Attitudes of Teachers and Students Towards Yong-Standard Thai Code-Switching and Code-Switching Behavior of Teachers in Pa Sang District, Lamphun Province

Abstract

This is a quantitative research study titled “Attitudes of Teachers and Students Towards Yong-Standard Thai Code-Switching and Code-Switching Behavior of Teachers in Pa Sang District, Lamphun Province.” The purpose of conducting this quantitative research was to investigate the attitudes of teachers and students towards Yong-Standard Thai code-switching, to examine code-switching behavior of teachers in the classrooms, to investigate their intentions to make code-switching choices and, lastly, the functions of their code-switching. The target group consisted of Thai language teachers who were native Yong speakers and seventh grade students from the Wachira Pa Sang School, the Pa Sang School and the Namdhip Wittayakom School in Lamphun. The instruments were divided into two parts: a video recording for the pilot study, and teachers’ and students’ questionnaires. The pilot study was used to determine code-switching functions used by the teachers as well as to design a questionnaire. Six Thai language classes were recorded for the pilot study and these recordings were analyzed to classify the functions of code-switching. Thereafter, the code-switching functions found in the video were used to design the study’s questionnaires. The questionnaires were pilot tested with four native Yong teachers and one class of seventh grade students, consisting of 25 students from a non-target school with a similar classroom environment. After the pilot test, the questionnaire was adjusted following the consultations with a psychologist and the study advisor. Once the questionnaire was approved, it was used to collect data from the participants, which were analyzed using a statistical program. The research results showed that the teachers employed both Yong and Standard Thai in different situations depending on their intentions. Teachers used marked code (Yong) to call students’ attention, create sense of humor, and check students’ understanding, while unmarked code (Standard Thai) was used for emphasis and clarification. The students agreed with the code-switching behavior of the teachers and had positive attitudes towards the teachers’ classroom code-switching behavior.