can be solved effectively. (Hien)

¶ 53 Leave a comment on paragraph 53 0 Three of the experienced teachers also said that they sometimes used CS for checking their students’ comprehension and giving instructions for activities or games in class.

¶ 54 Leave a comment on paragraph 54 0 In some circumstances where the instructions are complicated and students don’t understand them in English, I had to switch to Vietnamese to make sure that they all knew they would have to do in those activities, especially those new ones they had never experienced before or those very complex. (Mai)[A13] 

Research question 3: What do Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers think are the benefits of CS?

Benefits of CS from the perspectives of Vietnamese EFL student teachers

¶ 55 Leave a comment on paragraph 55 0 Six out of seven student teachers believed that it was beneficial to use Vietnamese to aid students’ comprehension and deal with students of different levels. They pointed out the fact that there were various Vietnamese students who were not placed into English classes suitable for their existing English levels. This problem, according to their opinions, made it difficult for those students to understand the lessons explained in English only. Hence, with the aim to help their students understand either a lexical item or a grammar point, the student teachers might have to consume a huge amount of time for keeping explaining it several times in English and providing students a long explanation. Further, there was no guarantee that students would understand what student teachers had explained to them. Consequently, they needed to switch from English to Vietnamese to facilitate students’ comprehension in EFL classroom. As a student teacher reported in her interview:

¶ 56 Leave a comment on paragraph 56 0 In my English classrooms, I often switch from English to Vietnamese because there are various students’ English levels in my class. For students who have low English proficiency, I often switch to Vietnamese more often than for those with higher levels of proficiency. The reason is that I realise that some low level students cannot catch my points when I teach them in English, although I try my best to explain to them several times. Thus, sometimes the only way that I can help them easily understand what I teach is using Vietnamese. (Ngoc)

¶ 57 Leave a comment on paragraph 57 0 One out of seven student teachers, despite acknowledging that CS could help students with their comprehension, was concerned that CS could sometimes be time-consuming because students would have to switch between two different languages when they participated in the activities:

¶ 58 Leave a comment on paragraph 58 0 I agree that switching to Vietnamese can help my students understand better, but it may not always be convenient for them. When I switched to Vietnamese, my students also had to process information in Vietnamese but then they would be asked to do the activities in English. That means they would have to switch from Vietnamese to English on doing the activities, which might take them more time.[A14]  (Vy)

¶ 59 Leave a comment on paragraph 59 0 All the student teachers also reported that CS could help them deal with the pressure of time. Since the allowed time for each lesson was 45 minutes, to deal with different tasks in a lesson, student teachers had to finish each certain section on time in order that they could move on to another. In this case, they believed that using Vietnamese was the fastest method for helping students understand the content knowledge:

¶ 60 Leave a comment on paragraph 60 0 Frankly speaking, for teaching difficult grammar points such as the tenses usage or phrase of verbs, when I use English to teach, it takes me a long period of time to help students understand what I want them to acquire. Consequently, I cannot either cover all the content of lesson or finish my lesson in allowed time. Thus, to minimise this drawback, I have a tendency to use Vietnamese to teach them in such cases. (Thuy)

¶ 61 Leave a comment on paragraph 61 0 Apart from the beliefs discussed above, the student teachers mentioned that CS could help create a comfortable learning environment for students. They believed that providing students with sufficient language input without too much cognitive load could make students feel more secure as well as comfortable to facilitate their learning process. As one student teacher reported in her interview:

¶ 62 Leave a comment on paragraph 62 0 I think the more comfortable students feel, the better they acquire knowledge. Thus, I often switch into Vietnamese when I need to teach some difficult content with the aim of avoiding demotivating my students. (Lan)

¶ 63 Leave a comment on paragraph 63 0 Three of the investigated student teachers admitted that CS can help them handle their stress and anxiety when giving instructions as well:

¶ 64 Leave a comment on paragraph 64 0 I’m not used to standing in front of people and I’m always afraid that I might be misunderstood, so I’m quite stressed whenever I have to give instructions. Then, I switch to Vietnamese at times. (Hieu)

Benefits of CS from the perspectives of Vietnamese experienced EFL teachers

¶ 65 Leave a comment on paragraph 65 0 All experienced teachers reported that switching from English to Vietnamese could help aid their students’ understanding effectively and efficiently. They explained that their students had inadequate knowledge of grammar and essential social background knowledge; therefore, they thought it could make them further dislike learning English if they continued teaching grammar and vocabulary through English only. One experienced teacher said:

¶ 66 Leave a comment on paragraph 66 0 Almost all of my students have little knowledge in terms of grammar as well as social background knowledge so if I keep teaching grammar and vocabulary by English, they may hate learning English more. Thus, I need to switch to Vietnamese to help them understand the lesson effectively. (Xa)

¶ 67 Leave a comment on paragraph 67 0 Also, two other experienced teachers gave further explanation that CS could help with the diversity of students’ levels:

¶ 68 Leave a comment on paragraph 68 0 For students who have low English proficiency, I often switch into Vietnamese more often than high level students since I believe that by doing so, all students in English class can understand the content knowledge. (Ha)

¶ 69 Leave a comment on paragraph 69 0 Another benefit of CS mentioned among Vietnamese experienced EFL teachers was to save time. By using CS in teaching English, they believe they would not be scared of running out of time and could spend time on other activities in the lesson properly and effectively:

¶ 70 Leave a comment on paragraph 70 0 Whenever teaching grammar by using English, I cannot finish my lesson in allowed time because I need to explain difficult terms for my students several times. Therefore, I decide to switch into Vietnamese to save time for other useful activities in the lesson. (Linh)

¶ 71 Leave a comment on paragraph 71 0 Five out of seven [A15] experienced teachers even admitted that using CS could help them hide their weaknesses about their mispronunciation. They did not want their language competence to be doubted just because they might mispronounce some words; therefore, they chose to switch to Vietnamese:

¶ 72 Leave a comment on paragraph 72 0 In some teaching situations, I do not know how to pronounce the words correctly so I decide to skip speaking aloud those words in front of my students and switch to Vietnamese to avoid being judged my language competence. (Xa)

¶ 73 Leave a comment on paragraph 73 0 Discussion

¶ 74 Leave a comment on paragraph 74 0 Overall, it could be seen that both Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers held positive views towards CS in their English classrooms. Positive attitudes among Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers were similar to those found in previous studies (e.g. Macaro, 1997, 2001; Orland-Barak & Yinon, 2005; Schweers; 1999). Regarding situations when CS is used, both Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers reported to frequently employ CS, which was in line with Grant and Nguyen (2017). The pedagogical functions of CS reported by the teachers were also supported by previous research: to explain grammar points (e.g. Kharma & Hajjaj, 1989; Franklin, 1990; Polio & Duff, 1994; Levine, 2003; Kim & Petraki, 2009), to clarify difficult concepts (e.g. Schweers, 1999; Macaro, 2001), to check students’ comprehension (e.g. Atkinson, 1987; Schweers, 1999), to give instructions (Macaro, 1997; Polio & Duff, 1994) and to address their students’ behaviour issues (e.g. Bateman, 2008; Cahyani et al. (2018); Macaro (2001). In terms of reported benefits of using CS, this study agreed with previous studies reporting that CS could aid students’ understanding of the content knowledge (e.g. Bateman, 2008; Macaro, 2001), save time (e.g. Atkinson, 1987; Critchley, 2002; Macaro, 1997, 2001, 2005; Medgyes, 1994) and motivate learners (e.g. Schweers, 1999).

¶ 75 Leave a comment on paragraph 75 1 There were, however, some dditional benefits of CS perceived by some Vietnamese student teachers and experienced that were not reported in previous studies. For student teachers, three out of seven believed that CS can help them cope with their stress and anxiety during their giving instruction, indicating these feelings might be experienced by some Vietnamese student teachers as similarly found in those students teachers in other context (Agustiana, 2014; Paker, 2011)[A16] . This finding indicated Vietnamese EFL student teachers need more support during their practicum. The majority of Vietnamese experienced EFL teachers in this study, on the other hand, viewed CS as a technique to help them hide their lack of confidence about their pronunciation, which can be attributed to the fact that Vietnamese teachers’ status as well as power are important values in the culture of learning in educational system in Vietnam (Le & Phan, 2013). This result showed that Vietnamese experienced EFL teachers also require further training in pronunciation to increase their confidence during their teaching.

¶ 76 Leave a comment on paragraph 76 0 Conclusion

Summary

¶ 77 Leave a comment on paragraph 77 0 This study examines the perspectives of student teachers and experienced teachers toward CS in EFL classrooms in Vietnam. Through the use of semi-structured interviews with a total of 14 Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced high school teachers, this research showed that both student teachers and experienced teachers shared the same positive attitudes toward CS in EFL classroom, considering CS beneficial to their L2 teaching and their students’ L2 learning. CS was perceived to be used in various situations including explaining grammar points, clarifying difficult concepts, checking students’ comprehension, giving directions or rules for activities and games and dealing with students’ misbehaviours. CS was also believed to be beneficial in different ways, including aiding students’ understanding the content knowledge, facilitating students’ motivation for learning English, creating a comfortable learning environment for students, saving time for both students and teachers, hiding teachers’ weaknesses in mispronunciation and avoiding student teachers’ stress and anxiety when they gave instruction.

Limitations and suggestions for future research

¶ 78 Leave a comment on paragraph 78 0 This is a small-scale study with a limited number of participants, so the results are tentative and exploratory. Second, this study just showed teachers’ and experienced teachers’ beliefs about the use of CS, so it is not yet clear how CS is used in practice. Studies that observe their real practice in EFL classrooms can help confirm and evaluate their beliefs. Third, some variables, such as contextual factors discussed by Nguyen (2012), were not included in the analysis and discussion of this paper. Those variables, if included, can provide insights into and justifications for the use of CS in EFL classrooms.

Pedagogical implications

¶ 79 Leave a comment on paragraph 79 0 This study shows that CS was perceived by both Vietnamese EFL student and experienced teachers as a useful tool for their L2 teaching and should be considered instructional strategies. Moreover, this study also indicated that the student teachers’ admitted lack of confidence about when and how CS should be used while teachers’ awareness of CS is essential (Bahous et al., 2014). This finding, therefore, suggested that EFL teacher training programmes in Vietnam should consider providing further information on CS to help teachers-in-training better understand about CS use and balance L2 use with L1 support  to achieve optimal efficiency in L2 classrooms. For exp[A17] erienced teachers, their use of CS because of their lack of confidence about their pronunciation also indicates their need for continuing professional development to improve their language competence as well as teaching practices.

¶ 80 Leave a comment on paragraph 80 0 References

¶ 81 Leave a comment on paragraph 81 0 Atkinson, D. (1987). The Mother Tongue in the Classroom: A neglected reflected resource? ELT Journal, 41(4), 241-247.

¶ 82 Leave a comment on paragraph 82 0 Atkinson, D. (1993). Teaching in the target language: A problem in the current orthodoxy. Language Learning Journal, 8, 2–5.

¶ 83 Leave a comment on paragraph 83 0 Agustiana, V. (2014). Pre-service teachers’ anxiety during teaching practicum. English Review: Journal of English Education, 2(2), 174-182

¶ 84 Leave a comment on paragraph 84 0 Bahous, R. N., Nabhani, M. B., & Bacha, N. N. (2014). Code-switching in higher education in a multilingual environment: a Lebanese exploratory study. Language Awareness, 23(4), 353-368.

¶ 85 Leave a comment on paragraph 85 0 Bateman, B. E. (2008). Student teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about using the target language in the classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 41 (1), 11-28.

¶ 86 Leave a comment on paragraph 86 0 Burns, A. (1992). Teacher beliefs and their influence on classroom practice. Prospect, 7(3), 56-66.

¶ 87 Leave a comment on paragraph 87 0 Cahyani, H., de Courcy, M., & Barnett, J. (2018). Teachers’ code-switching in bilingual classrooms: exploring pedagogical and sociocultural functions. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(4), 465-479.

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Appendix: Interview questions for Vietnamese EFL student teachers and experienced teachers

0. ¶ 123 Leave a comment on paragraph 123 0
1. What do you think about Vietnamese EFL teachers’ switch from English to Vietnamese in teaching English? Why?
2. (Only if the participant has a positive towards CS) In what situations do you think Vietnamese EFL teachers should switch from English to Vietnamese in teaching English?
3. (Only if the participant has a positive towards CS) What can be the benefits of Vietnamese EFL teachers’ switching from English to Vietnamese in teaching English?