A study of code-switching in four Swedish EFL-classrooms

Sammanfattning: This dissertation aims to investigate when and why code-switching occurs and the attitudes towards code-switching among teachers and students in four EFL classrooms in two mediumsized secondary schools. To be able to reach the goals set forth for this study we used classroom observations, student questionnaires and teacher interviews. We managed to get thecooperation of four teachers and four classes of students, two classes of eight graders and two classes of ninth graders.The previous research on the subject of code-switching has shown both positive and negative sides of its use and existence. Although extensive research has been done on the subject it is far from complete and there are still many interesting aspects left to investigate. The resultspresented in this study and the opinions raised by the participating teachers and students are in line with the already given results. Our conclusions are that the use of code-switching can be both beneficial and negative in learning/teaching situations.