خلاصة:
Regarding the issue of whether or not the use of L2 learners’ mother tongue should be
allowed in the classroom, there has been a discord among scholars, each giving
reasons for their claim. Considering this lack of consensus, this study was an attempt
to investigate the effect of code-switching (CS) on Iranian elementary English as a
Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ oral fluency, accuracy, and willingness to
communicate (WTC). To carry out this study, a sample of 60 high-elementary level
EFL learners was chosen to take part. After a Key English Test (KET) was
administered to ensure homogeneity of the learners, they were divided into two
groups of experimental and control. The study used a quasi-experimental design. The
instruments used to obtain the needed data were a WTC questionnaire providing
quantifiable data on learners’ WTC both inside and outside the classroom, and the
speaking section of a KET as pre-test and post-test to see whether the learners’ oral
fluency and accuracy changed significantly over the course of the treatment. The
results of a Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) statistical analysis
revealed positive effect of CS on the participants’ WTC and oral accuracy and
fluency. The results of the present study can contribute to the field of English
Language Teaching (ELT) and be of use for practitioners and material developers.
ملخص الجهاز:
75-103, 2016 <H1>The Effect of Code-Switching on Iranian Elementary EFL Learners’ Oral</H1> Fluency, Accuracy, and Willingness to Communicate Saeid Noorbar* Department of English Language, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran <H1>Homa Jafarpour Mamaghani</H1> Department of English Language, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran Abstract Regarding the issue of whether or not the use of L2 learners’ mother tongue should be allowed in the classroom, there has been a discord among scholars, each giving reasons for their claim.
Considering this lack of consensus, this study was an attempt to investigate the effect of code-switching (CS) on Iranian elementary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ oral fluency, accuracy, and willingness to communicate (WTC).
A number of researchers found that using the learners’ L1 in L2 classrooms could actually have positive effects on different factors of L2 learning such as learners’ oral proficiency (Mirhasani &amp; Jafarpour- Mamaghani, 2009) and accuracy, this study seeks to investigate if WTC may also be influenced by CS.
Some of these studies have examined functions of code-switching by students in different contexts such as Antón and DiCamilla (1998) in beginning level Spanish as a Foreign Language class, Eldridge (1996) in the Turkish context, Reyes (2004) on immigrant Spanish-speaking children, Macaro (2001) doing a case study of six student teachers in secondary school in the south of England, where the L2 of the students were French, and a lot more (see Chapter II for a detailed discussion of these studies).
In order to carry out the study, the following research questions are posed: RQ1: Does code-switching have any statistically significant effect on Iranian elementary EFL learners’ willingness to communicate inside the classroom?