Instructors’ Code-Switching in ESP Classrooms for Thai Aviation Students: Functions and Benefits

Abstract

The use of code-switching (CS) in English language teaching is still a controversial topic among scholars. This study sought to highlight a) the functions of the instructors’ code-switching b) the students’ psychological benefits and learning success from the instructors’ code switching. Using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires as methods of data collection, the findings indicated that code-switching has been frequently used in the English for Airline Business classrooms mainly for the purpose of facilitating effective teaching and learning such as to explain grammatical structures, to introduce new vocabularies as well as technical terms, or to make the learners feel relaxed and comfortable. The study also found that majority of the low proficient students considered the instructors’ code switching as a useful strategy in promoting both psychological benefits and their learning success. However, students with better English proficiency believed that code-switching did not provide much benefit to them and should be limited to the minimum as too much of switching might slow down the acquisition of the target language.