Views: 2,665
Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 16. Number 4, December 2025 Pp.330-342
This study explores how cross-cultural pragmatic choices and code-switching jointly shape social action and interactional competence in multilingual classrooms where English is a foreign language. It addresses a key gap in applied linguistics: although code-switching has been widely studied, little is known about how alternation operates within conversational structure to support learning and participation. Understanding these mechanisms is pedagogically important for using bilingual resources more effectively in English-language education. The research bases on a mixed-method corpus of twenty-six hours of naturally occurring classroom interaction, including teacher-led lessons, pair and group work, and assessment talk. Conversation analysis and quantitative observation identify how different types of code-switching – between and within sentences and in short tags – serve pragmatic and organizational functions such as managing turn entry, maintaining precision, and facilitating closure. Findings show that English predominates in main communicative acts. At the same time, learners’ first languages appear at sequence boundaries to clarify meaning, express politeness, and reinforce inclusion. Alternation patterns typically follow a brief first-language introduction, an English head action, and a short return to the first language, enhancing comprehension and task completion without reducing authenticity. The study redefines code-switching as a strategic pedagogical resource that promotes understanding, collaboration, and pragmatic development
Smaglii, V., Yukhymets, S., Kornielaieva, Y., &Kivenko, I. (2025). Cross-cultural Pragmatics and Code-switching in Multilingual EFL Classrooms. Arab World English Journal, 16(4): 330-342
Alzamil, A. (2019). The Effects of the Use of First Language on Learning English as a Second Language: Attitudes of Arabic EFL Learners. Arab World English Journal, 10 (3) 192- 201. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol10no3.13
Amiri, M. (2024). Code switching in EFL classroom discourse. Journal of Second Language Teaching & Learning, 13(2), 21–44. https://doi.org/10.22051/jsltl.2024.XXXXXX
Ataş, U., & Sağın-Şimşek, Ç. (2021). Discourse and educational functions of students’ and teachers’ code-switching in EFL classrooms in Turkey. Linguistics and Education, 65, 100981. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2021.100981
Criado, R., & González-Romero, P. (2023). Exploring First Language Use in Non-Formal Foreign Language Education: A Mixed-Method Approach. Arab World English Journal, 14 (4) 19-45. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol14no4.2
Fang, X. (2024). Making refusals via English as a lingua franca: Chinese English speakers’ strategies and sequences. Journal of Pragmatics, 230, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2024.103511
Gallagher, F. (2020). Considered in context: EFL teachers’ views on the classroom as a bilingual space and codeswitching in shared-L1 and in multilingual contexts. System, 91, 102262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102262
Hazaymeh, W. A. (2022). Teachers’ perceptions of code-switching functions and effects in the EFL classroom. European Journal of Educational Research, 11(3), 1839–1849. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.11.3.1839
Huang, X., & Chalmers, H. (2023). Implementation and effects of pedagogical translanguaging in EFL classrooms: A systematic review. Languages, 8(3), 194. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8030194
Kim, M. J., & (co-authors). (2025). Examining EFL learners’ oral advice production: The role of pragmatic demands. System. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2025.103234
Martín-Laguna, S., & Alcón-Soler, E. (2018). Development of discourse-pragmatic markers in a multilingual classroom: A mixed-method research approach. System, 75, 68–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.03.009
Nguyen, M. T. T., & Pham, T. T. T. (2022). Instructional effects on L2 pragmatic comprehension: The case of indirect refusals and indirect opinions. The Language Learning Journal, 50(4), 427–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2022.2088443
Rafiq, R., Wang, X., Hui, P., & Wen, S. (2024). The effectiveness of online pragmatic training on essential pragmatic competence: A randomized experimental study. Heliyon, 10(11), eXXXXX. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.XXXXX
Rezai, A., Saeidi, M., & Dabbagh, A. (2023). Cultivating interlanguage pragmatic comprehension through graduated dynamic assessment. Language Testing in Asia, 13, 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-022-00179-w
Tai, K. W. H. (2024). Shaping student responses into academic expressions: Analysing an English-medium instruction history classroom from a translanguaging perspective. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 27(4), 550–580. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2023.2232089
Temesgen, A., & Hailu, E. (2022). Teachers’ codeswitching in EFL classrooms: Functions and motivations. Cogent Education, 9(1), 2124039. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2124039
Wang, Y., Ghayth, K., & co-authors. (2024). Pragmatic competence of EFL and ESL learners and its influencing factors: A review. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10(3), 122–140. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.10312
Yasar Yüzlü, M., & Dikilitaş, K. (2022). Translanguaging in the development of EFL learners’ foreign language skills in Turkish context. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 16(2), 176–190. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2021.1892698
Yüzlü, M. Y. (2022). The impact of translanguaging-driven in-service training on EFL teachers’ professional identity reconstruction. Linguistics and Education, 71, 101079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2022.101079
Valeriia Smaglii, doctor of philological sciences, professor, head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation, Odesa National Maritime University, Odesa, Ukraine. Her research interests are Language Teaching and Learning, English for Specific Purposes, Cognitive Linguistics. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6222-7652
Svitlana Yukhymets, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of Department of Foreign Languages and Translation, Odesa National Maritime University, Odessa, Ukraine. Her research interests cover a range of linguistic problems, many of which fall within the scope of translation as well as foreign language teaching methods.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3350-7310
Yevheniia Kornielaieva, candidate of philological sciences, associate professor, associate professor of the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation, Odesa National Maritime University, Odesa, Ukraine. Her research interests are Language Teaching and Learning, English for Specific Purposes, Lexicology, Lexical semantics. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9516-1963
Inna Kivenko, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation, Odesa National Maritime University, Odesa, Ukraine. Research interests are Language Teaching and Learning, English for Specific Purposes, Pragmalinguistics, Cognitive Linguistics, Communicative Linguistics, Applied Phonetics, Cross-Cultural Communication ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2044-5456