Code Switching. The Relationship between personality traits and attitudes toward switching behaviour

Academic Paper from the year 2018 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, Urmia University (International Students Admission Department), course: TEFL, language: English, abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between MA English students¿ personality traits (PT) and their attitudes toward university teachers¿ code switching (CS) in Urmia, Iran. In addition to that purpose, the correlation between each sub-scale of PT, including extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience, and teachers¿ CS is analyzed. Finally, the overall attitudes of MA TEFL English students toward CS behavior are discussed, as well.

To this end, 150 MA English students (70 males and 80 females) from State and Azad universities of Urmia City participated in this study. Two instruments were used for data collection: In order to measure students¿ PT, the Big Five Inventory designed by John & Srivastava, 1999, was administered. Secondly, to measure students¿ attitudes toward teachers¿ CS, the questionnaire developed by Mingfa Yoa (2011) was used.

According to the results, no significant relationship was found between the PT of students and their attitudes toward teachers¿ CS. Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between students' PT and their attitudes toward CS regarding the five sub-scales of PT. The findings of the study indicate that the majority of students have similar attitudes toward the CS phenomenon. Their overall attitudes were positive toward teachers¿ CS, and the majority of students agreed with CS in EFL settings. As a result, it was revealed that CS is an acceptable behavior in the EFL context from MA TEFL students¿ perspectives.