Abstract
This study employs an experimental research design to explore the effectiveness of using code switching in teaching Math in a bilingual classroom. Respondents of the study are thirty-six Engineering students enrolled in the course Analytic Geometry. The respondents were grouped into two. Both groups were taught the same lessons by the same teacher using different medium of instruction in two separate sessions. In the first session, Group A was first taught without the use of code switching while Group B was taught with the aid of code switching. Test results for the two sessions were tallied and statistically treated. Findings reveal that students from Group A tend to pose a higher score than Group B. However, T-Test results show that there is no significant difference between the Math performance of the two groups.
Keywords: code switching, Math performance, bilingualism
Introduction
The Philippines is an archipelago colonized for many years by different nations. One of the results of that colonization is that they influenced the Philippine language that even today is still noticeable and has a great impact also in the Philippine educational system. Since language is an important issue in the teaching-learning process, especially in multilingual classrooms composed of students from different linguistic and socio-cultural backgrounds, code-switching has been a popular common language of instruction in teaching.
Code switching is a change by a speaker of a language or language variety to another. It can take place in many situations, for instance when a speaker asks his or her question in one language while the other person answers in a different language or variety (Clyne,1987). It can happen between sentences or sometimes in the same sentence: “the alternation of two languages at the word, phrase, clause, and sentence levels” (Valdés-Fallis,1976). Therefore, in educational context, code-switching is defined as the practice of switching between a first language and a secondary language. It is also regarded as “the fastest, easiest, most effective way of saying something.” (Bautista, 1999)
Over the past years, many researches about code switching have been done. A study of Burden (2001) reveals that code-switching is effective in teaching a foreign language. Students find it easy and get interested to acquire a foreign language in such a comfortable environment. They continue their learning process instead of dropping out. Likewise, another study was made by Hisham and Kamaruzaman (2009), which examined the learners’ perceptions of the teachers’ code switching in English Language classrooms in Malaysia. The study explored 257 low English proficient learners going to Communication 1 proficiency course in a public university in Malaysia. They found out that learners perceived code switching as a positive method because of the different capacities it has. It showed that there are significant relationships between (1) teachers’ code switching and learners’ affective support and (2) teachers’ code switching and learners’ learning success. Learners also demonstrated positive support for future code switching in the English classrooms. Therefore, they view the teachers’ code switching as a powerful teaching method when dealing with low English proficient learners.
Similarly, a research made by Malik (2014), which investigated 200 low English proficient learners of various colleges of Khushab, shows that students showed keen interest in language acquisition, which bears ample testimony to its being an efficacious and gainful strategy for low English proficient learners. Additionally, a study on six Swedish EFL classrooms by Ahlberg and Bogunic (2010) examined when and why teachers code-switch between L1 and L2 in the L2 classroom, and what the teachers’ thoughts about code switching are. The main conclusions of the study are all teachers at the compulsory school code-switched when they translated difficult words and phrases when they were too hard for the students to understand. Two of the teachers at the compulsory school used code-switching when they wanted to get the students’ attention or create order in the classroom. Two of the teachers at the upper secondary school code-switched when expressing feelings for example irritation. All three teachers at the upper secondary school believe that code-switching is a helpful instrument when teaching English and is considered to be inevitable.
On the contrary, several studies disclosed that code switching can be a detrimental in learning A study of Bernardo (1995) views code-switching as a “less than ideal language behavior” indicative of deteriorating language skills and low levels of bilingual language proficiencies. And also most parents prefer the education of their children to be in English to enable the latter to gain the competitive edge in business, commerce and industry (Sibayan, 1996). Another thing is there are some views that private school administrators do not support the use of code switching in the classroom as it is deemed unacceptable and inappropriate to the educational setting (Abad, 2010). Likewise, Licuanan (2007) said that, “the most consistent empirical evidence shows the damaging effects of English on Filipino student learning. When English is used, students do not learn well, and at times do not learn at all.”
Like in other subject areas, code switching is used in the discussion of Mathematics, which most of the students are really facing some difficulties in word problems. Code switching was noted as a valuable educational resource, and as means to foster mathematical understanding of the students (Adler, 1998; Setati, 1998). There are also some studies that examined the effectiveness of code switching in this area.
A study made by Jegede (2011) investigated the roles of code switching in multilingual public primary schools in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. It determined the effects of the languages used on teaching and learning mathematics with a view to presenting code-switching as a viable medium of instruction to facilitate the development of literacy in children. The result shows that code-switching was to be used as an approach to the acquisition of literacy in that it allowed each pupil to use each of his/her languages in a natural, meaningful way as the various classroom activities were being implemented. The study concluded that the use of code switching in multilingual mathematics classrooms does not result in a deficiency in learning, but is a useful strategy in classroom interaction and efficient way of transferring knowledge to students. In this case, one language might help the other, and sometimes both together may create a new idea, image, thought, behavior, outlook, organization, and adaptation.
Another is the descriptive analysis of two teachers and 32 3rd Year high school students perceptions of code switching during classroom instruction reports that code switching in Chemistry and Geometry is a resource in making knowledge more comprehensible to the students than when only English is used (Abad 2010).
However, Brigham and Castillo (1999) reported that 20 percent of Metro Manila high school students have low proficiency in English; thus they are likely to perform poorly in Science and Mathematics subjects which are mandated to be taught in English. Another point is in the study of Abad (2010); although, it shows a positive effect of code switching in teaching Mathematics, her study also argues that frequent code switching in highly technical subjects can be detrimental to the learners because it can cause confusion in the students’ understanding of difficult concepts. Furthermore, in the study done by Mahofa (2014), which investigates the effects of code switching in the learning of mathematics word problems in Grade 10, has shown that even though code switching could be beneficial in the learning and teaching of mathematics, it was difficult for learners and teachers to use it in a way that enhances the learning of mathematics word problems because of the barriers in the use of mathematical language. It is recommended that teachers should exercise care when using code switching, especially with the topics that involve word problems; as such topics are more aligned to certain mathematical language that could not be translated to IsiXhosa.
Also, Adler (1998) has elaborated several dilemmas of mathematics teachers working in multilingual mathematics classrooms: (1) the dilemma of code-switching (of developing spoken mathematical English vs. ensuring mathematical meaning); (2) various dilemmas of modelling mathematical English (of whether such modelling is ‘talking too much’); (3) the dilemmas of mediation (of validating pupil meanings vs. developing mathematical communicative competence); (4) the dilemma of transparency (of the visibility vs. invisibility of language as a resource for learning). Language, as a communication tool in a mathematics classroom, must be visible (so it is clearly identified) and simultaneously invisible (so it can be utilized when discussing mathematical meaning) (Zazkis, 2000).
The contrasting views on how code switching can contribute to the learning of Math subjects have made the researchers examine the effectiveness of code switching in teaching Math in a culturally-diverse classroom. Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions: (1) Does code-switching have a significant effect to the learning of Math of students in a culturally-diverse classroom and (2) Is there a significant performance between the performance of students who can speak other languages other than English and Filipino and those who can only speak English and Filipino?
Methods
Research Locale
The data were collected in a state university in Mariveles, a Freeport town in Bataan. Due to the numerous factories located in its economic zone, the town has become a settlement for individuals coming from the other regions and countries. As a result, multicultural diversity in different levels exists within the community. Though Mariveles is a melting pot of different culture and languages, Filipino is still being used as the lingua franca by its citizens with English as the second language.
Participants
The researchers used the experimental research design in this study. Sample for this study were thirty-six Engineering students enrolled in the course Analytic Geometry. The population was composed of thirty-three (33) males and three (3) females. Students were evenly distributed based on their age.
Instrument
The instrument used in this study is a two-part questionnaire. The first part determines the demographic profile of the respondents. The second part of the questionnaire evaluates the respondents’ mastery of the subject matter through a 30-point quiz.
Data Gathering Procedure
The respondents were grouped into two. Both groups were taught the same lessons by the same teacher using different medium of instruction for two different sessions. In the first session, Group A was first taught without the use of code switching while Group B was taught without the aid of code switching. The assessment material was given at the end of each lecture. Afterwards, results of the examination were tallied and statistically treated using SPSS.
Results
Two sets of results were reported. The first set investigates the performance of the students taught without the aid of code switching (Group A) and with the aid of code switching (Group B). The second set describes the respondent’s ability to speak other languages as an intervening factor.
Study 1
Code Switching and Math Learning
Table 1. Score Distribution of the Respondents per Group
Group A Group B
High Proficiency (21-30) 2 1
Average Proficiency (11-20) 5 6
Low Proficiency (0-10) 11 11
Total 18 18
Mean 10.17 9.22
A quick look on the results reveal that that there is a little difference between the performance of the two groups. Majority of the respondents from the two groups are in the Low Proficiency level with eleven students in each group. On the other hand, two respondents from Group A attained a high proficiency level while only one respondent from Group B was highly proficient.
Furthermore, having the computed weighted means as bases, it can be assumed that group A (M=10.17, SD=6.54) slightly understood the lesson better compared to those of group B (M=9.22, SD=4.61. However, a t-test failed to reveal a significant difference between the performance of Group A and Group B (t (34 )=.501, p=.683, α = .05). Thus, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the Math learning of students who are taught with code switching and students without code switching is accepted.
Study 2
Ability to Speak Other Languages as a Factor
Table 2. Performance of the Respondents When Grouped According to Ability to Speak Other Languages
Group A Group B
High Proficiency (21-30) 1 1 0 1
Average Proficiency (11-20) 2 3 4 2
Low Proficiency (0-10) 5 6 6 5
Mean 10.25 10.1 9.4 9.0
As can be gleaned from the table, five students from Group A who can speak other languages aside from English and Filipino (Group A (X)) performed with low proficiency. Only one student from the subgroup performed with high proficiency while two performed in an average level. As a whole, the weighted mean of the score for the subgroup
In the case of students from Group A who can only speak English and Filipino (Group A(Y)), six respondents performed with low proficiency, three with average proficiency and only one achieved high proficiency. In comparison from Group A(X), Group A(Y) had a lower score in the Math exams with a weighted mean of 10.1. However, the computed t-value showed no significant relationship between the performance of Group A(X) and Group A(Y).
In the other group, six students from Group B(X) got scores that range from 1 to 10, four respondents scored from 11 to 20 and no one got a score higher than 20. As a whole, the group performed with low proficiency with a mean of 9.4.
Concerning Group B(Y), five students attained low proficiency, two students got scores equivalent only to average proficiency and one accomplished the task with high proficiency. As a whole, Group B(Y) got a weighted mean of 9.0, a figure slightly lower than its counterpart from Group B(X). Moreover, the computed t value discloses that there is no significant difference from the performance of respondents from Group B(X) and Group B(Y).
A factor that is also interesting to note is that students who can speak more than two languages, hence X students, from either group has a higher weighted mean score than their counterparts. However, the difference seems to be insignificant as proven by the computed t value (t(34)=.088, p=.683, α = .05)
Discussion
The findings of this study discloses that code switching has no connection to the learning of Math in tertiary education. This study also contradicts the findings of Jedege that emphasizes that code switching the teaching of Mathematics. In the contrary, the result of the experiment shows that students taught without the aid of code switching tend to have a higher score than those who are exposed to a code switching.
Such contradiction may exist since Jedege’s samples were primary school students who are not proficient in the second language. In contrast, the researchers used Filipino college students, who are well-exposed in English, as samples. As a result, it can be said that the impact of code switching reduces as one become more proficient in a second language.
It is important to note that this paper only utilizes a small sample size, thus, a use of a bigger population is recommended for succeeding researches. Moreover, several external factors that may influence the learning of mathematical concepts are not explored in this research.
Conclusion
In light of the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn. (1) Code switching has no significant impact to the teaching of Math in a bilingual classroom, and (2) The ability as a multilingual (as distinguished from being just a bilingual) causes no significant difference to the effect of code switching in teaching mathematics in a bilingual classroom.
References:
Jegede, Olusegun O. (2012).Roles of Code Switching in Multilingual Public Primary Schools in
Ile-Ife,Nigeria. American Journal of Linguistics 2012, 1(3): 40-46, DOI:10.5923/j.linguistics.20120103.04
Rasouli, A., Simin, S. (2015). Teachers and students’ perceptions of code switching in Aviation language learning courses. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, Volume 5 Number 3, 3-18,DOI: 10.5861/ijrsll.2015.1259
Mahofa, Ernest (2014). Code Switching in the Learning of Mathematics Word Problems in Grade10 Available:http://digitalknowledge.cput.ac.za/jspui/bitstream/11189/2477/1/211280526_mahofa_e_med_2014.pdf
Abad, Lourdes S. (2010). An Analysis of Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions of Codeswitching in Teaching
Science and Mathematics in a Philippine Private High School. The Journal Of Asia TEFL Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 239-264.
Zazkis, Rina (2000). Using Code-Switching as a Tool for Learning Mathematical Language. For the Learning of Mathematics, Vol. 20. Available: : http://www.jstor.org/stable/40248336
Malik, Muhammad Yousaf (2014). Code Switching As an Effective Technique Of Teaching English At The Intermediate Level in Pakistan. Journal of Professional Research in Social Sciences, JPRSS, Vol. 1, No. 1. Available: http://www.mul.edu.pk/crd/assets/jprss/codeswitching.pdf
[1] “Can speak other languages other than English and Filipino”
[2] “Only speaks English and Filipino”
By: Cristian B. Avendaño & Sherlyn L. Belanio | Polytechnic University of the Philippines Bataan
