EEJ 8 (4) (2018) 432 - 438 

 

  

English Education Journal 

  
http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/eej 

 

 

The Realization of Teachers’ Code Switching in Instructional Process. 

 

Musmuliadi , Januarius Mujiyanto, Djoko Sutopo 

 

Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia 

 

Article Info 

________________ 

Article History: 

Recived 2 June 2018 

Accepted 06 

September 2018 

Published 23 

December 2018  

 

________________ 
Keywords: 

Realization  

Code-switching 

Instructional process 

___________ 

Abstract
 

___________________________________________________________________ 

The objectives of this study were to explain the way teachers switch their 

language in instructional process, to explain the students’ understanding of 

teachers’ code-switching instructional process in the classroom, and to explain 

the students’ perception of teachers’ code-switching in instructional 

process.This research employed qualitative research. The subjects of this study 

were 3 English teachers and 152 students of SMA Al-Mas’udiyah Bandungan. 

The data were collected by using audio recording, test, questionnaires, and 

observation. The results of this study showed that first, there were three ways 

of english teacher to switch their language in instructional process those are: 

Inter-sentential code switching, Intra-sentential switching and Emblematic/tag 

switching. Second, students’ mean score were less than 70. Meaning that, the 

students understanding of teachers' code switching is categorized low 

understanding. Third, the students’ perception indicated to positive perception 

because the majority of students (45%) stated agree with those statements, 

followed (38%) students stated strongly agree with those statements. 

Meanwhile, (17%) of the students stated disagree with those statements. 

 

© 2018 Universitas Negeri Semarang 

 

Correspondence Address:  
Kampus Pascasarjana Unnes, Jl. Kelud Utara III Semarang 
5023 Indonesia 

E-mail: musmuliadi026@gmail.com 

 
 

 
 

p-ISSN 2087-0108 

e-ISSN 2502-4566 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Musmuliadi, Januarius Mujiyanto, Djoko Sutopo/ EEJ 8 (4) 2018 432 - 438
 

433 

INTRODUCTION 

 

Teaching English encouraged teacher to 

use various ways or methods that can be used to 

make the objectives of teaching and learning 

English is achieved. The teacher must use 

appropriate way or method based on the 

students’ proficiency level. The suitable method 

has effect to the learning objectives. The English 

teacher should have a good communication in 

transferring knowledge to the students during 

teaching and learning process. Besides that the 

teachers’ instruction must be understandable. it 

means that the students are able to understand 

their instruction in classroom interaction.  

Code switching can be seen as good 

method of communication. Code switching 

provides the switch of one language to the other. 

It means that this way is needed by teacher in 

transferring knowledge. Because the students 

have lack of vocabularies in English, the English 

teacher can switch his/her language form 

English to Indonesian in order to make students 

understand their instruction easily. 

According to Chloros (2009, p.4) “such 

varied combinations of two or more linguistic 

varieties occur in countless bilingual societies 

and communities, and are known as code-

switching. It refers to the use of several 

languages or dialects in the same conversation 

or sentence by bilingual people”. 

Another definition is from Hoffmann 

(1991, p.110) “code-switching is the alternate 

use of two languages or linguistics varieties 

within the same utterance or during the same 

conversation”. In addition, Hoffmann (1991, 

p.104) says "code- switching as changes over 

phrases or sentence (inter-sentential), including 

tags and exclamations at either and of the 

sentence" and "code mixing as switches 

occurring at the lexical level within a sentence 

(intra-sentential switches)”. 

There are several relevant studies which 

have been conducted by the researchers on this 

topic, Noli, Sharifah & Roslan (2012), Azlan 

and Narasuman (2012) conducted code 

switching analysis in senior high school level. 

the aim of the research was to uncover the 

attitudes of ESL learners towards the functions 

of code-switching. 

The study found that most of the English 

language learners have positive attitudes 

towards code switching. The learners were also 

reported to believe that code switching facilitates 

them in understanding the target language. 

Dealing with function of Code switching 

was conducted by Then & Ting (2011) studied 

pedagogical function of code switching. The 

result of study showed that there were some 

pedagogical functions of code switching found 

in teaching and learning process. The functions 

of code switching were: to emphasize the 

message, to clarify speech content to the 

interlocutors. Strategic use of code-switching 

serves the needs of both learners and teachers 

working within a bilingual or multilingual 

educational environment. 

Different from the others, Caparas & 

Gustilo (2017) and Balukas (2014) studied about 

code switching in movies. They intended to 

understand code-switching in the mediated 

form. As the result of the study, some of the 

macro functions of code-switching were found 

included speech accommodation, construction 

of identity and to exhibit power. 

Dealing with types of code switching, 

Hoffmann (1991, p.112) said “there are three 

types of code-switching; they are inter-sentential 

switching, intra-sentential switching, and 

emblematic-switching (tag switching)”.  

Study about types of code switching has 

been conducted by (Dulm 2006). The study 

investigated the patterns of intra-sentential and 

inter-sentential code-switching, and the 

influence of language proficiency on intra-

sentential code switching. The finding of studies 

showed that intra-sentential code switching 

occurred at a higher rate than inter-sentential 

code switching and speakers dominant used 

more intra-sentential code switching than inter-

sentential code switching. 

Code-switching helps learners to enjoy 

their learning due to their ability to comprehend 

the teacher input. The comprehensible input 

also allows them to feel less stressful and to 

become more comfortable to learn. For the 



Musmuliadi, Januarius Mujiyanto, Djoko Sutopo/ EEJ 8 (4) 2018 432 - 438
 

434 

effect student felt comfortable switching 

language within normal conversation providing 

for a bilingual society.  

Code-switching may be viewed as an 

extension to language for bilingual speakers 

rather than interference and from another 

perspective. Comfortable mean without any 

unnecessary anxiety, the learner is able to focus 

and participate in classroom practice eventually 

and the activities become more successful. 

Code-switching is not only social 

phenomena in the community but also it can be 

used as a good way in communication in order 

to create clear meaning from the speaker to the 

listener in a conversation. good communication 

has a positive effect on teaching and learning 

process. In this case teachers’ code switching is 

a strategy of communication can be used by 

teacher to give positive impact in teaching 

English as foreign language. 

The researcher assumed that English 

teachers use code switching as strategy or 

method of communication in transferring 

knowledge during teaching and learning 

process. the teacher switchs their language from 

indonesian to english or from english to 

indonesian or even from english to javanese and 

from javanese to indonesia. it depends on 

condition and situation faced by english teachers 

in classroom interaction. 

Therefore  the objectives of this study 

were were to explain the way teachers switch 

their language in instructional process, to 

explain the students’ understanding of teachers’ 

code-switching instructional process in the 

classroom, and to explain the students’ 

perception of teachers’ code-switching in 

instructional process. 

 

METHOD 

 

This study employed qualitative research 

design which was aimed to explain teachers’ 

way to switch their language, to explain the 

students’ understanding of teachers’ code 

switching, and to explain the students’ 

perception of teachers’ code switching  

The subjects of this study were English 

teachers and eleventh grade students in SMA 

Al-mas’udiyah Bandungan. It consisted of 152 

students who were taken from two different 

classes. They were class XI IPA 1, XI IPA 2, XI 

IPS 1, and XI IPS 2.  

Audio recording, observation, test, and 

questionnaire, were used as isntruments to 

obtain the data in this study. The first, audio 

recording and observation were employed to 

obtain the data about teachers’ way to switch 

their language in classroom interaction. The 

second, test was used to get the data about the 

students’ understanding of teachers’ code 

switching. The third, the questionnaire was 

employed to obtain the data about the students’ 

perception toward teachers’ code switching. the  

Procedure in collecting the data in this 

study employed several steps those were 

recording, observing, giving test, and giving 

questionnaire. Meanwhile, the data were 

analyzed through some steps: (1) trancribing, (2) 

identifying, (3) classifying, (4) reducing (5) 

interpreting, and (6) inferring.  

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 

 

This study was limited into three research 

problems, they are analyzing the way teacher 

switch their language in instructional process, 

analyzing the students’ understanding of 

teachers’ code switching, and analyzing the 

students’ perceptions of teachers code switching. 

 

The Teachers’ Way to Switch Their in 

Instructional Process. 

Based on the audio recording and 

observation that has done by the researcher, he 

found there were three ways of English teacher 

to switch their language in instructional process 

those are: inter-sentential code switching, intra-

sentential switching and emblematic/tag 

switching. Here the explanation as follows: 

1. Inter-sentential Code Switching 

Based on Hoffman theory, inter-

sentential switching occurs at a clause or 

sentence boundary, where each clause or 

sentence is one language to another. In line with 



Musmuliadi, Januarius Mujiyanto, Djoko Sutopo/ EEJ 8 (4) 2018 432 - 438
 

435 

the theory, romaine (1996, p.7) defines “inter-

sentential switch occur outside the sentence or 

clause level that is clause boundaries”. 

 In inter-sentential switching a speaker 

switches from one language to another between 

different sentences. This implies that when the 

speech of an individual is divided into 

sentences, one sentence could be in one 

language while the other sentence could be in a 

totally different language. 

a) You can do it kamu bisa mengerjakannya  

bukan kamu dapat duit ya 

In translating meaning of the sentences, 

teacher tried to make the learning become more 

fun by making jokes in order to make students 

were not boring to follow teaching and learning 

process. Teacher tried to make fun learning by 

switching the language from Indonesia to 

English. 

b) Memang kadang kadang ketika perform in 

front of people we made mistake 

In teaching and learning process, there is 

speaking practice session where the students were 

asked to come forward to perform one by one and 

tried to speak in front of the classroom. There 

were many students do mistakes when they were 

performed. In order to motivate the students 

English teacher reminded the students that when 

we are learning we do a mistake because mistake 

is part of learning. The teacher switches their 

language from Indonesian to English in order to 

motivate the students to perform in front of the 

classroom. 

c) Seharusnya bukan yang a kalau itu kan I 

hope she can do the best next saya berharap dia 

bisa melakukan yang terbaik kan jadinya gak 

nyambung kalau jawabannya yang A. 

Teacher corrected the answer that has 

done by students in front of class and asked to 
correct students‟ answers and explained the 

material then teacher tried to clarify. The teacher 

switches their language from Indonesian to 

English utterances then switch again to 

Indonesian in order to give clarification about 

the best answer for that question. 

2. Intra-sentential code switching 

Hoffmann (1991, p.112) stated “intra-

sentential is contained switches within a clause 

or sentence involving a phrase, a single word or 

across morpheme boundaries”. 

 in this case, the teacher may switch parts of 

clauses, lexical items, or even morphemes. in 

this type of switching, speakers switch from one 

language to another within the same sentence. 

Thus a sentence made up of two or more 

languages. 

In instructional process of English in 

classroom interaction, English teacher used 

intra-sentential code switching as their way in 

switch their code during the teaching and 

learning process in classroom. The example as 

follows: 

a) Okay what page? kemarin sampai halaman  

berapa? 

The conversation in the opening class 

teacher greeted the students, and asked the 

students about the last page that have been 

learnt in previous meeting before continue to the 

next material. 

b) Kalian kan baru usia seventeen or nineteen  

 year toh 

  In the opening session before teacher 

continued to discuss the next material. the 

teacher asked the students about their planning 

after finished the study in senior high school. 

Some of students answered they will continue 

the study, looking for job, and get married. The 

teacher was surprised to hear that. The teacher 

tried to remind that the students still young they 

have to continue their study or find job before 

get married.  Teacher tried to remind the 

students by switching language from Indonesian 

to English. 

c) Akan tetapi terkadang juga native speaker of  

bahasa ya karena kita penutur bahasa asli 

bahasa indonesia. 

3. Emblematic-Switching (tag switching) 

Poplack, as cited in maidah (2014, p.29) 

stated that “tag-switching is the insertion of a 

tag phrase from one language into an utterance 

from another language such as., so, well, you 

know, etc”.the expressions for common tags in 

english include "you know, i mean, right, is it 

right, understand" or filler such as "so, well, 

alright, ok, yes personal expression like "he, 

em,err,etc. 

English teacher used emblematic/ tag 

switching as their way to switch their language 



Musmuliadi, Januarius Mujiyanto, Djoko Sutopo/ EEJ 8 (4) 2018 432 - 438
 

436 

in instructional process. They were used in 

different condition and situation classroom 

interaction. Emblematic/tag switching divided 

into two variations those are: english- 

Indonesian emblematic-switching, indonesian-

english emblematic-switching. Here the example 

a). So aim itu tujuan sama juga dengan purpose  

dan goal juga semua itu artinya sama yaitu  

tujuan 

Teacher corrected the students’ answer 

and explains the meaning of the word “aim”. 

The tag switching by the word “so” means the 

tag “so” insert to/from Indonesian sentence.  

Teacher inserted word “so” as tag switching as 

his way to switch his language in instructional 

process of English. 

b) For today we will continue our lesson again  

ya! 

After introduction in learning process, 

teacher continued to the material that would be 

taught that day. Then, confirmed about the 

homework that was given. After checked the 

assignment, teacher asked to continue do the 

material. 

c) Shop gawang? Masyaallah goal keeper gitu  

ya! 

Teacher asked the students to translate 

the sentence. The students translated Indonesian 

phrase “penjaga gawang” translated to “shop 

gawang”. The teacher tried to clarify by produce 

or insert “gitu ya” in his utterances. 

Students’ Understanding of Teachers’ Code-

Switching in Instructional Process. 

This is the second objectives of the 

study. In order to achieve the objective of the 

study, the researcher used test as instrument to 

collect the data of this study. According to 

brown (2004, p.3) sated “test is a method of 

measuring a person’s ability, knowledge and 

performance in a given domain”. the test is used 

to measure the students understanding of 

teachers’ code switching in instructional 

process. type of test was multiple choices. 

Test was given to 152 students as 

participants of the study which consist of four 

classes for eleventh grade students namely XI 

ipa 1, XI IPA 2, XI IPS 1, and XI IPA 2. If 

those students have mean score 70 up to 100 its 

belong to high understanding of teachers’ code 

switching but if the students have score less than 

70 its belong to low understanding of teacher 

code switching. 

After the test was conducted, the 

researcher continued to analysis the data in 

which divided into several steps. first, analyzed 

individual score for each student. second, find 

the mean score of all students. to analyze the 

mean score of the students, the researcher used 

spss program. the results of mean score analysis 

for all participants in this study could be seen in 

the following table. 

 

Table 1. The table above showed that the mean 

score of all students 

 

Table above was result of mean score 

analysis for all participants (XI IPA 1, XI IPA 2, 

XI IPS 1, and XI IPS 2). The table above 

showed that the mean score of all students was 

42.30 while the minimum score of the students 

was 33.00 and the maximum score of the 

students was 48.00.  

From the finding and result of students’ 

score analysis above it showed that the highest 

score of the students was 46.00 meanwhile the 

mean score was 34.16. It means that there is no 

students get score 70 or the students’ score were 

less than 70. Form those score it can be 

concluded that the students understanding of 

teacher code switching in classroom interaction 

is categorized low understanding category. 

Students’ Perceptions toward Teachers’ Code-

Switching in Instructional Process. 

This is the last objectives of study in 

this research. In oredr to achieved the objectives 

of the study, Questionnaire was employed in 

this study to collect the data. the type of 



Musmuliadi, Januarius Mujiyanto, Djoko Sutopo/ EEJ 8 (4) 2018 432 - 438
 

437 

instrument is close ended questinnaire.the 

questionnaire consist of 20 statements which is 

the optional response strongly agree (SA), agree 

(A), disagree (D), and strongly disagree (SD). 

The data about students’ perceptions 

towards teachers’ code switching in 

instructional process was gained from the 

questionnaire. The questionnaire consist of 20 

statements which is the optional response 

strongly agree (SA), agree (A), disagree (D), and 

strongly disagree (SD).The result of the 

students’ questionnaire can be seen in following 

table bellow. 

 

Table 2. Results of the questionnaire 

 

The questionnaires in this part focused 

on the realization of teachers’ code switching in 

instructional process. Results of the 

questionnaire can briefly summarize as follows. 

first, the majority of students (45 %) stated agree 

with all statements, second, followed (38 %) 

students stated strongly agree with those 

statements. third, (17 %) of the students stated 

disagree. it can be cocluded that the students 

have positive perception toward teachers’ code 

switching in instructional process of english. 

positive perception here means that students in 

general agree or strongly agree with those 

statements od questinnaire that have given.  

 

CONCLUSION  

 

The conclusion of this study based on 

the research problems. The first result indicated 

that there were three ways that English teacher 

used to switch their language in classroom 

interaction. Those were: inter-sentential code 

switching, intra-sentential code switching and 

emblematic switching. Each form could be 

english-indonesian switching, Indonesian- 

English switching, and Indonesian-English-

Indonesian code switching.  

The second result indicated the students 

understanding of teachers’ code switching is 

categorized low understanding category because 

the mean score of all the students were 34.16. 

Meanwhile, the minimum score of students 

were 20 and the maximum score of the students 

were 46. it means that the students couldn’t 

answer the question correctly more than 50% 

from all the total of question. Therefore the 

students understanding of teachers’ code 

switching in instrutional process were low 

understanding category. 

Dealing with the third research 

question, the result indicated that the students’ 

perception of teachers’ code switching were 

indicated to positive perception because the 

majority of students (45%) stated agree with all 

statements, followed (38%) students stated 

strongly agree with those statements. 

meanwhile, (17%) of the students stated 

disagree. it can be cocluded that the students 

have positive perception toward teachers’ code 

switching in instructional process of english. 

positive perception here means that students in 

general agree or strongly agree with those 

statements od questinnaire that have given. . 

 

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