INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF INSTRUCTORS’ CODE SWITCHING ON EFL STUDENTS’ LECTURE COMPREHENSION The Case of Master One Students of English at Biskra University

Abstract

In a bilingual community, teachers and learners' code-switching is an unconscious phenomenon that takes place in the EFL learning process. However, it has been noticed that many students (master one as a sample) face many difficulties in comprehending their lectures presented in English language only. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of using code-switching by lecturers on the process of lecture comprehension. Thus, it attempts to discover students‟ and teachers‟ thoughts, perspectives and attitudes concerning the usefulness of switching the code as a teaching method to enhance the level of understanding. Consequently, the study adopted a mixed-method approach using a case study as a research design. One of the methods used to collect data in this study was an interview with teachers (N°=5) who have experience in lecturing at the department of English Language and Literature at Mohamed Kheider University. A second tool, a semi structured questionnaire, was designed to gain further information about students‟ perceptions and attitudes towards their instructors‟ code-switching in lectures and its influence on their lecture comprehension. The data analysis revealed that using code switching appropriately has a positive impact on students‟ lecture comprehension; it serves not only as a facilitator of understanding but also as a motivator and an impetus for the learning process.