The Use of Mother Tongue in English Classrooms in Qassim Secondary Schools

Abstract

Code-switching (CS) refers to the use of a person’s first language (L1) in teaching or learning a second language (L2). According to Lin (2008), CS in the classroom is the employment of multiple linguistic codes by any classroom participant. As a contentious issue in the second language acquisition field, CS has elicited a variety of opinions, including those of researchers who oppose CS in classrooms where English is being taught as a second or foreign language and those who support it. This study is one of few to examine CS within the Saudi context. The current study concentrates on secondary schools in Saudi Arabia's Al-Qassim region. It investigates the classroom perspectives of both students and teachers and the functions of teachers’ CS. To do this, various data collection methods are employed. To investigate perceptions of CS, quantitative instruments, such as questionnaires for both teachers and students, are used. Furthermore, qualitative instruments, such as classroom observations and teacher interviews, are utilised to examine the CS functions of teachers. The results indicate that both students and instructors consider CS useful when learning an L2 and that teachers utilise CS for a variety of purposes, including social functions, classroom management, topic switching, and repetitive functions. Furthermore, classrooms observations indicated that instructors use CS excessively and unnecessarily. This dissertation concludes by discussing the limitations of this study and implications for future research.