EXPLORING THE FUNCTIONS AND REASONS FOR INTER-SENTENTIAL CODE-SWITCHING AMONG LECTURERS

Abstract

The two most common categories in the code switching are intra-sentential and inter-sentential. Intra-sentential code switching occurs when the speaker code switch within sentences. Inter-sentential code switching, on the other hand, refers to the mixing of two languages in two separate sentences in an utterance. This research investigates the use of inter-sentential code switching among lecturers of a public university in Malaysia, where English is mainly the medium of instruction for many core courses. The need to conduct this study is due to the lack of empirical evidences on the difference in code-switching among teachers across age, experience, and faculties. 85 lecturers from six faculties who teach in a public university participated in a quantitative survey. The findings of this study reveal the categories of code-switching used by the lecturers from different faculties, as well as the functions and reasons for the code-switching. Future studies should consider the need for a standardized measurement of evaluating the functions and reasons of code-switching among the teachers and students. Article visualizations: