EDAPI

Abstract 

Are you a switcher?

 The aim of this poster is to encourage teachers of English to reflect on one specific aspect of their experience in the classroom, namely, code-switching, which refers to the use of the mother tongue when teaching a foreign language. In order to do so, we will provide figures obtained through a survey on the frequency with which, and the reasons why, teachers of English speak to their students in Spanish.

If you haven't attended our presentation, at least you can have a look at our survey.

Survey: Are you a code-switcher?
Please underline the appropriate answer/s regarding yourself as a teacher of English

1)  Your teaching context:

a)Kindergarten(*)

b)Primary school(*)

c)Secondary school(*)

d)Tertiary level(*)

e)University(*)

f)Language academy

g)In-company

h)Other (please specify)

(*) if your answer to question 1 is a, b, c, d, or e please answer question 2

2) The place where you work at is...

a) Private

b) State-run

3) Age group of your students:

a) Children

b) Teenagers

c) Adults

4) Level of your students:

a) A1

b) A2

c) B1

d) B2

e) C1

f) C2

5) Do you ever switch languages in your classroom?

a) YES

b) NO

6) Why? Or what for?

a) To tell off your students

b) To explain something they may not understand in English

c) To translate words

c) Because you want to talk about something serious (e.g. an incident)

d) To tell a personal anecdote

e) Other (please specify)

7) How do your students react when they hear you speak Spanish?
         a) They are surprised

b) They switch to Spanish as well

c) They pay more attention

d) They get distracted

e) They don’t mind

f) Other (please specify)

Self feedback on poster presentation

I really think that the three of us did a very good performance. Personally, I felt very confident, and enthusiastic about it. I enjoyed explaining the poster while having fun at the same time with my classmates. It was a very nice and juicy experience. As we have already discussed with you, for next time we will try to handle the timing in a different way so we all have the same opportunity to speak. We will improve on that!