Code-switching and code-mixing of English and Bahasa Malaysia in content-based classrooms: frequency and attitudes / Kamisah Ariffin and Misyana Susanti Husin

This study was undertaken in a public university in Malaysia which prescribes English as the medium of instruction for all courses taught. However, it has been observed that this policy has not been fully adhered to. Code-switching (CS) and code-mixing (CM) of English and Bahasa Malaysia occur extensively in the instructors’ speech in the classroom. This paper attempts to highlight the frequency of this communicative behaviour, and both the instructors’ and students’ attitudes towards it. Using self-completed questionnaires and interviews as methods of data collection, the findings reveal that instructors frequently code-switched and code-mixed between the two languages in the classroom. The analysis shows that the occurrence of these phenomena was related to the instructors’, as well as the students’ own linguistic competence, and the purpose of facilitating effective teaching and learning. There is, however, mixed attitudes towards CS/CM. While both instructors and students agreed that CS/CM can promote better understanding, the latter, however, students with better English proficiency felt that such communicative behaviour can be off-putting as it does not help in improving their linguistic competence in English. The paper, thus, raises some legitimate concerns of the conflict between the policy and its actual implementation, which certainly has some implications on language development, teacher education and policy assessment.