AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYỄN NHẬT THẢO VY DTA151115 DH16TA UNDERGRADUATE THESIS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING CODE-SWITCHING IN SPOKEN LANGUAGE FROM THE PERCEPTION OF ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AND LECTURERS AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN THỊ THU DUNG, MA 1 AN GIANG, MAY 2019 AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYỄN NHẬT THẢO VY DTA151115 DH16TA UNDERGRADUATE THESIS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING CODE-SWITCHING IN SPOKEN LANGUAGE FROM THE PERCEPTION OF ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AND LECTURERS AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN THỊ THU DUNG, MA 2 AN GIANG, MAY 2019 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the thesis titled “Advantages and disadvantages of using Code-switching in spoken language from the perception of English-majored students and lecturers at An Giang University” represents my own work and that it has not been previously submitted to any other university or institute in application for admission to degrees or other qualifications. An Giang, May 2019 NGUYỄN NHẬT THẢO VY i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In order to get the success of this study, I am very fortunate to receive the motivation and assistance of many individuals to be able to finish it. Therefore, I would like to express my sincere and deep gratitude to them. First and foremost, I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs.
Nguyễn Thị Thu Dung, MA, the Lecturer of Faculty of Foreign Languages of An Giang University, who supported and guided me in the process of making this thesis. Although she busied herself working, she still tried to arrange time to help me rectify my paper and patiently gives me useful advice. I honestly appreciate her excellent insights and her fervour in instructing me to complete the research. Secondly, I would like to thank the English-majored students and lecturers in Faculty of Foreign Languages of An Giang University for their cooperation and willingness during the performance of my study, the process of collecting the data of questionnaires as well as interviews that helped me fulfill this thesis.
Last but not least, I would like to spend my special thanks to my family and close friends who have always encouraged me during the process of my study. Without their contributions, my thesis could not have been done. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. Rationale of the research. Research aims and research questions.
Scope of the research. Significance of the research. Limitations of the research. Organisation of the research.
Brief review of the definitions of Code-switching. Code-switching and Bilingual. Definitions of Bilingual. Code-Switching and Bilingual.
The roles of using Code-switching. Advantages of using Code-switching. Disadvantages of using Code-switching. Summary of literature review and justification of the study.
Closed-ended questions. Data collection procedures. Administering the questionnaires. Administering the interviews.
Data analysis procedures. Analysis of the questionnaires. Analysis of the interviews. Data collected from the questionnaires of English-majored students at An Giang University.
Closed-ended questions. The reasons of using Code-switching. The advantages of using Code-switching. The disadvantages of using Code-switching.
Interviews with English-majored lecturers at An Giang University. The perceptions of Code-switching of English-majored lecturers at An Giang University. The observations and personal states of using Code-switching of English-majored lecturers at An Giang University. The evaluations as well as suggestions of English-majored lecturers at An Giang University on the advantages and disadvantages of using Code-switching in society.
DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS. Summary of the findings. The advantages of using Code-switching in spoken language from the perception of English-majored students and lecturers at An Giang University. The disadvantages of using Code-switching in spoken language from the perception of English-majored students and lecturers at An Giang University.
Recommendations for further studies. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS. PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG ANH. CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN (DÀNH CHO GIẢNG VIÊN).
76 v LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1. The personal status of using both English and Vietnamese in the same conversation. The set level of using Code-switching. The attitudes towards others' use of Code-switching.
Advantages of using Code-switching. Disadvantages of using Code-switching. Students' attitudes towards lecturers' use of Code-switching. Situations for using CS effectively.
Is Code-switching a development or a backward step of language?. Promoting the development of language through CS. Solutions to the backward step of Code-switching. Sources of the referred and adapted questions of the closed-ended statements section.
Sources of the referred and adapted questions of the rating scales section. Summary of items for each category in the questionnaire. Reliability Statistics of the second section of the questionnaire. Descriptive Statistics of Total Mean Scores of the reasons of using Code- switching.
Descriptive Statistics of Total Mean Scores of the advantages of using Code-switching. Item-Total Statistics of the advantages of using Code-switching. Descriptive Statistics of Total Mean Scores of the disadvantages of using Code-switching. Item-Total Statistics of the disadvantages of using Code-switching.
39 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AGU: An Giang University L1: First language L2: Second language SLA: Second language acquisition CS: Code-switching SPSS: Statistic Package for the Social Science (software) vii ABSTRACT Code-switching which can be understood as the common linguistic phenomenon in the society means the combination or the alternately switch among multiple languages in the communication process of language users. The aim of this study is to investigate overall standpoints from the perception of English- majored students and lecturers at An Giang University about the advantages and disadvantages of using Code-switching in spoken language. The findings of the study indicate that Code-switching actually includes both positive and negative impacts which come from many aspects. In conclusion, in order to make good the shortcomings of Code-switching use for people in general and those who are learning as well as working in English Major at AGU in particular for applying the means to the communities more effectively, language users should consider using Code-switching only with people who have the same level of languages with them and those who totally agree to use it during communication.
Besides, although it is helpful in teaching, lecturers should only use it at a limited rate if possible in order to avoid the negative effects on the language ability of students. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter is divided into six sections: (1) The rationale of the research, (2) The research aims and the research questions, (3) The scope of the research, (4) Significance of the research, (5) The limitations of the research, as well as (6) Organisation of the research. Rationale of the research Each individual has their own way of expressing language in communication which suits them the most to convey thoughts, feelings, views as well as exchange information; for example, you only speak in your native language, or frequently use other kinds of second languages that you know, or switch simultaneously between these codes. Today, along with the more rapid as well as modern development of society, the state of using Code-switching in communities is also becoming more widespread.
For that reason, many people, including American scholars, have recognised this spectacular language interference as “a phenomenon of globalisation”. In the point of fact, for years, this phenomenon has been very popular in prosperous countries that have many immigrants or other former colonial areas; however, in developing countries like Vietnam, this is also not an exception. In savoir vivre stories, in intimate communication, on the Internet or even in a variety of other media in Vietnam, the transition between Vietnamese and English is considered an unavoidable process. These days, using English alternately in typical Vietnamese forms of speaking has been becoming a trend of any Vietnamese in general and many young people in particular.
Simply, the vast majority of people suppose that it is a practical action expressing integration into a larger civilisation. What we can understand about Code-switching is that it probably happens in face-to-face communication and in bilingual communities as well. Also, CS is observed that it can be used at a variety of levels and environments, including common contexts with family and friends, or even more professionally used between teachers and students as well as with superiors at work. According to Freeman & Freeman (2001) is the need to integrate into a cohesive in one piece that arises from two independent trends known as “the school world” of English 1 and “the home world” of the native one.
Anyone in society can code switch depending on levels of languages that each individual has a thorough grasp of. The language skills of bilingual community have been applied to society by using Code-switching as a way of making communication more effective and meaningful. While others condemn this method of using languages as miscellaneous and chaotic intelligence, Blom and Gumperz (1972) are pioneers of the modern standpoints of CS. They persuade those who care about it to accept this as a sign of language proficiency rather than a lack of language ability in discourse.
However, the way we use language obviously has an influence on our self-cultural cachet as well as the impact on our identity in social groups. It is undeniable that two different ideas of evaluation about the phenomenon named Code-switching still have been existing in society, and naturally there are contrary reactions for each individual object. Hughes, Shaunessy, Brice, Ratliff, & McHatton (2006) observe a part of bilingual middle school students who come from the majority culture, seeing that most of them switch codes as a tool of identification among members of their peer groups. They confirm CS gives them the flexibility to respond depending on the circumstances when they can alter their primary language according to the object they are interacting with.
In contrast, although teachers themselves regularly use Code-switching, they have shown a rather negative reaction to the phenomenon. Hughes, Shaunessy, Brice, Ratliff, & McHatton (2006) cite some of these typifications from Phillips' (1975) study. Accordingly, they states, “70% of teacher code switching from English to Spanish is for "disciplinary-manipulative" purposes and serves to reinforce the dominant language and to marginalize the native language of the students. Teachers emphasize the use of traditional spoken English and marginalize the efforts of students to use alternative forms of language”.
Due to those contrary conceptions, this current study seeks to understand the true notions of bilingual students and teachers who have a solid foundation and are fluent in both languages in order to draw upon the advantages and disadvantages of using Code-switching in society. Research aims and research questions 1. Research aims This paper takes a new look at the advantages and disadvantages of using Code-switching in spoken language based on the views of English-majored students and lecturers at An Giang University. As mentioned in the rationale of the research, there have been different opinons from language users, especially bilinguals and language researchers about the influences of using CS on communication.
Particularly, Code-switching has a great contribution of cultural factor since it is said to be a combination of two or more separated cultures when speakers apply multiple languages at the same time. Hughes, Shaunessy, Brice, Ratliff, & McHatton (2006) quote Ford & Harris (1990) and Gonzalez (1974) that cultural differences, fundamental knowledge and English competency may be the key elements that negatively affect language ability of those who know more than one language. Meanwhile, Dobovsek-Sethna (1996) notes that CS shows its important role in helping speakers revealing their own bilingual and bicultural identity.