TRIGGERED CODE-SWITCHING: A BOTTOM-UP APPROACH TO CODE-SWITCHING AMONG L2 TEACHERS
Abstract
Classroom interaction in the second language (L2) is an important source of language
input for students. Yet, code-switching from the target language to another language is
commonplace in many L2 classrooms. Psycholinguistic studies have shown codeswitching
happens through top-down and bottom-up processes during bilingual speech
production. Triggering is a bottom-up process where code-switching is caused by words
that are shared between different languages. To investigate if triggered code-switching
takes place among secondary school ESL teachers in Malaysia, a study on teachers’
language use in class was conducted. A total of 111 minutes of interaction from two
English lessons was audio recorded and 225 instances of teacher code-switching in the
recordings were analysed. The analysis reveals that lexical transfers between English and
Malay and selected discourse markers triggered instances of code-switching among the
teachers. The findings suggest that teacher code-switching in L2 classrooms should be
considered from both top-down and bottom-up perspectives. Based on these findings,
suggestions for future studies on code-switching among L2 teachers were provided.
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