Teachers’ Code-switching In Senior High Schools In China

In China, code-switching in English lessons mainly refers to the alternations between Chinese and English. Though the application of code-switching in foreign language classes has been controversial for years, it has now been a common practice for English teachers in senior high schools of China.To have a clearer picture of how code-switching is applied in English classes at senior high schools, this paper reports a study based on data collected from English classrooms across both key schools and regular schools in Fujian.10 teachers participated in the study and 12 of their classes were recorded and transcribed. The major findings of this study are as follows:1) in reading lessons and vocabulary lessons, English was used as the matrix language and Chinese as the embedded language in key schools, while in regular schools, the opposite is the case. However, in grammar lessons and exercise lessons, Chinese was used as the matrix language and English as the embedded language by teachers from both types of schools.2) In terms of the pattern of code-switching, teachers in key schools mainly used inter-sentential code-switching while teachers in regular schools intra-sentential code-switching with Chinese as the matrix language and English as embedded language.3) In lessons where English was the matrix language, teachers in key schools mainly switched to Chinese for translating and classroom management.4) In lessons where Chinese was the matrix language, teachers from both types of schools switched to English mainly for pedagogical purposes such as clarifying, translating, eliciting, as well as providing examples. It is also found that a large proportion of English used by teachers from regular schools was extracted from textbooks and thus only a small percent of English was produced by teachers themselves. In addition to pedagogical functions, teachers in key schools also switched to English for classroom management but seldom for interpersonal communication. Little English was used by teachers from regular schools for classroom management and interpersonal communication.5) This research also found that when explaining grammar and language points, teachers from both types of schools tended to use intra-sentential code-switching with Chinese as the matrix language and English as the embedded language.6) Teachers from regular schools on the whole didn’t provide sufficient and authentic input of the target language both in form and in content for their students. Several suggestions were put forward according to the findings.