Motivations, Patterns And Functions Of Teachers’ Code Switching In Classroom: The Case Of The Department Of English At Mouloud Mammeri University

Résumé: This study is an exploratory inquiry on the pragmatic use of code switching by university teachers in classes taught in English. It aims as exploring and understanding the phenomenon of classroom code switching produced by teachers during class time. This phenomenon is investigated from a pragmatic perspective which accounts for three elements of study: i.e. the motivations, the structures and functions of teachers’ code switching behaviour. Classroom observations and audio-recording reinforced by a questionnaire are the instruments that were implemented to gather pertinent data for this research. A mixed method analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data was employed for the accomplishment of this study. In order to know what we are dealing with, recordings of 8 lectures by 4 university teachers’ of English lasting 120 minutes each were transcribed and analyzed. All utterances of code switching were transcribed and Statistical analyzed. Statistical analysis of the corpus was followed by the implementation of a questionnaire, which gives us more details about the subject of study. The collected data is analyzed and interpreted according to the pragmatic approach. Jef Verschuenren’s Theory of Language Adaptability (1999) was used to highlight the situations in which teachers’ code switching happen and gives us insight to teacher external and internal motivation for the use of code switching in class and account for the structure and forms of code switching. We adopted Yu Guduong’ Code Switching Adaptability Model (2001) and Ferguson’s Categorization of Teachers’ Code Switching Functions (2003) to explore and describe the different pragmatic functions that teachers’ code switching fulfils in teaching. The results of the investigation show that teachers code switch to Kabyle, French and Arabic for different reasons. Some are imposed by external factors such as physical or linguistic factors in the classroom environment, and others spring from the teachers inner motivations such as their awareness of their social roles in class and their psychological intentions. Most of the time teachers adapt their language to their roles as teachers and to their students’ psychological states to fulfill teaching and communicative goals. The main function of university English teachers’ code switching is to help teachers first, explain lesson contents to students, second manage classroom issues and activities and third, maintain a good relationship with students and provide them with the most suitable classroom environment for their learning. Key Words: Classroom Code switching, teachers’ code switching, language adaptation theory, pragmatic approach, motivations, pragmatic functions, English language teaching, case study.

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