Abstract

Code-switching (CS) is a very common practice in most bilingual or multilingual English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. Over the last two decades, there has been a growing interest in CS. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the current state of CS in EFL classrooms in Jordanian universities. The study intends to determine how EFL teachers implement CS to make the teaching process easier. The participants in this study were four EFL teachers and twelve undergraduate students from two Jordanian universities. Data was collected through classroom observations and semistructured interviews and analyzed using the content analysis technique to extract the key themes. The findings indicate that teachers use CS in EFL classrooms occasionally and employ their first language (L1), Arabic, for a variety of social and pedagogical reasons. They switch codes for repetition, clarification, recapitulation, and socialization to help learners better comprehend the topic.