LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Code Switching and Code Mixing in Arab Students -
Some Implications

N. C. Kiranmayi, M. Phil., CELTA, M.A. (Hons)

Abstract

More recently, educators explored code-switching and code mixing in classrooms and have found it to be effective as a teaching and communicative strategy which can be used among students (Aguirre, 1988; Hudelson, 1983; Olmedo-Williams, 1983).

This survey aimed at finding out the implications of code switching and code mixing in Arabic context. It looked at attitudes, outlook and need for code mixing and code switching in Arabs.

The survey was conducted using questionnaires, tape recorded conversations, classroom observations, newspapers, billboards, brochures and other relevant materials available to the students.

The survey was conducted in the context of the classroom and interactions with other people as well. The data was collected, analysed and results tabulated. The results were further analysed for their positive and negative implications on learning a second language - English.

The researcher hopes that the survey and its results will interest the English teachers not only from the Arab countries but other countries as well, because code mixing and code switching, the two phenomena have positive implications but not negative as was thought by the earlier linguists.

Key Words: Code switching, Arab students, merits of code switching, implications for teaching.

1. Demystifying Code Mixing and Code Switching

Code Switching (CS) refers to the mixing of two or more languages by bilinguals (or multilinguals) in a discourse. Two types of code switching have been recognized by most researchers: Intrasentential code switching used for switches within sentences, and intersentential code switching for switches between sentences.

To illustrate further the difference in code mixing and code switching, examples are given below.

1a. Life in cities is comfortable bass I am sick and tired of traffic.
Life in cities is comfortable but I am sick and tired of traffic.

Here in the above sentence, only one word from Arabic is mixed in a sentence of English. This is code mixing.

1b. If you work hard, r?h tingah.
If you work hard, you will pass.

Here in the above sentence, the speaker starts in English but switches to Arabic to complete the sentence. This is code switching.

Crystal (1987) suggests that code, or language, switching occurs when an individual who is bilingual alternates between two languages during his/her speech with another bilingual person.

A bilingual is said to be one who is able to communicate, to varying extents, in a second language. This includes those who make irregular use of a second language, are able to use a second language but have not for some time (dormant bilingualism) or those who have considerable skill in a second language (Crystal, 1987).

This type of alteration, or code switching, between languages occurs commonly amongst bilinguals and may take a number of different forms, including alteration of sentences, phrases from both languages succeeding each other and switching in a long narrative.

Berthold, Mangubhai and Bartorowicz (1997, pg 2.13) supplement the definition of code switching thus far with the notion that it occurs where speakers change from one language to another in the midst of their conversations.

In general, a person who code switches demonstrates linguistic creativity and sophistication. Here, we take code switching as an umbrella term for both code switching and code mixing because our interest is in the implications of these phenomena rather than the phenomena them selves.

I have been teaching English to Omani students for the last seven years working at various levels. At first I worked in schools and then I moved to teaching in colleges. When I was teaching in school, I observed that the students had very little exposure to English outside of their classrooms. I observed the same was the case with the students at the college level. The teachers at the college level were using CS a lot in their classroom teaching and interaction outside the classroom. I have also learnt a little bit of Arabic courtesy from students and the environment around me. I too started using CS in my classrooms and I could bond well with the students, which is very crucial for the harmony in the language classrooms.

CS served a variety of purposes for me and my colleagues at the college. Then I was intrigued by this phenomenon and its positive or negative implications on teaching.

This study is also necessitated by the fact that the students have a very little exposure to English and thereby practicing the language in the classroom albeit using CS is imperative for language learning. It boosts the confidence of students and helps them to plug the gap in communication.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Ethnic Relations and the Media - A Study of the Malaysian Situation | Lexical Borrowing: A Study of Punjabi and Urdu Kinship Terms | Novel as Contemporary Indian History - A Glimpse of Works by Manohar Malgonkar,
His Contemporaries, and Precursors | Gender Issues in Teacher Training Materials of ELTIS (English Language Training for Islamic Schools) - A Study from Indonesia | Mind Your Vocabulary! | Semantic Variations of Punjabi Toneme | Contemporary Indian Women Writing in English and the Problematics of the Indian Middle Class | Thought Boundary Detection in English Text through the 'Law of Conservation of thought' for Word Sense Disambiguation | Theme of Isolation in the Select Works of Canadian Women Playwrights | Developing an ESP Course for Students of Applied Sciences in Pakistan | Socio-cultural Context of Communication in Indian Novel - A Pragmatic Approach to Inside the Haveli | Socio-cultural Context of Communication in Indian Novel - A Pragmatic Approach to Inside the Haveli | An Overview of Face and Politeness | Technical Language Lab and CALL - A Descriptive Report | Teaching Composition to Adult Learners of ESL - Strategically Bridging Learner Deficiency and Metacognitive Proficiency through Emotional Intelligence - A Case Study of Indian and Libyan Situations | A Comparison of Students' Achievement in the Subject of English - A Pakistani Context | Code Switching and Code Mixing in Arab Students - Some Implications | A Descriptive Analysis of Diminishing Linguistic Taboos in Pakistan | "Who's that Guy?" - A Discourse Representation of Social Actors in a Death | Contributions of Anna to Tamil Culture and Literature | Ignorance - A Maiden Spoilsport in Thomas Hardy | Classical Language Issues for Teulugu and Kannada | A PRINT VERSION OF ALL THE PAPERS OF AUGUST 2010 ISSUE IN BOOK FORMAT. This document is better viewed if you open it online and then save it in your computer. After saving it in your computer, you can easily read all the pages from the saved document. | HOME PAGE of August 2010 Issue | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR