Factors of Code Switching among Bilingual English Students in the University Classroom: A Survey.

Abstract

This study proposes to identify and evaluate the factors that affect code switching in the university classroom among 15 bilingual international students. The findings from the study conducted in a southern American university revealed that the primary factor of code switching in international classroom is incompetence in the second language. Other noted factors were: to maintain privacy; to make it easier to speak in their own language than to speak in English; to avoid misunderstanding; being unfamiliar with similar words in English. However, code switching can be a useful strategy in classroom interaction if the aim is to make meaning clear and to transfer the knowledge to students in an efficient way.