Code-Switching as a Communicative Strategy among Malay Students Learning Japanese in Malaysia Higher Education Institution

Abstract

Code-switching is an effective communicative strategy in learning Japanese as a foreign language in Malaysia Higher Education Institution.The tendency in code-switching is a common practice while communicating among the bilingual and multilingual Malaysian society.Furthermore, the setting of Malaysia is a perfect example where code-switching is a common phenomenon among its people, due to its multilingual and diversified cultural communities.This study aims to identify and analyse code-switching as a communicative strategy among ten Malay students who learn the Japanese language as a foreign language at MARA-OISCA Japanese Language Centre in Beranang, Malaysia.The theoretical frameworks adopted in the study used Hymes's internal code-switching and external codeswitching framework model to discuss the types of code-switching patterns in analysing the data.The data were collected through pair discussion activities, recorded observation, and interviews.The findings revealed that participants used more internal code-switching compared to external code-switching.The findings also show that among the reasons that prompt Malaysian Japanese language learners in code-switching were four factors that can be resolved as the origin of the occurrence of code-switching, namely the social hierarchy, the relationship between speakers, lack of vocabulary knowledge and clear clarification of intended information.In addition, it was found that most Malaysian Japanese language learners use code-switching frequently and subconsciously.

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