Code-switching Versus Target-language-only for Saudi EFL Students

Selecting the medium of instruction to teach the target language in EFL classrooms has been controversial for several years. This study explores the impact of code-switching versus target-language-only teaching strategies on beginner students' learning and affective sustenance of EFL reading comprehension based on their perceptions. It also explores whether there are significant differences between the participants' perceptions of these two teaching strategies' possible impact on their learning and affective sustenance. Moreover, it examines whether they prefer their teachers to use code-switching or target-language-only instruction in the classroom and the reasons for their preferences. A questionnaire and follow-up interviews were used to collect the data from 52 female Saudi college participants. The results indicate that the participants had positive perceptions about the impact of CS on their learning and affective sustenance in the EFL reading classes as opposed to negative perceptions about TL-only instruction. The results also show significant differences between their perceptions of TL-only instruction and code-switching, indicating that they prefer code-switching to TL-only instruction in their EFL reading classes. The study recommends that code-switching is used as a facilitating instructional strategy for EFL beginners to give them affective support and make the input more comprehensible.