THE USE OF CODE-MIXING IN SPEAKING CLASS (A Descriptive Study at the Eleventh Grade of an Islamic Senior High School in Ciamis)

Abstract

This study focused on the use of code-mixing in speaking class. It was aimed at describing the reasons of the teacher in using code-mixing in speaking class at the eleventh grade of an Islamic Senior High School in Ciamis and investigating the students’ perceptions about the use of code-mixing in speaking class at the eleventh grade of an Islamic Senior High School in Ciamis. This descriptive study was conducted to the English teacher and 22 students at the eleventh grade of an Islamic Senior High School in Ciamis. The writer employed two research instruments, namely the semi-structured interview and the closed-ended questionnaires. The findings showed that the reasons of using code-mixing were encouraging the students’ active involvement, making it easier to communicate, to convey the materials, and to understand the subject matter in learning speaking in classroom. The findings also showed that the students gave their positive perceptions about the use of code-mixing in speaking class at the eleventh grade of an Islamic Senior High School in Ciamis. It was concluded that several factors of why the English teacher used code-mixing in teaching speaking were the difference between the students’ mother tongue, the difficulties in understanding the materials, and the students’ lacking in mastering vocabulary. It was also concluded that code-mixing had a positive effect on their English speaking learning, understanding, and English competence. Therefore, the teachers are expected to balance the use of code-mixing between Indonesian language or vernacular language when they teach English, especially in teaching speaking. Meanwhile, the students are also expected to increase the use of English in speaking class although the teacher used code-mixing between Indonesian language or vernacular language. In addition, the results of the research are expected to be as additional reference for those who want to conduct a similar research.