Code-Switching Towards EFL Students’ Written Feedback

Abstract

While the pros and cons of Code-Switching (CS) in teaching English instruction have been discussed and reported among English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students, there is limited empirical evidence addressing the utility of CS in writing courses, particularly in providing written feedback for EFL students by teachers. To fill this void, this article reports on a narrative case study that investigates the types of CS that EFL students want to receive in their written feedback and their preferences for CS in terms of local errors and global errors. Seventeen college students at Indonesia Open University, who voluntarily participated in this study by taking English general and writing courses, were included. A qualitative data analysis approach was employed through an online questionnaire, and five students were chosen for online interviews. The findings revealed that most students prefer their lecturers to use a combination of languages (English and Bahasa Indonesia) when providing written feedback. Regardless of local or global errors, the students expressed a preference for a combination of languages. Moreover, more than half of the students favored the tag-switching type of feedback provided by the lecturer. In brief, CS can be implemented as a strategy for providing written feedback, but consideration must be given to students' needs, proficiency levels, and the frequency with which the lecturer uses CS