Students’ and Teachers’ Attitude and Reasons for CodeSwitching, and its Role in Learning and Second LanguageAcquisition

Abstract

This paper synthesizes the role of code-switching on academic performance and second language acquisition. Specifically, it aims to map relevant literature on codeswitching's attitude, reasons, and effects. Code switching is using two or more languages- either alternate or combination- in a conversation. This paper collected and analyzed papers from different databases, considering recency, relevance, and the nature of the papers to identify general concepts of the topic. Reviewed papers are a combination of research designs to map general ideas quantitatively and qualitatively. The majority of the participating teachers and students perceive L2 classroom codeswitching positively. This paper identified pedagogic, affective, and personal-communicative as reasons for codeswitching and identifies positive and adverse effects of the process. The analysis concludes that the use of codeswitching in the classroom as a communicative purpose is a beneficial but not a pedagogical purpose for L2 acquisition. Thus, this paper recommends using codeswitching for affective function and English in L2 classrooms to promote conceptual and linguistic development.