STUDENTS' LANGUAGE ATTITUDE TOWARDS USING CODE-SWITCHING AS A ...

ARECLS, 2010, Vol.7, 1-22.

MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN THE COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES: AN
EXPLORATORY STUDY *

ABDULLAH A. ALENEZI


A bs tract
This is an exploratory study which investigates students' language attitudes towards Arabic
and English code switching as a medium of instruction during a science class of Human
Development for Occupational Therapy at the Allied Health Science College in Kuwait
University. It also explores the effects of such language attitudes on students' academic
performance.
Both quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (open ended questions) research approaches
were used to collect data. The data collected was then analyzed to measure the differences in
the students’ language attitudes towards each of the languages being taught, and the effects of
such attitude on learning a science subject at college level.
Key words: Language attitude, code -switching, bilingualism.









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I n trod u ction
The selection of the language of instruction is a vital decision for academic institutes
and learners as well. Language educational policy for academic institutions in a centralized
system of education is often imposed by a governing body, whether that is a ministry,
educational board, or any other forms of governing organizations. Such decisions impacts
learners’ academic performance in all subjects including science subjects. Teachers and
learners’ alike are mainly affected by this selection, yet learners’ opinions and believes rarely
considered, and usually excluded from this vital decision.
In bilingual classrooms worldwide, using code switching is a frequent practice.
Extensive research has been carried out on using code switching in the classroom as a
contextualisation cue, as Martin-Jones (2000) pointed out that such contextualisation cue
range from phonological, lexical and syntactic choices to different types of code switching
and style shifting.
According to Amin (2009) Science education is carried out in the Arab region in the
absence of research-based policies and recommended practices. Amin added that there are
small body of research has considered code switching in relation to the learning and teaching
science. This study is an investigation into the language attitude and preference among
Kuwaiti students at the Allied Health Science College in Kuwait University toward code
switching in classroom teaching, using Arabic/ English as a medium of instruction in one of
the science subjects for the occupational therapy major. The investigation highlights the
learners' language attitude, including their perceptions toward the effects that differing
language attitudes can have on a learners' academic performance in the science subject. The
medium of instruction currently adopted by Allied Health Science College in Kuwait
University is the English language.


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Literatu re review
Different definitions for code switching suggested by researchers, for example
Gemperz’s (1982, p. 59), defined code switching as “the juxtaposition within the same speech
exchange of passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems of
subsystems." Myers-Scotton's (2006, p. 239) general definition of code switching is “the use
of two languages varieties in the same conversation”. A related concept to code switching is
code mixing. Researches often differentiate between the two terms. One of the differences
between the two terms is the way each of them is used as proposed by Muysken (2000) in
that code switching is used for cases in which the two codes maintain their monolingual
features, while code- mixing is used for cases where there is some convergence between the
two languages. On the other hand, Myers-Scotton (1993) differentiates between the two terms,
stating that code switching occurs when bilinguals alternate between two languages during
one interaction with another bilingual person while code mixing is the use of words, affixes,
phrases and clauses from more than one language within the same sentences. In this study
occurrence of code switching is evident in the context of the science class between English
and Arabic among Kuwaiti students and teachers, in which English is the common foreign
language for the students and the teachers.
C ode Sw itching function s for teach ers an d s tu d en ts
Code switching has a variety of functions which vary according to the topic, people
involved in conversation and the context where the conversation is taken place. Baker (2006)
have discussed the topic of code switching from a sociolinguistics perspective, in which he
listed twelve main purposes of code switching, which are relevant to bilinguals talks in
general. Some of these functions can be observed in classroom environment and in relevance
to teachers and students interactions. According to Baker, code switching can be used to
emphasize a particular point, to substitute a word in place of unknown word in the target

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reinforce a request, to clarify a point, to express identity and communicate friendship, to ease
tension and inject humour into a conversation, and in some bilingual situations, code
switching occurs when certain topics are introduced.
In the substituting a word in another language, Man and Lu (2006) (cited in Baker,
2006) found that in Hong Kong schools both teachers’ and students’ major reason for code
switching was that there was no direct translation of words between English and Cantonese,
additionally, the same study of Man and Lu found that teachers in Hong Kong schools use
code switching also to ease tension and inject humour in to conversations.
In a previous study, Eldridge (1996) ( cited in Sert, 2005) has listed four purposes in
which student code switching as equivalence, floor-holding, reiteration and conflict control.
Equivalence which is a strategy that bilingual used to find the equivalent of the unknown
lexicon of the target language in the speakers’ first language to overcome the deficiency in
language competence in second language. The second purpose of code switching is for floor
holding which is a technique used by bilingual students during conversing in the target
language to fill in the stopgap with words in native language in order to maintain the fluency
of the conversation. The third purpose of is reiteration, as it implies, it is emphasizing and
reinforcing a message that has been transmitted firstly in the target language but then
students rely on repeating the message in first language to convey to the teacher that the
message is understood. The last function is conflict control, which is used to eliminate any
misunderstanding when the accurate meaning of a word is not known in the communication.









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Within the world of languages use, code-switching has often been perceived as being
of lower status, a strategy used by weak language performers to compensate for language
deficiency. This view of code-switching and bilingual talk in general is more normatively-
based than research-based as pointed by Lin( 1996) who added that such a view conveys
little more than the speaker or writer’s normative claims about what counts as standard or
legitimate language.
An extensive body of literature studies reported that code switching in classrooms not
only just normal but useful tool of learning. Cook (2001) referred to code switching in the
classroom as a natural response in a bilingual situation. Furthermore, in the same study,
Cook considered the ability to go from one language to another is highly desirable among
learners. Moreover, in eliciting teachers reflections to their classroom teachings, Probyn
(2010) noticed that most notable strategy that teachers used was code switching to achieve a
number of communicative and metalinguistic ends. Cook’s studies were mainly in the
second language classroom context. Rollnick and Rutherford’s (1996) study of science
classrooms found the use of learners’ main languages to be a powerful means for learners to
explore their ideas. They argue that without the use of code switching, some students’
alternate conceptions would remain unexposed. (Cited in Setati et al 2002). The recognition
to switch codes goes beyond switching between languages; it also recognizes the value of
using the vernacular which believes to allow students to draw on useful sense- making
resources (Amin, 2009).
Researchers see using code switching in the classroom as a “legitimate strategy”
(Cook, 2001, p.105) and no matter how it might be disruptive during a conversation to the
listener, it still provide an opportunity for language development (Skiba, 1997). However,
historically, strong stigmatic believes about code switching existed in many countries, which

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often attached to classroom code-switching, suggesting that deep rooted attitudes may not be
easy to change.
Language education policies
Language educational policy can be defined as “mechanism used to create de facto
language practices in educational institutes, especially in centralized educational system”
(Shohamy, 2006 p.76). It is these policies, especially in a centralized system, that represent a
language manipulation of the what kind of language or languages should be used as a
medium of instruction and to what degree that usage is acceptable. In most cases,
educational staff of a given institute work, according to Shohamy, as agents of implementing
these policies without questioning its quality, appropriateness and relevance to the successful
learning for learners. This notion of acceptance and implementing language policies without
questioning its effectiveness and relatedness to students’ preference remind us again of Lin’s
(1996) statement that the view of bilingual talk in general is more normatively-based than
research-based. After presenting her findings which showed that code switching is an
effective learning tool, Simon (2001, p.339) invited teachers and students to reconsider the
role that code switching plays in the classroom interaction and to “break with the
methodologically imposed code constraints in order to use code switching strategically to
achieve their pedagogical aims.”

The language policy that is followed in some departments at Kuwait University
stresses considering the usage of English as a language of teaching and learning. This is
demonstrated for example in the language policy at the Allied Health Science College at
Kuwait University (See University handbook, 2009). The importance of this study is that it
shows the breakdown of the language policy desired by the school in one hand and learners’
preferences of medium of instruction in the other hand. Additionally, it explores the language

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University.

R es earch Methodology
This study combined both qualitative and quantitative research approaches in an effort
to obtain accurate outcomes and sufficient information from the respondents. In order to
measure the students' language attitudes towards the language of teaching, a student
questionnaire based on the students' experiences of studying Occupational Therapy was
administered to the students. The final data were analyzed using percentages to measure the
differences in the performance and attitudes of the participants, and the results were then
reported.

Particip ants
The study utilized a sample of students who are attending the Allied Health Science
College in Kuwait University and who were majoring in occupational therapy. The sample
contained 17 occupational therapy students who voluntarily participated in the study.

D ata collection procedures
The researcher obtained approval from the instructor of the Human Development for
Occupational Therapy major to distribute the questionnaire. The researcher also obtained
verbal approval from the participants. The questionnaire was completed during the lecture of
Human Development for Occupational Therapy in the college of Allied Health Sciences at
Kuwait University. The questionnaire was administered to the students after a brief
introductory talk in which the completion procedure was explained to the students.

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lecturer. The complete survey is provided in Appendix (1).
Study d esign and instru men ts

Eighteen (18) items of an adapted questionnaire were developed for this study from
the study titled The effects of IsiZulu /English code switching as a medium of instruction on
students' performance in and attitudes towards biology (Olugbara, 2008) to measure students'
attitudes towards code switching. The questionnaire consists of three different sections: A, B,
C, which are described as follows;
A- Biographical information of the participants - made up of three items.
B- Students' views about the teaching language - consisting of thirteen items.
C- Open ended questions which demonstrated students' preferences for the language of
instruction - consisting of two items.
The questionnaire comprised both structured (closed) and unstructured (open ended)
questions. Students were requested to give their honest views in a 4--Likert scale. The scale
was comprised as follows; S trongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree.

Limitation of th e s tu d y
The study was limited to one class of second year students in the Allied Health
Science College in Kuwait University. The study was aimed at students who are enrolled in a
science college where English is the medium of instruction. Another reason for choosing the
college was because of its accessibility and the close ties that the researcher had with some
members of the faculty where this research was to take place. This limits the degree to which
the results of the study may be generalized to the target population.



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R es ults
Biographical information
The students who participated in this study came from the Allied Health Science
College at Kuwait University. A total number of 17 students participated in the study,
comprising 14 females and 3 males.
The data concerning the language(s) of which the students had been taught in their
previous schooling illustrated that 8 students had been taught in Arabic, 2 in English and 7 in
a mixture of both Arabic and English. Nine (9) students indicated both Arabic and English as
their languages of communication with their classmates and teacher, and 1 student indicated
the use of Arabic with classmates and English with teachers. However 3 students indicated
that English was their language of communication and 3 students indicated that Arabic was
their language of communication with their classmates, teachers and staff; 1 student did not
answer this question.
Section B elicited the students' views about the medium of instruction.
The students' views about the language of teaching were assessed using a Likert type scale
consisting of 13 questions. On each question, students indicated their level of agreement or
disagreement with the given statements related to language attitudes. Scores on each question
ranges from 1 to 4, with lower values indicating more negative attitudes.


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Table (1) displays the students’ responses (which are converted into percentages for
the purpose of this study) towards using one language or two languages in code switching as
a medium of instruction and communication. From the table above it is clear that 41% of the
participants strongly agreed that it was beneficial to them to be taught the course in one
language. The next item / question indicates that 58% of participates agreed that it was
desirable to code switch between Arabic and English during teaching. In addition, 53% of the
participants agreed that code switching makes the course easy to understand, and 35%
strongly agreed with this statement. In a higher percentage, 47% disagreed that having
teachers code switch during lessons caused any confusion to them.

In responding to the questions regarding whether code switching leads to the
weakness in participants’ Arabic, 58% strongly disagreed while almost 30 % disagreed. This
is illustrated in table (2). The next item / question looked at whether or not code switching led
to a weakness in English. The responses demonstrated that 53% strongly disagreed and 29 %
disagreed. Yet, 47% of the participants agreed and 23% strongly agreed that teaching
language by code switching strengthen their grasp of the English language.


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