Teachers' code-switching when using games: a case of native Chinese teachers in Thai primary Chinese classrooms

This study aims to investigate the factors, purposes, and attitudes of teachers’ code-switching when using games. The participants were 44 native Chinese teachers who taught Chinese in Thai primary schools. The data were collected through an online questionnaire and analyzed via Microsoft Excel. The findings revealed the three main factors of teachers' use of code-switching when using games, namely students’ poor language proficiency, time constraint and students’ unfamiliarity with the games. The main purposes of their code-switching were to help students understand the game rules, to encourage students’ participation, and to lower students’ anxiety. The findings show most teachers have positive perceptions of their code-switching because they believed code-switching is beneficial to increase students’ participation, assist teachers in explaining word meanings and strengthen teacher-student relationships.