A Review of Code-switching: Learners’ and Educators’ Perspectives

Abstract

Multilanguage speakers have observed a widespread trend of utilizing different utterances. This phenomenon is entitled code-switching or (CS). Switching between two languages in foreign language settings is considered a beneficial communicative strategy for bilingual students and supports the educators in transferring and clarifying the meanings to their students. This study addresses the top studies regarding the students and educators’ attitudes towards the adoption of CS in the context of higher education. The main objective of this study is to review and analyze educators and learners’ attitudes towards the use of CS in the higher educational settings. The present paper focuses on the reasons and functions of CS for both teachers and learners in classrooms. It also highlights different factors affecting code-switching and a variety of CS types. In addition, the issue of bilingualism in both Arab and non-Arab countries has been studied along with the attitudes towards CS in different speech communities. The researchers conclude that CS can be one of the encouraging and effective educational approaches as to be deployed in the context of higher education. Limitations in the existing literature and future trends are presented in the study.