Effective use of code-switching as a communication strategy in English for second language classroom among Grade 12 students

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of code-switching as a communication strategy in the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) among Grade 12 students of St. William’s Academy, Bulanao Inc. A quasi-experimental research design was used in this study, particularly pre-test and post-test control group design. The respondents are devided into two which are the control and experimental group. Data collection instruments were valid pre-test and post-test measures of the performance of the students in their English proficiency. Statistical techniques such as mean, paired ‘t’-test, independent ‘t’-test, and one-way ANOVA were applied to analyze the collected data at 0.05 significance level. There are improvements in the post-test scores of the control and experimental groups compared to their pre-test scores. This indicated that both teaching strategies were effective. However, there were no significant differences in the mean gain scores of the control and experimental groups. This indicated that code-switching was not more effective than teaching in English only. There were significant differences in the post-test scores of the students according to their strand, with STEM having higher scores than HUMSS and ABM. The study concludes that while code-switching is an effective communication strategy in enhancing students’ comprehension and participation, it does not significantly outperform English-only instruction in improving overall academic performance in English. Therefore, both strategies may be used complementarily in ESL classrooms depending on students’ needs and learning contexts.