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SOCIO LINGUISTIC STUDY OF CODE SWITCHING OF THE FILIPINO

ELEMENTARY ENGLISH STUDENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

A Thesis Proposal
Presented to the Faculty of the
Laguna State Polytechnic University
Santa Cruz Campus
Santa Cruz, Laguna

In partial Fulfillment
of the Requirement for the Degree of
Master of Arts in Education
Major in Mathematics

ROBERT SALGADO FACTOR

MARCH 2021
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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

INTRODUCTION

A person is said to be multilingual if he or she is competent in more

than one language. Multilingualism is usually the result of many factors, such

as colonisation, intercultural marriage, cultural interaction, education, and

many other reasons (Rihane, 2016). This phenomenon in the linguistics bears

to many interesting and head banging topics for researchers, that enables

them to go differ in the locating different aspects of language that is used in

the community, and one interesting topic within the bearing linguistic “tree” is

code – switching.

Code-switching is a totally natural phenomenon that occurs in bilingual

and multilingual people, especially when they speak to people who speak the

same languages as them (Memrise Blog 2017). On the other hand, code-

switching is also defined as a combination of words, phrases and sentences

that result from sentence limitations in similar speech context. Based on these

definitions, it can be deduced that code-switching in general can be regarded

as the act of speaking in different languages interchangeably in order to

overcome language constraints, to deliver speeches effectively and most

importantly as a crucial step towards achieving successful communication

(Eldin 2014). Recently, code-switching has again attracted a considerable

amount of attention. It has become an interesting phenomenon to study in

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particular the usage of language in society because it is part of the

development processes and the use of multiple languages (i.e. bilingualism

and multilingualism). About the choice of code, code switching is used by

people who are bilingual and multilingual (Wardhaugh, 2006).CS (Code

Switching) has become a tool for communication in various bilingual areas of

the world.

However, Code-switching has often been discouraged, mainly in

bilingual children, as a token of language incompetence (Zanova, 2011).

Therefore, examine the academics’ attitudes towards the use of code-

switching in social media within the higher educational settings in a discourse

context – specifically in Philippine language context where code switching

from the first language (Filipino as the Lingua Franca) and second language

(English) is often observed and used specially in the classroom and now in

different platforms such as social media considering the establishment of

modular distant learning as per instructed on DepEd Order No. 18 s. 2020 or

the “Policy Guidelines for the Provision of Learning Resources in the

Implementation of the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Deped Order 16 s. 2012 also known as Guidelines on the

Implementation of the Mother Tongue-Based- Multilingual Education (MTB-

MLE that mandates that Starting School Year (SY) 2012-2013, the Mother

Tongue-Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) shall be implemented in all

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public schools, specifically in Kindergarten, Grades 1, 2 and 3 as part of the K

to 12 Basic Education Program. The MTB-MLE shall support the goal of

“Every Child-A-Reader and A-Writer by Grade 1.”

The Lingua Franca Project (1999-2001) and the Lubuagan Project

(1999 to present) have provided valuable inputs in the implementation of the

MTB-MLE. Nine hundred twenty-one (921) schools including those for

children of indigenous people have been modeling MTB-MLE with support

from the following: a. Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM); b.

Third Elementary Education Program (TEEP); c. Translators Association of

the Philippines (TAP); d. Save the Children, and the Summer Institute of

Linguistics (SIL). With this order it is significant to assess the reasons why

students understand more and can communicate more using code switching

in the social media under the New Normal.

Philippines is cradle of various language as it becomes a colonized

country back in the days. This resulted for the Philippines to become the

basin of numerous languages from all over the world – including Spanish

which resulted to a language creole known as Chavacano spoken in

Zamboanga and English used in everyday lives of the Filipinos around the

country, these languages has become vital in the lives of many Filipinos not

only in daily conversation but also plays an integral part of their life such as

the medium in field of work and/or medium for school repertoire. One

language that emerges across the country after the colonial period and at

present is English. After centuries of British colonization, English became a

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common denominator between nations across the globe. Eventually, English

became the lingua franca for global communication. Due to the colonial

history and the events that led to indigenization of English in the Philippines,

English dominates in school, work and media. Studies conducted by Filipino

linguist Maria Lourdes Bautista of De La Salle University, show that Fil-

English code-switching is a feature of the linguistic repertoire of Filipinos

(2004). Nevertheless, the language Filipino, giving birth to a language known

to many as “Taglish” which is preferably used language in casual

conversation, which is used often to conversations within the classroom used

by the students to converse with teachers and vice – versa. This situation has

been part of the day – to – day discussion inside the classroom engagements

of the students and the teachers.

Code-switching is an interesting linguistic activity which is worth

looking at from a pedagogical point of view. It signifies different social and

cultural functions in post-colonial territories such as the Philippines. Code-

switching is pertinent to different language teaching strategies e.g. the

bilingual teaching approach. Most bilingual speech communities suffer from

language imbalances. One language may be valued higher than the other.

This depends on different factors associated with particular languages.

This research study collects qualitative data. This study may provide

essential information and understanding of students’ learning motivation by

looking at students’ attitudes towards their languages. How does code

switching affects the communication of the students with their teachers

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considering the use of messenger/Facebook as a platform in modular distant

learning. The research is about attitudes towards English and towards code-

switching as a linguistic phenomenon amongst 138 grade 5 students of

Buenavista – Cigaras Elementary School in Magdalena (District) Laguna,

Philippines. This research does not in any way test or measure the

proficiency of English amongst Filipino elementary students. It merely seeks

to find out attitudes towards English and code-switching between Filipino and

English, and how it does CS was effectively used in social media as a

platform in the modular distant learning as a medium of communication.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The primary theoretical framework considered in this study is Hymes’

ethnography of communication (Saville-Troike, 2003). It was chosen over

other theoretical frameworks for its marriage of etic and emic views of

language and community practice, and because it enriches linguistic

analysis through the development of models and theories of language in

social interaction and through the use of background knowledge and

description. The ethnography of communication allows language to be

examined in a specific context, that is, the classroom. Thus, members of the

class are the speech community; the speech situation is the lesson; and

the speech event is the communication of particular lesson objectives, tasks,

or activities enacted by the teacher through communication and response

with the students.

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Hymes (as cited in Saville-Troike, 2003) emphasizes that language

cannot be separated from "how" and "why" it is used. Thus, in examining the

teachers' use of language in instructional practice, the overarching

assumption being made (the "why") is that language is used for content-

area instruction. The "how"— the use of codes in practice and the norms that

govern each teacher's linguistic choice—is what was investigated in this

study. The focus for this ethnography is both, to use Saville- Troike's (2003)

words, "particularistic and generalizing". Thus, it provides not only a

description and interpretation of the communicative behavior of the bilingual

content-area elementary school teachers in specific settings, that is, their

classrooms, but also a framework for using codes as a scaffolding device.

In the classroom context, code-switching appears to be used both by

students and teachers (Borlongan, 2009). On one hand, teachers seem to

effectively employ code-switching in their EFL curriculum as a tool in

various language learning activities (Kasperczyk, 2005). A code-switching

activity in pairs, for example, assists students in elucidating

misunderstandings using their target language. When a partner code-

switches during their discussion, the other partner speaks in their native

language exemplifying the notion. In this type of an exercise, students are

engaged in practicing and explaining concepts to each other (Kasperczyk,

2005). On the other hand, code-switching may also be used by teachers

during teaching to introduce the meaning of concept words when introducing

a new unit (Kasperczyk, 2005). In this context, a student has to work on

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listening and comprehension in his/her target language. These are examples

of code-switching being consciously employed as a teaching strategy.

However, teachers’ use of code-switching is generally performed

subconsciously (Mattson & Burenhult, 1999). Therefore, teachers might

not always be aware of the functions and outcomes of the code- switching

process (Sert, 2005). This behavior seems to be automatic during their in-

class speech and according to Qing (2010), it is inevitable. Nevertheless,

either conscious or subconscious, inevitable or not, code-switching

necessarily serves some basic functions that may be beneficial in

language learning environments (Qing, 2010).

A person is said to be multilingual if he or she is competent in more

than one language. Multilingualism is usually the result of many factors, such

as colonisation, intercultural marriage, cultural interaction, education, and

many other reasons. The applied linguist Del Hymes (1979:30) defines

communicative linguistic competence as, ‘[a person] acquires competence as

to when to speak, when not, and as to what to talk about with whom, when,

where, in what manner’ (Hymes, 1979). In this way, a person who is capable

of using appropriately two languages or more is said to be multilingual.

Usually, bilinguals and multilinguals tend to switch languages within the same

utterance. This phenomenon is referred to as code-switching. Eyamba

Bokamba, a professor of Second Language Acquisition at the University of

Illinois defines code-switching as, “the mixing of words, phrases and

sentences from two distinct grammatical (sub) systems across sentence

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boundaries within the same speech event” (Bokamba, 1989:12). Code-

switching is then one phenomenon that results from bilingualism and

multilingualism.

Sociolinguists have always been interested in studying the

phenomenon and the reasons that stand behind it. There are many factors

that stand behind code-switching, like solidarity, social status, topic, affection,

and persuasion.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The conceptual framework of this study as illustrated in Figure 1

effects of code switching and the perceived attitudes towards this phenomena

in the use of social media.

REASONS/EFFECTS
Lesson FOR CODE SWITCHING
CODE SWITCHING
presentation via USAGE on  Show solidarity
Facebook SOCIAL MEDIA  Reflect social
live/posting
Status
 Topic
 Affection

Figure 1: The Research Paradigm of the Study

The paradigm shows the process on the outcome of the study, the first

variable is the posting of lessons in Facebook which can be via livestream or

pre-recorded videos, the second variable is the integration of codeswitching in

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the topic/lesson posted in the Facebook, lastly the third variable is the reason

why students do code switch such as, Show solidarity, Reflect social Status,

Topic and Affection.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

To examine the effectiveness of the usage of code switching in social

media among the elementary students of Buenavista - Cigaras Elementary

School of Magdalena district.

Specifically, answers to the following question will be used:

1) What are the reasons for Filipino English bilingual students to switch codes

in online messages sent via social networking websites such as Facebook?

 Show solidarity

 Reflect social Status

 Topic

 Affection

2) What are the effects for the phenomenon of code-switching among Filipino

English bilingual students in social networking website?

Hypothesis

1. There is no extent in code-switching used in social networking

websites by students?
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2. There is no significant effect between in the use of code switching in

social media and the perception of elementary students.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study was limited to the selected elementary students of

Buenavista - Cigaras Elementary School of Magdalena district, school year

2020-2021

The area of investigation was limited to two (2) areas of investigation: (1)

What are the reasons for Arabic English bilingual students to switch codes in

online messages sent via social networking websites such as Facebook? In

terms of showing solidarity, reflect social status, topic and affection. (2) What

are the effects for the phenomenon of code-switching among Egyptian Arabic

-English bilingual students in social networking website?

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study may serve as data bank for the following

sectors in their decision-making:

Curriculum Planners. They may realize that the contents or minimum

requirements of subject areas in English for elementary graders and teachers

may exist only on paper and do not necessarily reflect the lives and interests

there to overhaul and streamline the same for development and enhancement

of graders’ and teachers activities suited to meet the use of social media and
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code switching as platform of education and means of educational

communication.

Principals. They may lead into self-examination of the strengths and

weaknesses of their management practices governing the employment of

human and material resources for effective English instructional service and

usage of code switching and social media in delivery of lessons in their

respective school in Magdalena.

Teachers. As second parents of school children, their professionalism

and dedication to their chosen profession will internalize effective and efficient

teaching service delivery in the development and enhancement of their

students’ communicative skills using both code switching and the social

media in preparation for their entry to the next grade instructional level.

Elementary Graders. They may realize that code switching and social

media are an avenue to their endless opportunity for a greater intellectual

growth in spawning writing proficiency in their little ways to express their

thoughts and to enhance their abilities in communication.

Future Researchers. They may consider the findings of this study as

master keys to their research efforts of similar nature and thus strengthened

further this present investigation.

Future Writers. The findings of the study can be beneficial to the

aspiring writers to be a guide to their write ups in the future.

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Definition of terms

For a fuller understanding of this study the following terms were

operationally defined.

Code Switching. Language phenomenon in which two languages are

interchangeably used in communication and suggesting a point – particularly

English to Filipino and vice versa in the Philippines context.

Teachers. Academics and the user of the CS in the Philippine setting,

they are the knowledge provider of the class and acts as the facilitator of the

communicative process.

Students. Center of the process, the listener and giver of the reasons

and purpose of CS in the academic setting.

Social media. Platform in which most of the time use as a

communicative tool in addressing all topics in all of walks of life,

interchangeably used a means to communicate by the teachers to his/her

students and vice versa.

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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the review of related literature and studies

undertaken by the researcher in her various library works, internet surfing and

from different reading materials, such as books, research articles, journals,

reviews, magazines, thesis and dissertations of some Filipino and foreign

researchers and writers.

Related Literature

In the literature, CS has been defined from several perspectives.

Jingxia (2010) pointed out in his study that the term “code” denotes any

system of signals including numbers and words with real meanings.

Wardhaugh and Fuller (2014) defined code as a strategy that more than one

bilingual speaker uses for communication purposes. An increasing number of

research papers have defined code-switching in different contexts where

each of which attempts to clarify this concept from a variety of views in the

area of socio-linguistics. Jdetawy (2011) and Taweel and Btoosh (2012)

referred to code-switching as the occurrence of switches between two

languages in bilinguals’ utterances which takes place in the form of a single

word, phrase or sentence along with Momenian and Samar (2011) who

defined CS as the occurrence of switches both between and within

utterances. Jingxia (2010) introduced code-switching as the notion of moving

between two languages in the middle of a conversation when both speakers

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speak the same two languages. Then and Ting (2010) defined code-switching

as the concurrence within the same conversation substitution of passages of

utterance that is related to a couple of syntactic systems. Similarly, Greggio

and Gil (2007) indicated that code-switching is a linguistically-viewed

perception in evolving bilinguals among speakers with different utterances.

Leyew (1998) refers to code-switching as the diglossic circumstances in

which bilinguals utilize various dialects in various circumstances. Contrarily,

Gingràs (1974), Lee (2010), and Bilgin and Rahimi (2013) suggested that

code-switching can occur within two different languages at sentence

boundaries instead of two different varieties in the same discourse. In other

words, Nunan and Carter (2001) argued that code-switching alternates

between the speakers’ mother tongue and the target language which they aim

to acquire.

Social media websites make it easy to communicate with colleagues

on anytime anywhere settings (Salloum et al., 2017). Social networking

websites provide a reliable platform for the higher educational institutions.

According to Schlenkrich and Sewry (2012), social media sites help their

users to make relationships and broadcast information among social

networks. The majority of educators, students, parents and businesses utilize

tools in social media for communication with each other in a quick, effective

method.

Social media are increasingly apparent within higher educational

contexts. Instructors use social media technology as an educational tool to

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improve teaching and support active learning for learners (Tess, 2013). In this

sense, Selwyn (2012) indicated that an increasing number of higher

educational institutions are likely to cope up with social media applications

and users. A growing number of educators have begun to consider the

significance of social media sites for education; as they deeply raise

ideological questions about institutionalized educational nature. However,

educators integrate social media into their current methods. They take into

consideration the practical challenges of how to design blended curricula and

assess students’ authored work. Staff and students are supposed to be

equally supported while making eloquent use of these sites (Gray et al., 2010;

Buckley et al., 2010). In addition, Crook (2008) claimed that universities need

to support students’ self-directed activities by offering them a good

governance of technology-based learning. Certainly, a lot of technological

analysts have highlighted a new stage of digital technologies, including the

semantic web, cloud computing and the internet of things. They also

enthused social media technology to be best developed in higher educational

contexts and educators.

As it is the case for teachers’ code switching, the students also are not

always aware of the reasons for code switching as well as its functions and

outcomes. Although they may unconsciously perform code switching, it

clearly serves some functions either beneficial or not. Eldridge names these

functions as: equivalence, floor-holding, reiteration, and conflict control

(1996:305-307). The first function of student code switch is equivalence. In

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this case, the student makes use of the native equivalent of a certain lexical

item in target language and therefore code switches to his/her native tongue.

This process may be correlated with the deficiency in linguistic competence of

target language, which makes the student use the native lexical item when

he/she has not the competence for using the target language explanation for

a particular lexical item. So “equivalence” functions as a defensive

mechanism for students as it gives the student the opportunity to continue

communication by bridging the gaps resulting from foreign language

incompetence. The next function to be introduced is floor-holding. During a

conversation in the target language, the students fill the stopgap with native

language use. It may be suggested that this is a mechanism used by the

students in order to avoid gaps in communication, which may result from the

lack of fluency in target language. The learners performing code switching for

floor holding generally have the same problem: they can not recall the

appropriate target language structure or lexicon. It may be claimed that this

type of language alternation may have negative effects on learning a foreign

language; since it may result in loss of fluency in long term. The third

consideration in students’ code switching is reiteration, which is pointed by

Eldridge as: “messages are reinforced, emphasized, or clarified where the

message has already been transmitted in one code, but not understood”

(1996:306). In this case, the message in target language is repeated by the

student in native tongue through which the learner tries to give the meaning

by making use of a repetition technique. The reason for this specific language
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alternation case may be two-folds: first, he/she may not have transferred the

meaning exactly in target language. Second, the student may think that it is

more appropriate to code switch in order to indicate the teacher that the

content is clearly understood by him/her.

The last function of students’ code switching to be introduced here is

conflict control. For the potentially conflictive language use of a student

(meaning that the student tends to avoid a misunderstanding or tends to utter

words indirectly for specific purposes), the code switching is a strategy to

transfer the intended meaning. The underlying reasons for the tendency to

use this type of code switching may vary according to students’ needs,

intentions or purposes. Additionally, the lack of some culturally equivalent

lexis among the native language and target language--which may lead to

violation of the transference of intended meaning--may result in code

switching for conflict control; therefore possible misunderstandings are

avoided.

Related Studies

The phenomenon of code-switching has been intensively studied by

various scholars to investigate its usage in the higher educational context.

Alenezi (2010) explored learners' linguistic attitudes towards the language of

teaching and their language attitudes’ effects on academic performance of

these learners during a science class of Human Development in Kuwait

University. The researcher combined both qualitative and quantitative

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research methods in order to gain precise results. The study questionnaires

were administrated based on 3 males and 14 females who study occupational

therapy in the college of Allied Health Science. The collected data were

evaluated by means of percentages in order to measure the differences in the

participants’ attitudes. Findings of this exploratory study reported positive

language attitudes towards CS between Arabic and English.

Johansson (2014) aimed to study when and why teachers switch

languages while teaching English in an upper secondary school in Sweden.

The study also attempted to find out the preferred language teaching in

various classroom settings by both teachers and students. The researcher

interviewed five experienced teachers at different upper secondary schools.

Questionnaires were also conducted with 96 students (42 males and 54

females). Results indicated that the teachers, generally, were not in favor of

CS. Results also revealed that most of the learners tended to switch between

Swedish and English. On the other side, 87% of the learners sought to make

them speak English more than Swedish.

According to a study revealed by Rimmer (2007), social media is

defined as data collection, representation, processing and dissemination of

race, religion, books, movies, and relationship status, shared between friends,

family members and strangers. According to Hung and Yeun (2010), social

networking technologies are used in various contexts for improving

communication affectivity. They added that learning is a social activity that

specifically benefits from social networking usage; it provides opportunities for

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learning inside and outside classrooms and increases the interaction among

learners. As indicated by Mazer et al. (2007), social networking sites allow

both educators and students to develop the mutual relationship between

students and educators; and create a positive learning experience for both

parties.

Karal et al. (2015) studied the influence of Facebook groups’

educational use as an online communit on the high school students’ language

usage. Thirty grade 11 students, who attend a high school I Trabzon, Turkey,

took part in the study. Firstly, the researchers obtained initial data about

students Facebook usage in order to determine the dynamics obtained to

encourage Facebook usage for educational purposes. Secondly, the

researchers created a Facebook group and assigned a literature teacher to

be the group guide. The study continued for twelve weeks; students’ tasks

including compositions, poems, essays, debates, the teacher’s observations,

and examined interview data. Result showed that Facebook enhances

students’ learning process, interaction and collaboration between learners

and their teachers. However, Facebook groups are effective on issues related

to writing ability development, cooperation and communication among

students, communication and cooperation between teacher and students.

Facebook as a social networking website is utilized to satisfy some

educational purposes along with the teacher’s presence and Facebook group

that support students to use language more properly and effectively.

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Lantz-Andersson et al. (2013) analyzed the way students follow to

structure their communication in social networking sites (SNS) within schools

and how that helps linguistic and educational practices. Systematically, the

study implements conceptual merits of frame analysis rather than

sociocultural perception. Ethnographic data were collected from a Facebook

group in English-oriented classes, containing 60 learners who age from 13 to

16 years and come from several countries like Colombia, Finland, Sweden,

and Taiwan. Results showed potentials for framing both the activity and

boundary crossing to produce long-lasting spaces for cooperative language-

learning events in classes where students bring together their language

learning subjects with their linguistic communicative usage daily. However,

these lengthy spaces are difficult to maintain and have to be chronically

discussed. Implementing social media for educational determinations is

supposed to be dynamically, deliberately and collaboratively discussed by

students and educators to make an innovative space of language learning

with its own constraints and potentials, as well as, to make good use of young

people’s several active linguistic uses in social media daily. There are

different issues that continue to be re-thought and re-visited including

linguistic issues related to learner and teacher roles and how students’ digital

vernacular use can be recognized as other communicative styles than those

frequently reflected from an instructive perception.

According to a study conducted by Akbari et al. (2016), as per Astin’s

Theory of Student engagement, the most significant issue in teaching and

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learning is the increased level of students’ engagement in education. The

most effective educational atmosphere is student engagement increase. The

study analyzed the impact of network usage for pedagogical goals on

students’ engagement, learning, and motivation. The study attempted to

investigate whether there is any difference between Facebook group and

face-to-face group in terms of language learning through a detailed

comparison between the two groups: a control group, which was using face-

to-face education, and an experimental group, which was using Facebook.

Results revealed significant differences between the two groups regarding

their engagement, motivation, and learning. The group using Facebook

revealed significantly higher results while taking the TOEFL post-test than the

face-to-face group with no differences in the pre-test. Additionally, higher

motivation and engagement levels were significantly reported by the

Facebook group after taking the course as compared to the face-to-face

group. It was found that there was no connection between motivation and

engagement. Thus, English language undergraduates’ attitudes towards the

effectiveness of the specific environment and Facebook features for English

language learning were examined. The authors claimed that students’ usage

of Facebook permits them to study more effectively and develop their

language abilities, for the reason that these networking websites allow

students to have diverse interactions and to exchange information during

cooperation in order to raise their educational outcomes.

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Reasons for Code-Switching. Speakers may switch from one code to

another either to show solidarity with a social group, to distinguish oneself, to

participate in social encounters, to discuss a certain topic, to express feelings

and affections, or to impress and persuade the audience. 3.1 To Show

Solidarity Janet Holmes mentions in her book Introduction to Sociolinguistics

that, ‘a speaker may. . . switch to another language as a signal of group

membership and shared ethnicity within an addressee’ (Holmes, 2000).

Code-switching can be used to express solidarity between people from

different or the same ethnic groups. 3.2 To Reflect Social Status Sometimes,

speakers tend to use different languages to imply a certain social status or to

distinguish themselves from other social classes. Other reasons that have

been found to motivate CS are to sound elitist or classy. Professor Peter Auer

says in his book Code Switching in Conversation: Language, Interaction and

Identity that ‘Code-switching carries a hidden prestige which is made explicit

by attitudes’ (Auer, 2002). Also, Dr Hayat Al Khatib says in a research she

conducted that speakers may use code-switching ‘to show power over the

less powerful’ (Al-Khatib, 2003) Thus, I can now connect switching codes as a

way to reflect one’s social class. A speaker who can code-switch implies that

he is a well educated person who is competent in two languages or even

more. Thus, code-switching can be looked upon as a way to distinguish

oneself. Yasir Suleiman says that, ‘the phenomenon of CS is very common

and is looked upon as something prestigious and a sign of education and

competence in more than one language’ (Suleiman, 1999). 3.3 Topic Topic,
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on another hand, seems to be another important reason that leads a bilingual

speaker to code-switch. Janet Holmes says on the issue of code-switching

according to the topic when she says, ‘people may switch code within a

speech event to discuss a particular topic’ (Holmes, 2000). Thus, speakers

may tend to use more than one language within one same utterance

according to the topic. In many situations, a bilingual may tend to talk about

one certain topic in a language rather than another. Another good example

can be one from the Lebanese society. Discussing emotional and sexual

topics in the Lebanese community is ‘easier’ when it is discussed in a

language that is different than the native Arabic language of the society.

‘Taboo words and topics are often codes-witched so as to avoid to be

expressed in the speaker’s native language’ (Leung, 2006). Speakers in the

Lebanese society tend to discuss sexual topics and emotional topics in

English or French since it will make them more comfortable to discuss those

issues which have always been labelled as ‘taboos’ in a language different

than their community’s one. In a study by Khalid M. Abalhassan from the

University of Indiana and Hamdan G. Al Shalawi from Arizona State

University, they collected data from twelve bilingual Arabic speaking students

in order to answer ‘ ‘why did you code-switch to English language’?’. Although

the answers were different in the result, one of the twelve students replies,

which grabbed my attention, was because ‘I can’t say taboo words in Arabic’

(Abalhassan & Al Shalawi, 2000). 3.4 Affection Code-switching can be used

by speakers to express certain feelings and attitudes. Speakers may switch

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codes to express happiness, excitement, anger, sadness, and many other

feelings. Why do People Code-switch? Janet Holmes says, ‘A language

switch . . . is often used to express disapproval. So a person may code switch

because they are angry. Dr. Hayat Al-Khatib gives an example in the same

research mentioned above about code-switching to express feelings. ‘After

asking nicely for a piece of paper from her brother’s pad, to not avail, A

attempts to snatch a paper from his jotting pad “did I say ey did I say ey?

When I say ey it means ey, when I say la’ it means la’)’ (Al-Khatib, 2003). In

the example provided by Al-Khatib, the speaker uses more than one

language to express anger and dissatisfaction. Janet Holmes also gives

another good example about code-switching to express affection. ‘In the town

of Oberwart two little Hungarian-speaking children were playing in the

woodshed and knocked over a carefully stacked pile of firewood. Their

grandfather walked in and said in Hungarian. ‘Szo!idedzuni! jesztjeramunyi

mind e kettutoko, no hat akkor!’ [Well Come Here! Put All This Away, Both of

You, Well Now.] When they did not respond quickly enough he switched to

German: ‘Kum her!’ [Come Here] (Holmes, 2000). In the above example, the

Grandfather used the German language to express a more straight and angry

attitude to express his anger of the behaviour of the children

 26

Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the details of the investigation as basis for the

researcher to carry out in his investigative efforts in applying the appropriate

research design, population and sampling technique, research instrument,

and data gathering procedure envisioned to acquire the needed data and

their subsequent statistical treatment and interpretation.

Research Method

Supportive of the foregoing disclosure, Leedy (2011) puts it that the

basic structure of the descriptive design as a research method indicates its

characteristics the fact that it deals with a situation that demands the

technique of observation as the principal means of collecting data; the

population for the study must be carefully chosen, clearly defined, and

specifically delimited in order to set precise parameters for ensuring

discreteness of the population; the data in this method are particularly

susceptible to distortion through introduction of bias into the research design

and therefore particular attention should be given to safeguard the data from

the influence of such bias; and ultimately the data must then be organized

and presented systematically so that valid and accurate conclusions may be

drawn from them.

The research will administer using qualitative method through the use

of interview among the respondents with formulated open – ended questions

 27

that will elicit response to the topic herein being studied that is carefully

developed to collect data about the usage of code switching in social media

websites and how it affects each student respondents. In the present study,

some variables were collected from (Ahmad Abdel Tawwab Sharaf Eldin

2014); such variables including the reasons for code switching (for

educators), whereas other variables were developed by the researchers

themselves.

Based on the procedure recapitulated above, the researcher was fully

convinced that qualitative designed were absolutely essential to the kind of

investigation he ventured to undertake.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of the study came from Magdalena District , the one

hundred (100) teachers of the said district out of six (6) elementary schools

were the center of the study.

Sampling Technique

According to Al-Emran and Shaalan (2015a) and Al-Emran et al.

(2016), the study follows the purposive convenience sampling technique in

which the participants were easily reachable and willing to take part in the

present study. The population of the educators was picked from different

schools with different qualifications, academic rank, and teaching experience.

Purposive sampling was employed in this study among (100) one hundred

elementary teachers in Magdalena District hence they were purposely

 28

selected as the one hundred (100) actual respondents during the day set for

the gathering and retrieving of data from them.

As claimed by Van (2013), purposive is etymologically derived from an

old French word, “purposer” which denotes purpose. As applied to

educational research, once something is set up with intention, it has a

purpose as a resolute determination to gather data from the target

respondents and thus assure the validity and reliability of information shared

by them.

Research Instruments

Data are collected through two methods: the questionnaire survey

(Quantitative method). Interviews will be administrated at Magdalena District

in Magdalena Laguna through the use of LAC (Learning Action Cell)/ Google

meet. The distribution of the surveys will be conducted by the author and with

the assistance and approval of the school heads and the district supervisor

within each school. The interviews will be performed by the first author and

the teachers through asking them several questions regarding the use of CS

in a communication with their students using social media apps during the

modular distant learning set up. In addition, interviews were also performed

with the educators in which they were asked several questions regarding the

use of CS in social media.

 29

Interviews will be designed by the researchers themselves in

accordance with the research questions of the present study. English has

been used in preparing the interviews since it is the language that educators

communicate in easily.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher will give an interview to be conducted to each

respondent could be through LAC (Learning Action Cell) or Google Meet. As

there was assurance for validity and reliability of the major instrument coupled

with the approval by the thesis adviser to conduct an actual study, letters will

be addressed to the principals of six (6) elementary schools in Magdalena

District in Laguna will be prepared, requesting permission to distribute the one

set of questionnaire to the teachers as actual respondents of this study.

As approval will be granted by the said school authorities, the

distribution and retrieval of the aforementioned one sets of major instrument

will be done personally by the researcher in order to clarify questions which

are found highly technical in nature by the actual respondents.

Statistical Treatment of Data

There will be no statistical treatment of data to be used in the research

but rather the used in the research of Ahmad Abdel Tawwab Sharaf Eldin

2014 entitled Socio Linguistic Study of Code Switching of the Arabic

 30

Language Speakers on Social Networking that used 10 reasons for code

switching.
 31

Research Interview Questions

1. What do you do when you cannot find the words/phrases or

expression that you want to use when you communicate in social

media to your students?

2. As, a teacher what do you do when you communicate with your

students? Do you consider the background, status or academic

level of the people you communicate in social media? Why?

3. Do you think your mood affects your communication with your

students in social media? Does that affect your ways of code

switching? Why?

4. Do you use exchange expressions from one language to another?

5. How do you clarify instructions, directions and announcement

when you communicate with your students in social media?

6. Do you think your ways of code switching identifies you within a

certain group?

7. Do you think code switching or doing code switching in social

media attracts more students to read or comply with the task?

8. Do you think code switching is useful to the students?

9. Can you name your own reasons for doing code switching?

10. What type of code switching do you do to communicate with your

students in social media?

 32

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