International Journal of Information Technology and Language Studies

(IJITLS)

Students and educators’ attitudes towards code-

switching: A longitudinal study
Noor Al-Qaysi
noor.j.alqaysi@gmail.com

Faculty of Education, The British University in Dubai, Dubai, UAE

Abstract. Multi-linguals have observed a widespread trend of switching between two utterances in
foreign language settings entitled code-switching or (CS). It has been noticed that CS has not yet been
explored intensively in the higher educational institutions of the Gulf region; the reason that attracted
us to conduct this study in Oman (one of the Arab Gulf region countries). This study explores the
educators and learners’ attitudes towards CS in higher educational institutions in Oman. Two
questionnaire surveys along with two interviews were administrated. A total of 338 students and 21
educators participated in the study. The results pointed out that gender, age, major, and degree have
no significant impacts on students’ attitudes towards code-switching use. The results also revealed
that gender, age, academic rank, and teaching experience have no significant effects on educators’
attitudes towards the use of code-switching. It is believed that CS would be one of the encouraging and
effective educational approaches to be deployed in higher educational contexts.

Keywords: Code-switching; higher education; attitudes; Oman.

1. Introduction

Multilanguage speakers have observed a widespread trend of utilizing different utterances. This is
called Code-Switching (CS). The term “code” denotes any system of signals that include numbers and
words with real meanings (Jingxia, 2010). Code-switching is also defined as the occurrence of switches
between two languages in bilinguals’ utterances which takes place in the form of a single word, phrase or
sentence (Momenian & Samar, 2011) along with the occurrence of switches both between and within
utterances (Al-Qaysi & Al-Emran, 2017; Jdetawy, 2011; Taweel & Btoosh, 2012). Jingxia (2010)
introduced code-switching as the notion of moving between two languages in the middle of a
conversation when both speakers speak the same two languages. Code-switching also refers to the
diglossic circumstances in which bilinguals utilize various dialects in various circumstances (Leyew,
1998). Contrarily, code-switching can occur within two different languages at sentence boundaries
instead of two different varieties in the same discourse is (Bilgin & Rahimi, 2014; Lee, 2010).

Code-switching is considered a common practice in bilingual classrooms worldwide. An increasing

number of research papers address the role of CS in education with more constraint on the higher
education sector globally. One of the main factors that need to be fully considered before using CS as an
educational method is students and educators’ attitudes towards CS. The aforementioned attitudes are
not sufficiently explored in the existing literature. The understanding of individuals’ attitudes towards a
particular aspect provides well-insights about the topic under examination (Al-Emran, Alkhoudary,
Mezhuyev, & Al-Emran, 2019; Al-Emran, Mezhuyev, & Kamaludin, 2018b; Al-Emran & Shaalan, 2017;
Salloum & Al-Emran, 2018). Moreover, CS has not been studied enough in the Gulf region countries.
Consequently, we draw attention to our study on Oman (one of the Gulf region countries) which partly
addresses the gaps that have not been covered yet within the existing literature. We are seeking to
answer the following research questions in order to examine the students’ and academic faculty
members’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching in the higher education settings in Oman:

RQ1: What are the students’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching?

Vol. 3, Issue. 2, (2019). pp. 61-72

International Journal of Information Technology and Language Studies (IJITLS).
http://journals.sfu.ca/ijitls
62 Students and educators’ attitudes towards code-switching: A longitudinal study

RQ2: What are the students’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching in relation to their gender,
age, major and degree?

RQ3: What are the educators’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching?

RQ4: What are the educators’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching in relation to their gender,
age, academic rank, and academic experience?

2. Literature review

The Attitudes towards code-switching have been examined by different researchers all over the world.
Hussein (1999) investigated attitudes towards Code-switching in relation to English, Arabic and language
users in the discourse of Jordanian students at Yarmouk University. Results showed that there is no
significant difference among the students’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching. As a limitation of
this study, it focused only on students’ attitudes toward code-switching without any indication to the
educators’ attitudes. In addition, Alenezi (2010) explored learners' attitudes towards the language of
teaching and their linguistic attitudes’ effects on academic performance to measure the differences in the
participants’ attitudes. The researcher adopted a mixed-method approach based on the 17 occupational
therapy learners’ experiences in the College of Allied Health Science at Kuwait University. Findings
reported positive language attitudes towards CS between Arabic and English.

Additionally, attitudes towards English-Malay Code-Switching were examined in various studies. Due
to the declining proficiency levels among 257 low English proficient learners in a public university in
Malaysia, the attitudes of bilingual students towards their instructors in English language learning
settings were examined (Ahmad & Jusoff, 2009). Results indicated that there are significant relations
between learners’ emotional support and teachers’ code-switching as well as learners’ learning success
and educators’ code-switching. Also, learners were in favor of future code-switching in the ELT
classrooms. It is strongly supposed that educators’ code-switching is a valuable teaching approach when
dealing with low English proficient learners. Besides, Nordin, Ali, Zubir, and Sadjirin (2013) studied the
attitudes of forty-five diploma students towards code-switching by conducting a questionnaire survey in
the Faculty of Applied Sciences, University Teknologi MARA Pahang, Malaysia. The collected data were
analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics for correlation measures. The results suggested
that the majority of bilingual students have positive attitudes towards switching codes in their
conversations.

Attitudes towards English-Chinese Code-Switching were also integral parts of different studies. Jingxia
(2010) revealed the attitudes of 259 students and 60 educators towards the types, functions, factors, and
impacts of switching to Chinese in three Chinese universities to present a detailed analysis of the general
situation and the positive role of code-switching use to the Chinese language in English academic settings.
The researcher conducted questionnaires with educators and learners as well as classroom recordings.
Findings revealed that 80% of the educators and 66% of the students held positive attitudes towards
educators’ CS to Chinese. Regarding code-switching types, inter-sentential code-switching has been
mostly witnessed inside classrooms. In addition, the research considered students’ English proficiency as
the most influencing factor impacting the educators’ switching to Chinese. In accordance with a previous
study by Levine (2003), code-switching to Chinese is a beneficial strategy in educational settings as it
serves various functions such as translating vocabulary words, clarifying syntax, handling class, and
building strong relationships with students.

In other higher educational contexts, functions, manners, reasons, and contributions of CS of Twenty
EFL teachers were examined in two Turkish universities, Bahcesehir University and Halic University
(Bilgin & Rahimi, 2014). The academics were American, Belarus, British, Canadian, Iranian, and Turkish
with approximately ten years of teaching experiences. Individual semi-structured interviews were
utilized and structured around style, reasons, functions, and contributions of code-switching that
permitted academics to disclose their views of the given code-switching aspects. Findings exhibited that
instructors at Haliç University had a strong preference for code-switching. Besides, code-switching
fostered students’ comprehension of instructions and meanings of new vocabulary. CS also raises the
involvement of students in a relaxing learning environment offered by the mother tongue. In addition,
Cooper (2013) examined the perceptions of ten proficient bilingual English-Spanish speakers towards CS
in popular music upon listeners in the Inland Northwest. Interviews through snowball sampling method
Noor Al-Qaysi 63

were conducted. Results showed an alteration from the outdated attitudes towards a more contemporary
understanding of code-switching among Spanish-English bilingual speakers; participants are in favour of
Spanish which contradicts any other presumed intrinsic significance of learning English. Sara Johansson
(2013) studied 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. Results
indicated that the teachers generally were not in favor of CS. Also, most of the learners tended to switch
between Swedish and English. On the other side, 87% of the learners sought after their teachers to make
them speak English more than Swedish. Moreover, the independent variables of 2070 multilingual
students attitudes towards CS were evaluated (Dewaele & Wei, 2014). These participants were highly
educated with a high school diploma, Bachelor, Master, and PhD degrees. The researchers collected their
data through an online open-access survey. Findings revealed that the attitudes towards code-switching
are interrelated with language learning history, personality, and current phonological practices, as well as
some socio-biographical variables. The high levels of cognitive empathy and low levels of neuroticism are
strongly interrelated with more positive attitudes towards code-switching. Moreover, females with both
low and high levels of education were in favor of using code-switching in their utterances. Furthermore,
bilingual teens are more positive in their attitudes toward code-switching than older students in their
classrooms.

Based on the existing literature, CS plays a vital role in the higher educational context, in which
students and educators are the main characters who are involved in such phenomena. Attitudes indicate
whether or not the students and faculty members are adopting CS and are getting enough benefit from
that usage. Understanding those attitudes will assist the decision-makers in the higher educational
institutions to identify the strengths and weaknesses and to build their own strategy while using CS. It has
been noticed in the literature that code-switching has not yet been studied intensively within the Gulf
region universities; consequently, we draw attention to our study on Oman (one of the Gulf region
countries) which partly addresses the gaps that have not been covered yet within the existing literature.
The present study highlights a review of the attitudes of both students and educators towards code-
switching within the higher education settings in Oman.

3. Method

3.1. Context and subjects

The data were collected through a mixed-method, including the questionnaire survey and interviews.
Surveys and interviews were administrated at Al Buraimi University College (BUC) at Al Buraimi
Governance, Oman. This approach could lead to more reliable results (Al-Emran, Mezhuyev, & Kamaludin,
2018a). A number of research articles were conducted at BUC in the past (Al-Maroof & Al-Emran, 2018; Al
Emran & Shaalan, 2014; Malik & Al-Emran, 2018). Two kinds of questionnaire surveys were designed and
distributed, one for students and the other for educators. The distribution of the surveys was conducted
by the author with the assistance of the educators within each department. The interviews were
performed by the author and the students by asking them several questions regarding the use of CS in a
face-to-face discussion. In addition, interviews were also performed with the educators in which they
were asked several questions regarding the use of CS in a face-to-face discussion. The collection of the
data was accomplished during December 2015. Table 1 illustrates the entire details of the collected data.
University Name / Country No. of students No. of faculty members
Al Buraimi University College, Oman 338 21
Table 1. Data Collection details.

According to Al-Emran, Elsherif, and Shaalan (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 students who took part were from different majors, departments, and degrees (Diploma,
Advanced Diploma, and Bachelor). The population of the educators was picked from different
nationalities with different qualifications, academic ranks, and teaching experience.
64 Students and educators’ attitudes towards code-switching: A longitudinal study

3.2. Questionnaire Survey Structure

The questionnaire surveys were designed by the researcher herself based on the research questions.
English is the language that was used in preparing the surveys as it is the language that is easily
communicated by both students and educators. Some items were selected from similar research studies
(Eldin, 2014; Hussein, 1999; Nordin et al., 2013). The students’ and educators’ surveys were reviewed by
some experts for the purpose of verification and clarification of the selected items in relation to content
validity. The associate professor and the head of technical support and electronic services indicated after
a thorough examination that the surveys’ items were very clear and answered all the research questions.
The structure of both surveys is illustrated in the following sub-sections.

3.2.1 Students’ Survey

The students’ questionnaire survey includes 24 items that are categorized into three main sections.
The first part of the questionnaire includes 6 items representing the student’s demographic data, namely
gender, major, age, degree, CGPA, and passed credit hours. The second part of the questionnaire includes
four items representing students’ usage of code-switching. The third part of the questionnaire includes 14
items investigating the students’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching (see Appendix A). A five-
point Likert Scale with strongly agree (5), agree (4), neutral (3), disagree (2) and strongly disagree (1)
has been utilized to measure the 14 items. Some items have been adopted from relevant studies (Hussein,
1999; Nordin et al., 2013), while the rest of the items were developed by the researcher herself.

3.2.2 Educators’ Survey

The educators’ questionnaire survey includes 22 items, which like the students’ survey, are categorized
into three major parts. The first section of the questionnaire survey encompasses 6 items representing
the educators’ personal demographic data, which include gender, qualification, age, experience in
teaching, nationality and academic rank. The second section consists of 4 items that represent the faculty
members’ data with regard to the usage of Code-switching. The third part of the questionnaire involves
(12 items) that investigates attitudes towards the use of Code-switching (see Appendix B). A five-point
Likert Scale with strongly agree (5), agree (4), neutral (3), disagree (2) and strongly disagree (1) was
utilized to measure the (12 items). Some items were adopted from (Ahmad & Jusoff, 2009; Hussein, 1999;
Nordin et al., 2013), whereas the rest of the items were prepared by the researcher herself.

3.3. Interviews Structure

The interviews are designed by the researcher herself in accordance with the research questions of the
present study. English has been used since it is the language that both students and educators
communicate in easily. Some interview questions have been chosen from similar research studies (Bilgin
& Rahimi, 2014; Sara Johansson, 2013). The students and educators interview questions were exposed to
some experts for the purpose of verification and clarification of the questions. The structure of both
students’ and educators’ interviews is shown in the following subsection.

3.3.1 Students’ and Educators’ Interviews

The students’ interview questions involve 6 items; while the educators’ interview questions include 7
items (see Appendix C). Some of those items were selected from (Bilgin & Rahimi, 2014; Sara Johansson,
2013).

4. Results and discussion

Regarding the students’ data analysis, 338 questionnaire surveys were distributed as a hard-copy
among the students at Al Buraimi University College (BUC) in Oman. The participating students were
approached from different majors, different ages, and different degrees of study.

Based on the analysis of students’ demographic data, results indicated that 65.7 % of the participated
students were females while only 34.3 % were males. 36.7 % of the participants were categorized under
the Business Administration department, yet 34.9 % of them were categorized under the IT Department
and 28.4 % of them were listed under the English Department. 64 % of the participants were aged
Noor Al-Qaysi 65

between 18 and 22. 74.3 % of the participants are studying at the bachelor’s degree level. 49.7 % of the
participants’ CGPAs are ranged between 2.00 and 2.99.

By analyzing students’ usage of code-switching, it is found that 81.1 % of the students code-switch
between Arabic and English in their conversations, however, 18.9 % of them do not. This result agrees
with a study carried out by (Nordin et al., 2013), in which most of the students (86.7%) showed that code-
switching should be used in the English classroom. Around 51 % of the participants indicated that they
use almost all of the common expressions like (Ok, Yes/No, Thank You, Sorry, Please, Don’t Worry, No
Problem, Wait and perfect) in their daily conversations. 86.4 % of the participants code-switch while
chatting on social networks. This result confirms that found by (Hussein, 1999). This result could be
explained by the fact that a large number of English expressions have substituted the Arabic equivalents
in the speech of Arab students. In terms of the most commonly used social networking application,
WhatsApp was the most frequent application to be used by participants with 43.5%. Moreover, 40.5% of
the participants revealed that they used almost all of the social networking applications like (WhatsApp,
BBM, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+) in their daily chatting. This result is expected as social media
become an integral part of our daily lives (Al-Qaysi, Mohamad-Nordin, & Al-Emran, 2018; Alshurideh,
Salloum, Al Kurdi, & Al-Emran, 2019; Mhamdi, Al-Emran, & Salloum, 2018; Salloum, Al-Emran, Abdallah,
& Shaalan, 2017; Salloum, Al-Emran, & Shaalan, 2017b, 2017a; Salloum, Mhamdi, Al-Emran, & Shaalan,
2017).

In terms of educator’s data analysis, 21 questionnaire surveys were administrated in hard-copy form
among the educators at Al Buraimi University College (BUC) while delivering their lectures. The
participants vary in terms of their nationality, academic rank and academic experience.

The analyzed educators’ personal/demographic data show that 66.7 % of the participants were males.
66.7% of them were master’s degree holders, yet 28.6% are PhD and 4.8% are bachelor’s degree holders.
Around 38 % of the participants are aged between 36 and 45 years old. 52.4% of the participants have
more than 10 years of experience. 71.4 % of the participants are listed under instructor academic rank.

The researcher examined the educators’ usage of code-switching and concluded that 85.7% of the
participants indicated that they code-switch in their classrooms while only 14.3 % do not. This result is in
agreement with other studies (Jingxia, 2010; Lee, 2010), in which (93.3%) and (85.7%) of the teachers
respectively agreed that code-switching should be employed as part of second language classroom

interaction. Regarding social networks’ code-switching, 81 % of the participants mentioned that they
use it while chatting. About 76 % of the participants are using almost all of the common English words/
expressions (Ok, Yes/No, Thank You, Sorry, Please, Don’t Worry, No Problem, Wait and perfect) while
teaching. WhatsApp is shown to be highly used (71.4 %) as the most frequent social networking App for
daily chatting by the faculty members.

RQ1: What are the students’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching?

The findings revealed that most of the students agree with the issue that code-switching helps them in
learning new words from the educators while they are switching between English and Arabic with a mean
score (3.24). Moreover, results presented that the second highest mean score (3.21) of the surveyed items
tends to the concern that Code-switching helps students to convey new words easily. It has been observed
that the students agree with the matter that they are code-switching with their colleagues for discussing
their lectures and exams, practicing the second language that they use and expressing the ideas that they
can’t express in Arabic with a reasonable mean score of (3.19). On the contrary, results indicated that the
lowest mean score (2.89) of the items was related to the issue that code-switching enhances the students’
communication skills. In addition, 81.1% of the students have positive attitudes in using code-switching
in their conversation while only 18.9% do not. It is evident that the students are highly motivated with
the issue of code-switching and they are using it frequently in their conversations. This result is in
agreement with a study conducted by Nordin et al. (2013); in that 86.7% of learners agree that code-
switching should be used in the English language classrooms.

During the interviews with the students, the majority of the students agreed that they switch codes
between Arabic and English while speaking due to discussing exams and lectures, lack of equivalents in
Arabic, lack of vocabs, better understanding and showing off. Moreover, interviews’ results indicated that
66 Students and educators’ attitudes towards code-switching: A longitudinal study

code-switching help students to catch the information easily and rapidly. The most commonly used
English words as stated by the students are: worth it, honest, thank you, break, busy, exam, because,
please, excuse me, no problem, yes/no, don’t worry, clean, open and close. To sum up, the highly relative
percentage indicates that the students are highly motivated to use code-switching frequently on social
networks.

RQ2: What are the students’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching in relation to their
gender, age, major, and degree?

According to the prior research (Al-Emran et al., 2016; Al-Emran & Shaalan, 2015), an independent
samples t-test was performed to investigate if there any statistically significant difference among the
students’ attitudes towards using code-switching with regard to their gender. As presented in Table 2, the
mean values for both genders do not reveal any statistically significant difference (Sig. = 0.143, p > 0.05)
among the learners’ attitudes. This result can be explained by the fact that males and females in Oman
tend equally to code-switch while learning.
Gender N Mean Std. Deviation t Df Sig.
Male 116 3.0862 0.88553
Attitudes -0.267 336 0.143
Female 222 3.1107 0.74953
Table 2. Students’ attitudes with regard to their gender.

To find out whether there is any statistically significant difference among the students’ attitudes
towards using code-switching with regard to their age, Table 3 shows the means and standard deviations
score values for different students’ ages. Moreover, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was
performed for determining the significant difference among the mean scores. Table 4 indicated that there
was no observed statistically significant difference (Sig. = 0.890, p > 0.05) among the students’ attitudes
with regard to their age. This finding indicates that CS could be utilized and performed by all students
regardless of their ages without any special characteristics.
Age N Mean Std. Deviation
18 to 22 219 3.1187 0.74982
23 to 28 86 3.0482 0.89130
29 to 35 26 3.1126 0.82689
Above 35 7 3.2143 1.06426
Total 338 3.1023 0.79759
Table 3. Mean and Standard Deviation of students’ attitudes regarding their age.

Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 0.402 3 0.134 0.209 0.890
Within Groups 213.981 334 0.641
Total 214.382 337
Table 4. ANOVA results for students’ attitudes regarding their age.

To determine whether there is any statistically significant difference among the students’ attitudes
towards using code-switching with regard to their major, Table 5 shows the means and standard
deviations score values for different students’ majors. Furthermore, a one-way analysis of variance
(ANOVA) was conducted for examining the significant difference among the mean scores. Table 6
indicated that there was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.306, p > 0.05) among the students’
attitudes with regard to their majors. Although the observed results indicated that students majored in
English are the most positive towards code-switching, this result does not influence the students’
attitudes towards using code-switching in education. This result could be attributed to the reason that
students are in favor of code-switching as they are mostly using English while studying.
Noor Al-Qaysi 67

N Mean Std. Deviation

English Dept. 96 3.1964 0.71014
Business Management Dept. 124 3.0294 0.86202
IT Department 118 3.1023 0.79295
Total 338 3.1023 0.79759
Table 5. Mean and Standard Deviation of students’ attitudes regarding their major.

Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 1.510 2 0.755 1.188 0.306
Within Groups 212.872 335 0.635
Total 214.382 337
Table 6. ANOVA results for students’ attitudes regarding their majors.

The researcher performed another independent samples t-test for examining if there any statistically
significant difference among the students’ attitudes towards using code-switching with regard to their
academic degree. As presented in Table 7, the mean values for both degrees don’t indicate any statistically
significant difference (p = 0.293, p > 0.05) among the learners’ attitudes. However, the mean scores reveal
that students who have their diploma and advanced diploma are more positive towards CS. This result
could be explained by the reason of incompetence in the second language, bachelor students are more
fluent in using English frequently in different situations.
Degree N Mean Std. Deviation t Df Sig.
Diploma / Advanced Diploma 87 3.0920 0.83185
Attitudes 0.140 336 0.293
Bachelor 251 3.1059 0.78705
Table 7. Students’ attitudes with regard to their degree.

RQ3: What are the educators’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching?

The results revealed that the majority of the educators with the highest mean score (4.38) have
positively agreed with the issue that they code-switch while delivering their lectures to help their
students understand better. Furthermore, findings illustrated that the second highest mean score (4.19)
of the surveyed items tends to the concern that code-switching helps them to convey meaning easily to
their students. It has been witnessed that academics agree with the matter that code-switching helps
them in illustrating new terms in which it helps their students to learn better, makes them feeling more
comfortable and confident while learning with the relative mean score (4). In contrast, results pointed out
that the lowest mean score (3.52), which is still relatively high as compared to the entire mean score (5),
was related to the issue that code-switching enables the students to boost their second language skills.
According to Nordin et al. (2013) in analyzing the educators’ attitudes towards code-switching, results
indicated that 85.7% of the educators are using code-switching in their classrooms while only 14.3% do
not. It is evident that the educators are positively motivated and interested in the phenomenon of code-
switching and they are using it in their classrooms.

The interview results indicated that the majority of the educators agreed that they switch codes
between Arabic and English in their classes for better students’ understanding, enhance students’
language skills, ensure the full attention of the students and facilitate the translation of some terms and
concepts. During the interviews, most educators believed that code-switching positively affects the
educational process as it is used for understanding purposes, conveying meaning and discussing exams.
Moreover, code-switching adds more knowledge during communication and makes it more attractive.
The majority of educators indicated that there are several advantages of code-switching in classrooms
including clarifying unfamiliar terms and concepts, building confidence in students to boost their
psychological feelings as well as enhancing their motivation and learning process. In contrast, the
drawbacks behind the use of code-switching include using it as a method of teaching rather than in a
constructive way and less importance will be paid to English by students. Furthermore, it is evident that
educators tend to encourage their students to switch codes in certain situations like using simple words
to convey the information better and facilitate their understanding. The most commonly used English
words, as stated by the educators while teaching, are: something, well, you know, OK, very good, carry on
and fine. One educator said: “there is no certain situation, it is happening non-intentionally.” It is evident
that educators are generally interested in code-switching on social networks. Overall, results give a strong
68 Students and educators’ attitudes towards code-switching: A longitudinal study

indicator that code-switching can be one of the promising educational methods to be implemented in the
higher educational environments within the Gulf region countries (specifically Oman).

RQ4: What are the educators’ attitudes towards the use of code-switching in relation to their
gender, age, academic rank, and academic experience?

As presented by Al-Emran et al., 2016; Al Emran & Shaalan (2015) in analyzing the educators’ attitudes
in relation to their gender, age, academic rank and academic experience, the researcher carried out an
independent samples t-test to examine whether there is any statistically significant difference among the
educators’ attitudes towards using code-switching with regard to their gender. As presented in Table 9,
the mean values for both genders do not reveal any statistically significant difference (p = 0.570, p > 0.05)
among the educators’ attitudes. This fact indicates that male and female educators are equally positive
towards using CS. This result could explain the reason that CS is an effective strategy in classroom
interactions, as it could increase the English competency if it is used in limited frequencies to efficiently
clarify some meanings to students.
Gender N Mean Std. Deviation t Df Sig.
Male 14 3.8810 0.78699 -0.342 19 0.570
Female 7 4.0000 0.66840
Table 9. Educators’ attitudes with regard to their gender.

To find out whether there is any statistically significant difference among the educators’ attitudes
towards using code-switching in relation to their age, Table 10 demonstrates the means and standard
deviations score values for various educators’ ages. Moreover, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)
was conducted for examining the significant difference among the mean scores. Table 11 indicated that
there was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.971, p > 0.05) among the educators’ attitudes with
regard to their ages. The mean score is reasonable which in turn indicates that educators in different ages
have positive attitudes towards using CS. It can be concluded that CS could be utilized and performed by
all educators regardless of their ages without any special characteristics.
Age N Mean Std. Deviation
26 to 35 5 3.8333 0.69472
36 to 45 8 3.9063 0.56771
46 to 55 4 4.0833 0.81366
Above 55 4 3.8958 1.22167
Total 21 3.9206 0.73479
Table 10. Mean and Standard Deviation of educators’ attitudes regarding their age.

Sum of df Mean Square F Sig.

Squares
Between Groups 0.148 3 0.049 0.079 0.971
Within Groups 10.650 17 0.626
Total 10.798 20
Table 11. ANOVA results for educators’ attitudes regarding their age.

To discover whether there is any statistically significant difference among the educators’ attitudes
towards using code-switching in relation to their academic rank, Table 12 demonstrates the means and
standard deviations score values for various educators’ academic ranks. Additionally, a one-way analysis
of variance (ANOVA) was carried out for examining the significant difference among the mean scores.
Table 13 indicated that there was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.328, p > 0.05) among the
educators’ attitudes in relation to their academic rank. The mean score is reasonable which in turn
indicates that educators in different academic ranks have positive attitudes towards using CS. This result
disagrees with that revealed by (Jingxia, 2010), as instructors are the most groups that switch codes while
teaching. It can be concluded that CS could be utilized and performed by all educators regardless of their
academic rank. This result could be attributed to the reason that almost all of the faculty members are
capable enough to switch-codes into their classrooms.
Noor Al-Qaysi 69

N Mean Std. Deviation

Instructor 15 3.7667 0.78313
Assistant Professor 4 4.2708 0.56263
Associate Professor 2 4.3750 0.05893
Total 21 3.9206 0.73479
Table12. Mean and Standard Deviation of educators’ attitudes regarding their academic rank.

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 1.259 2 0.630 1.188 0.328
Within Groups 9.539 18 0.530
Total 10.798 20
Table 13. ANOVA results for educators’ attitudes regarding their academic rank.

To determine whether there is any statistically significant difference among the educators’ attitudes
towards using code-switching in terms of their teaching experience, Table 14 shows the means and
standard deviations score values for various educators’ teaching experience. In addition, a one-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to investigate the significant difference among the mean
scores. Table 15 indicated that there was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.589, p > 0.05) among
the educators’ attitudes in relation to their teaching experience. The mean score is reasonable which in
turn indicates that educators in different teaching experiences have positive attitudes towards using CS.
This result could be explained by the reason that faculty members with their different years of experience
have the language proficiency and they were capable of using code-switching in their classrooms even
though no significant difference has been observed.
N Mean Std. Deviation
Less than 5 years. 3 4.0556 0.29266
Between 5 to 10 years. 7 3.6786 0.73508
More than 10 years. 11 4.0379 0.82274
Total 21 3.9206 0.73479
Table 14. Mean and Standard Deviation of educators’ attitudes regarding their teaching experience.

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 0.616 2 0.308 0.544 0.589
Within Groups 10.182 18 0.566
Total 10.798 20
Table 15. ANOVA results for educators’ attitudes regarding their teaching experience.

5. Conclusion and future work

The research demonstrated that switching between two codes is an accepted linguistic action in the
context of bilingual educational systems. The present study highlights a review of the attitudes of both
students and educators towards code-switching in the higher education context. This result agrees with
that found in (Jingxia, 2010).

It has been noticed in the literature that code-switching has not yet been studied intensively within the
Gulf region universities; consequently, we draw attention to our study on Oman (one of the Gulf region
countries) which partly addresses the gaps that have not been covered yet within the existing literature.

The researcher conducted two questionnaire surveys, one for students and the other for educators in
order to obtain a full picture of students’ and educators’ attitudes towards switching between Arabic and
English in Al Buraimi University College (BUC) at Al Buraimi Governorate, Oman. 338 students took part
in the study (N=116) males and (N=222) females. 21 instructors took part in the study (N=14) males and
(N=7) females.

The findings revealed that students in different genders, ages, majors, and degrees have positive
attitudes towards CS concluding. CS could be utilized and performed by all students regardless of their
genders, ages, majors and degrees without any special characteristics. Additionally, the findings revealed
that educators in different genders, ages, academic rank, and teaching experiences have positive attitudes
70 Students and educators’ attitudes towards code-switching: A longitudinal study

towards using CS concluding that CS could be utilized and performed by all educators regardless of their
gender, age, academic rank and teaching experience without any special characteristics. Regarding the
interviews’, results give a strong indicator that code-switching can be one of the promising educational
methods to be implemented in the higher educational environments within the Gulf region countries
(specifically Oman).

In the present study, we have targeted Al Buraimi University College, Oman. As a future direction, the
researcher is interested in examining the students’ and educators’ attitudes at other universities in Oman,
as samples from other universities will definitely add more value to the observed results. In addition, only
21 educators took part in the study. Future attempts should increase the number of educators in order to
add more value to the current results.

References

Ahmad, B. H., & Jusoff, K. (2009). Teachers’ Code-Switching in Classroom Instructions for Low English
Proficient Learners. English Language Teaching. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v2n2p49
Al-Emran, M., Alkhoudary, Y. A., Mezhuyev, V., & Al-Emran, M. (2019). Students and Educators Attitudes
towards the use of M-Learning: Gender and Smartphone ownership Differences. International Journal
of Interactive Mobile Technologies (IJIM), 13(1), 127–135.
Al-Emran, M., Elsherif, H. M., & Shaalan, K. (2016). Investigating attitudes towards the use of mobile
learning in higher education. Computers in Human Behavior, 56, 93–102.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.033
Al-Emran, M., Mezhuyev, V., & Kamaludin, A. (2018a). PLS-SEM in Information Systems Research: A
Comprehensive Methodological Reference. In 4th International Conference on Advanced Intelligent
Systems and Informatics (AISI 2018) (pp. 644–653). Springer.
Al-Emran, M., Mezhuyev, V., & Kamaludin, A. (2018b). Students’ Perceptions towards the Integration of
Knowledge Management Processes in M-learning Systems: A Preliminary Study. International Journal
of Engineering Education, 34(2), 371–380.
Al-Emran, M., & Shaalan, K. (2015). Attitudes towards the use of mobile learning: A case study from the
gulf region. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, 9(3), 75–78.
https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v9i3.4596
Al-Emran, M., & Shaalan, K. (2017). Academics’ Awareness Towards Mobile Learning in Oman.
International Journal of Computing and Digital Systems, 6(1), 45–50.
https://doi.org/10.12785/IJCDS/060105
Al-Maroof, R. A. S., & Al-Emran, M. (2018). Students acceptance of Google classroom: An exploratory study
using PLS-SEM approach. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (IJET), 13(6),
112–123. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v13i06.8275
Al-Qaysi, N., & Al-Emran, M. (2017). Code-switching Usage in Social Media: A Case Study from Oman.
International Journal of Information Technology and Language Studies, 1(1), 25–38.
Al-Qaysi, N., Mohamad-Nordin, N., & Al-Emran, M. (2018). A Systematic Review of Social Media
Acceptance from the Perspective of Educational and Information Systems Theories and Models. Journal
of Educational Computing Research. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633118817879
Al Emran, M., & Shaalan, K. (2014). E-podium technology: A medium of managing knowledge at al buraimi
university college via m-learning. In BCS International IT Conference (pp. 1–4).
https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/bcsme2014.14
Alenezi, A. (2010). Students’ language attitude towards using code-switching as a medium of instruction
in the college of health sciences: An exploratory study. Annual Review of Education, Communication and
Language Sciences.
Alshurideh, M., Salloum, S. A., Al Kurdi, B., & Al-Emran, M. (2019). Factors affecting the Social Networks
Acceptance: An Empirical Study using PLS-SEM Approach. In 8th International Conference on Software
and Computer Applications. ACM.
Bilgin, G. P., & Rahimi, A. (2014). EFL Teachers’ Attitude toward Code Switching: A Turkish Setting.
International Journal of Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v5i5.4043
Cooper, G. F. (2013). AN EXPLORATION OF INTENTIONS AND PERCEPTIONS OF CODE-SWITCHING
AMONG BILINGUAL SPANISH-ENGLISH SPEAKERS IN THE INLAND NORTHWEST. Journal of Northwest
Noor Al-Qaysi 71

Anthropology.
Dewaele, J. M., & Wei, L. (2014). Attitudes towards code-switching among adult mono- and multilingual
language users. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2013.859687
Eldin, A. A. T. S. (2014). Socio Linguistic Study of Code Switching of the Arabic Language Speakers on
Social Networking. International Journal of English Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v4n6p78
Hussein, R. F. (1999). Code-alteration among Arab college students. World Englishes.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-971X.00141
Jdetawy, L. F. A. (2011). Arabic-English Code-Switching among Arab Students at UUM, Malaysia. Language
in India, 11(5), 102–117.
Jingxia, L. (2010). Teachers’ Code-Switching to the L1 in EFL Classroom. The Open Applied Linguistics
Journal. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874913501003010010
Lee, H. L. J. (2010). Code switching in the teaching of English as a second language to secondary school
students. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research.
Levine, G. S. (2003). Student and Instructor Beliefs and Attitudes about Target Language Use, First
Language Use, and Anxiety: Report of a Questionnaire Study. The Modern Language Journal.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4781.00194
Leyew, Z. (1998). Code-Switching: Amharic-English. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 11(2), 197–216.
Malik, S. I., & Al-Emran, M. (2018). Social Factors Influence on Career Choices for Female Computer
Science Students. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (IJET), 13(5), 56–70.
Mhamdi, C., Al-Emran, M., & Salloum, S. A. (2018). Text mining and analytics: A case study from news
channels posts on Facebook. Studies in Computational Intelligence (Vol. 740).
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67056-0_19
Momenian, M., & Samar, R. G. (2011). Functions of code-switching among Iranian advanced and
elementary teachers and students. Educational Research and Review.
Nordin, N. M., Ali, F. D. R., Zubir, S. I. S. S., & Sadjirin, R. (2013). ESL Learners Reactions Towards Code
Switching in Classroom Settings. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.07.117
Salloum, S. A., & Al-Emran, M. (2018). Factors affecting the adoption of E-payment systems by university
students: Extending the TAM with trust. International Journal of Electronic Business, 14(4), 371–390.
Salloum, S. A., Al-Emran, M., Abdallah, S., & Shaalan, K. (2017). Analyzing the Arab Gulf Newspapers Using
Text Mining Techniques. In International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Systems and Informatics
(pp. 396–405). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64861-3_37
Salloum, S. A., Al-Emran, M., & Shaalan, K. (2017a). Mining Social Media Text: Extracting Knowledge from
Facebook. International Journal of Computing and Digital Systems, 6(2), 73–81.
https://doi.org/10.12785/ijcds/060203
Salloum, S. A., Al-Emran, M., & Shaalan, K. (2017b). Mining Text in News Channels: A Case Study from
Facebook. International Journal of Information Technology and Language Studies, 1(1), 1–9.
Salloum, S. A., Mhamdi, C., Al-Emran, M., & Shaalan, K. (2017). Analysis and Classification of Arabic
Newspapers’ Facebook Pages using Text Mining Techniques. International Journal of Information
Technology and Language Studies, 1(2), 8–17.
Sara Johansson. (2013). Code Switching in the English Classroom:What teachers do and what their
students wish they did. English Journal.
Taweel, A. Q., & Btoosh, M. A. (2012). Syntactic aspects of Jordanian Arabic-English intra-sentential code-
switching. Linguistica.
72 Students and educators’ attitudes towards code-switching: A longitudinal study

Appendix A
Survey structure of students' attitudes towards code-switching.
1 Code-Switching enhances my communication skills.
2 Code-switching helps me to develop my language skills.
3 Using Code-switching shows that I’m well-educated.
4 Using Code-switching shows that I’m prestigious.
5 I Code-switch due to the lack of Arabic equivalents.
6 Code-switching allows me to understand better.
7 Code-switching helps me to covey new words easily.
8 Code-switching makes me feel more comfortable and confident in classrooms.
9 I Code-switch with my colleagues for discussing lectures and exams.
10 Code-switching helps me to practice the second language that I use.
11 Code-switching helps me in learning new words from the educators while they are switching
between English and Arabic.
12 I Code-switch with my colleagues due to the complexity of some words in my native language.
13 Usage of English allows me to express the ideas that I can’t express in Arabic.
14 Usage of Code-switching attracts my attention.

Appendix B
Survey structure of faculty members' attitudes towards code-switching.
1 I Code-switch while teaching in order to help my students understand better.
2 I Code-switch due to lack of equivalents in Arabic language.
3 Code-switching helps me to bond strongly with my students.
4 Code-switching helps me to convey meaning easily to students.
5 Usage of Code-switching helps the students in learning the second language.
6 I Code-switch due to the complexity of certain words in my language.
7 I Code-switch because I feel that the students are not exposed to English.
8 Using Code-switching while illustrating new terms helps the students to learn better.
9 Code-switching makes the discussions more interesting.
10 Code-switching enhances my communication skills with the students.
11 Code-switching enables the students to boost up their second language skills.
12 Code-switching makes the students feel more comfortable and confident while learning.

Appendix C
Interview questions with students.
1. Do you switch between Arabic and English while speaking? Why or why not?
2. Does switching between Arabic and English help you to understand the lecture better?
3. Do you usually insert English words or phrases to show off?
4. Do you prefer your lecturer to switch between Arabic and English? Why or why not?
5. What are the most common English words that you usually use?
6. Do you use Code-switching while chatting on social networks? Why or why not?

Interview questions with educators.

1) Do you switch codes in your classes? Why or why not?
2) How do you switch between Arabic and English?
3) Do you code-switch on social networks? Why or why not?
4) How does code-switching affect the educational process?
5) What are the advantages and drawbacks behind using Code-switching in classrooms?
6) What are the most common English words that you usually use while teaching?
7) In which situations do you encourage your students to switch codes?