Teachers’ Code-Switching in the ESP Classroom in China

The lack of research on teachers’ code-switching in the ESP classroom in China testifies the necessity of the present study. Based upon the theories of sociolinguistics and language education, this study aims to examine features, functions and educational reflections of teachers’ code-switching in ESP classroom in China. The methods of field work, class observation, and interview are used. The study on teacher code-switching in the ESP classroom of three universities indicates that code-switching is extensively employed by ESP teachers, and that the direction of the language switch and the proportion of teacher talk in English suggest that the base language for ESP teaching is still English, and code-switching is a necessary tool for teachers due to a number of pedagogical considerations and sociolinguistic factors in ESP lessons involving students who lack proficiency