1

Attitudes of Vietnamese Young People (18 – 22) to

Code-switching (Vietnamese - English): An Empirical Study

Đặng Mỹ Linh

International University

Research Methodology

Dr. Nguyễn Huy Cường

Ho Chi Minh, June 16, 2021

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Introduction

Language plays a crucial part in human life. It is a primary means to convey messages,

preserve knowledge, and communicate with others. It is also a tool for social and political force,

which can be employed to navigate, control, or even govern people’s perceptions. With such an

enormously powerful influence, language, therefore, can portray both personal and social

characteristics of the speaker. These characteristics, however, can be used as a way to reflect the

attitudes of the speaker towards the language itself. Regarding “attitudes”, this term is an

interdisciplinary umbrella field, covering from Psychology to Sociology. Obiols describes

attitudes as a “mental disposition towards something” (Obiols, 2002, p.15), in which the

correlation between one’s action or behavior and one’s expression is explored. Lambert (1967)

and Brudner-Douglas (1979) both conclude that attitudes can be viewed as a reflection of

behaviors. On the other hand, Garret argues that it is difficult to define the actual meaning of

attitudes, since it is a “psychological construct” (Garret, 2010, p.20), that is, everything only

happens in people’s minds.

Considering the connection between language and attitudes, in the Sociolinguistics field,

the term “language attitudes” is mainly used in analyzing the relation between language as the

observed object and attitudes as the controlling subject. The most accepted definition among

researchers is to perceive language attitudes as an evaluation about a particular language, or an

ethnic/social group that practices the language (Pap, 1979). Going even further, Baker (1992)

divides language attitudes into 8 (eight) different categories (which will be discussed in detail in

section [II]), each corresponding to an aspect of language and society. Obiols (2002) also points
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out that the study of language attitudes is significant to the development of Sociolinguistics, as it

can explain the language choice in multilingual communities and predict a particular language

behavior in the future (Obiols, 2002). Language attitudes, therefore, can contribute to the

explanation of this study, in which attitudes of speakers towards a language phenomenon (code-

switching from Vietnamese to English) can be used to reveal a tremendous knowledge about their

own language choice and even the language behavior of a social group.

In the case of Vietnam, English has been becoming more popular than ever. According to

EPI (English Proficiency Index), Vietnam only scored 39 in 2011, which is considered very low

proficiency. However, there is a common and widely spread notion in Vietnam that English can

ensure a better future career, in which an employee who is capable of using English will get a

higher salary and less likely to be unemployed, compared to one who is not. This notion has

brought a surprisingly promising result to the country. Vietnam’s score has been raised from 39 to

65 in 2020. Many tertiary education organizations employ English as a medium of instruction, in

which the curriculum is designed entirely in English. The appearance of English is also observed

in entertainment, social media, advertisement, and especially daily life. As a result, code-switching

(from Vietnamese to English) has been observed in Vietnam, gradually emerging in every aspect

of Vietnamese’s life.

Although there is definitely a rise in employing code-switching in Vietnamese, most

research papers only focus on the domains in which code-switching occurs (school, workplace,

daily conversation, etc.) or its functions (teaching, communicating, practicing, etc.) From the code-

switching phenomenon in the workplace (Tran, 2013) to its functions in language education
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(Nguyen, Grainger & Carey, 2016). Rarely is an article about language attitudes observed.

Especially with young people (aged 18-22), the generation that has undertaken the education in

which English is the main focus, their perception towards this code-switching phenomenon is

worth investigating. Standing between the old, traditional generation which values the purity of

Vietnamese language, and the vigorous, dynamic globalization coming from the West, this

generation is one who uses code-switching the most, and one who can comprehend it in a

compelling, perhaps unexpecting way. This study is an attempt to explore the attitudes of

Vietnamese young people (from 18 to 22) to code-switching (Vietnamese - English).

The research questions:

1. What is/are the attitude(s) of Vietnamese young people (18-22) towards code-switching?

2. Is there any correlation between young people’s language attitudes and their language

choice in terms of code-switching?

3. If yes, what types of code-switching that each attitude group engages in?

By employing the direct method, which is frequently used in language attitudes research,

a questionnaire concentrating on different contexts of code-switching in various linguistics levels

is given to the participants (undergraduate students). After the questionnaire, some participants

will be randomly chosen for interviewing as well. To investigate users’ language choices, both

restrictive and non-restrictive contexts are observed and examined.

The hypothesis of this research is that young people hold positive attitudes towards code-

switching in general. There is a correlation between attitudes and code-switching. Those who have
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a positive attitude will engage in more types of code-switching, compared to those who have a

more negative one. However, those who hold a negative attitude do not entirely reject it, but still

use certain types of code-switching.

Literature View

1. The Study of Language Attitudes

1.1 The Nature of Attitudes

Attitudes have long been an aspect contributing significantly to social sciences. From

different perspectives, attitudes acquire diverse definitions. According to Likert (1932, p.10), this

term is explained as “an inference which is made on the basis of a complex of beliefs about an

object”, indicating that the development of attitudes is derived from everything, from religion,

education, mass media, to ways of thinking. Viewing attitudes in the light of construct, Eagly and

Chaiken (1993) argued that it cannot be observed or evaluated directly but can be implied through

a sequence of observable reactions. On the other hand, to distinguish attitudes from many closely

related terms, Oppenheim (1992, p.177) put this term into a cognitive category, in which the most

obvious level is “opinions”, then “attitudes”, “values”, and the deepest level is “personality”. One

more explanation from Obiols (2002) is considering attitudes in terms of behaviorism and

mentalism. In behaviorist theory, this term is made up of only one component - the affective;

therefore, it cannot be used to predict the users’ verbal cues (Allport, 1967). In contrast, the

mentalists think that there are three components that built the construction of this theory: affection

(emotions towards the object), cognition (beliefs and opinions in which the object is observed),

and behavior (a predisposition in a certain way) (Ottaway, Hayden & Oakes, 2001).
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1.2 The Nature of Language Attitudes

Language attitudes specifically evaluate attitudes in their relation to language. Cargile and

Giles (1997) considered it as a means to investigate language shift and language substitution, in

which the negative attitudes of language users towards that language itself can lead to a change or

replacement. It can be understood as a positive/negative or favorable/unfavorable impression in

terms of various language-related aspects. To specify in what specific aspects that attitudes can

influence language, Baker (1992, p.30) divided language attitudes into eight (8) areas, that is,

towards:

(i) Language variation and dialect

(ii) Language learning

(iii) A minority language

(iv) Language groups or communities

(v) Language lessons

(vi) Language lessons of parents

(vii) The uses of a specific language

(viii) Language preference

In this study, approach (viii) will be the main focus, since code-switching is actually a

phenomenon in which users prefer to use another language (English) in certain contexts to alter

Vietnamese equivalents.

Dragojevic (2017) also pointed out some dimensions, such as status or solidarity, can affect

one’s attitude towards a language. This theory actually supported Baker’s research that background
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information (age, gender, socio-economic status, etc.) has a close relationship with language

attitudes (Baker, 1992). Marsgoret and Gadner (2013), in contrast, illustrated that neither of these

elements necessarily affect language attitudes. Conversely, to discuss the influence of language

attitudes towards language users, the most outstanding aspect is language choice. Hyme (1971)

explored the correlation between communicative competence and people’s perception. 20 years

later, Woolard and Gahng (1990) emphasized the importance of social factors, or in other words,

attitudes, on language choice. In short, language can influence attitudes, and vice versa, language

attitudes can lead to language choice.

2. The Study of Code-switching

2.1 The Nature of Code-switching

Mostly observed in bilingual/multilingual communities, code-switching is a special

language variety in which users speak more than one language in a conversation. Many definitions

were proposed by researchers in recent years. Appel & Muysken (1987) explained this

phenomenon as a sudden switch from one language to another within a single speech event.

Moreover, Gumperz (1982, p.59) suggested that it is “the juxtaposition within the same speech

exchange of subsystems.” Trudgil (2000) went even further, arguing that from code-switching,

speakers express their attitudes/intentions. On the other hand, attitudes from the view of social

groups towards this phenomenon differ from one to another. Weinreich (1953) construed it as low

language proficiency and weak communicative competence from language users. He pointed out

that users of code-switching are not capable of producing an entire conversation in one language

and make up for it by using another one. In contrast to this idea, Yim (2020) argued that only users
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who have mastered and are skillful in both (or more) languages can produce code-switching. It is

also a communicative strategy to express their social identity and group solidarity.

2.2 Different Types of Code-switching

According to Holmes (2000), code-switching can be divided into different types.

The first one is intra-sentential code-switching, in which people change from one language

to another within a single sentence.

E.g.: Mình highly recommend cuốn sách này. Rất helpful với các mẹ mới sinh em bé nhé.

When adding short phrases or interjections, speakers are using tag-switching.

E.g.: Bạn biết là mình luôn sẵn lòng giúp đỡ bạn mà, as always.

Bloom and Gumperz (1972) introduced two more types, i.e., the concept of situational and

metaphorical code-switching. Wardhaugh and Fuller (2015, p.98) described situational code-

switching as the language change depending on specific situations. Speakers will use one language

in a specific situation and another in an entirely different one. It can be derived from the need to

quote something exactly in its native language, or to emphasize or express attitudes/opinions.

E.g.: Vietnamese students studying abroad talk to each other: “In here they are more open

when it comes to intimacy, as opposed to VN, ông bà ta dạy, “nam nữ thụ bất thân.”

Finally, metaphorical code-switching is an intention trying to carry a symbolic, usually an

affective dimension.

E.g.: Everybody was staring at me and suddenly, I fell. Right on the stage! Eo ơi xấu hổ

lắm í.
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3. The Setting of Vietnam

With the thriving of globalization, English has become a common language, a lingua franca

that people must learn for communication, studying, and working purposes. Smitherman (2004)

said that English can help to gain social and political power. Therefore, it is reasonable to see a

rapid development of English in Vietnam. English is always the first choice among parents when

considering a second language for their child to learn. Moreover, the language policy of the

Vietnamese government has played a crucial role. Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training

has supported and encouraged many tertiary institutions to implement the use of English as a

medium of instruction. (Van de Craen, Ceuleers, Lochtman, Allain & Mondt, 2007). In other levels

of education, English has been placed right in the third grade of elementary schools (Phan, 2009).

Hence, English has emerged in the linguistic choices and cultural identity of Vietnamese people

in most of the domains. Special phrases, terms, and even some slang words that do not exist in

Vietnamese culture are used by Vietnamese. Code-switching was born as a result of this English

emergence. People start to use more English references during a normal conversation with

Vietnamese participants. As those who code-switch the most and have been taught under this

English education policy, Vietnamese young people are the target of this research. Their code-

switching choice and also their attitudes towards it will be worth noticing, deciding the fate and

the development of code-switching, English, and Vietnamese in Vietnam society in the future.

4. Language Attitudes towards Code-switching: Previous Studies

Various language attitudes towards code-switching research have been done in the

Sociolinguistics field. Investigating Tunisians’ code-switching from Arabic to French, Lawson and

Sachdev (2000) found out that code-switching corresponded with negative attitudes in this
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community, and it was often seen in unmarked domains. Hussein (1999) investigated Jordanian

students’ attitudes towards English and Arabic code-switching, and the result was quite surprising,

in which there is no significant relationship between attitudes and the use of code-switching. Being

on the same page, Monte-Alcala (2000) also agreed that adopting negative attitudes towards code-

switching does not necessarily correlate with types of code-switching and frequency of use. In

Vietnam, several studies have explored different aspects of code-switching. Tran (2013) viewed

code-switching in working domains, concluding that with different levels of proficiency, users will

engage in different types of code-switching. Nguyen (2012) attempted to find out the motivations

and reasons behind the code-switching phenomenon. Bui and Vu (2017), on the other hand, cared

about its benefits in the classroom context. Only a few studies consider the language attitudes

aspect, although the majority focuses on English itself, not code-switching. Some that can be

noticed are the research about language attitudes towards code-switching among first-year students

at Hanoi National University of Education (Nguyen, 2016) or Trinh (2016) also investigated the

code-switching phenomenon of undergraduate students in Open University. However, there is no

research about language attitudes and language choices (types of code-switching) in the context of

Vietnam, and the correlation between them has yet to be revealed.

To do research related to language attitudes, the methodology is divided into three ways:

societal treatment, direct and indirect measures (Garrett, 2010). These methods can be

distinguished by examining their mechanism. The first one is usually employed by inspecting mass

media scripts, policy documents, news, advertisement, etc. The direct method, on the other hand,

concentrates on surveys, questionnaires, interviews, usually employing the Likert scale (Likert,

1932) to evaluate preference, and at the same time, asking directly prepared questions. Finally, the
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indirect method undertakes a process in which some special techniques are used to help users

express their attitudes without requiring their direct answers. (Garret, 2015) Of all the three

methods, the direct method is the most frequently used because of its convenience and

effectiveness. This study will utilize the direct method to find out language users’ attitudes and put

the users in both non-restrictive contexts (by recording daily conversations) and restrictive

situations (by requiring users to produce code-switching consciously).

Methodology

1. Study Design

Using both qualitative and quantitative methodology, this research will explore the

language attitudes by conducting a questionnaire and randomly choosing some of the participants

in the questionnaire to participate in an interview. Since research related to attitudes only has

values in the present time, the cross-sectional survey is employed as the main instrument. Data

collected from the questionnaire will be calculated and divided into different categories. In terms

of language choice, both restrictive and non-restrictive contexts are employed in order to

comprehensively observe one’s language behavior.

2. Participants

Vietnamese young people from 18-22 are the population of this study. However, since this

research needs participants to be more involved than only doing an online questionnaire

(interviewing, recording, etc.), the convenience sampling technique will be chosen to ensure that

every participant is willing, comfortable, and available to all the processes of the research. Hence,
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the participants selected are undergraduate students aged 18-22 studying in Ho Chi Minh City, in

which the research takes place. Besides the online questionnaire, other steps will be held in Ho

Chi Minh City, from interviewing, recording conversations, to producing code-switching in the

lab, so the factor that participants living in Ho Chi Minh City is a must. Moreover, in terms of

other factors, participants must be natives who consider Vietnamese as their mother tongue. People

who study in International Elementary, Secondary, or High School will not be accepted. They and

those who are foreign students are likely to have different perceptions towards code-switching,

since their language domains and frequency are significantly different from our target participants.

Last but not least, participants, although being determined unbiasedly, must come from various

academic fields rather than only one or two. In short, the sample can be generalized by the age

restriction, social status (all are students), educational background, but still satisfies the

randomized requirement.

3. Data Collection Instrument

3.1 Questionnaire

Based on the 5-point Likert scale, the questionnaire purely concentrates on multiple-choice

questions in order to investigate attitudes from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5), in which

(1-2) is negative, (3) is neutral and (4-5) is positive. The questionnaire is divided into three (2)

parts. (See Appendix A)

The first part: Background Information will collect personal information: Contact

information (email, phone number, or both), Gender, Age, Number of years learning English, Their

own evaluation of their English and Vietnamese proficiency. Moreover, a brief description of the
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research purposes and processes, especially the interview (with the expected date(s)) will also be

included in this part. Participants can choose to be added to the interview list if they feel

comfortable doing the interview and available at the time announced. The list will later be used as

the database to randomly choose the interviewees. A Thank You email will be sent to the

participants after they finish the questionnaire.

The second part: Language Attitudes contains 25 questions arranged into 2 subcategories:

a. Attitudes in different contexts, from high domains to lower domains. The settings used

are Religion, Education, Media and Public, Daily conversations, Sensitive topics. The format of

the questionnaire is adapted from Nguyen (2014) and Trinh (2016). Both investigate the language

attitudes towards English, so the questionnaire’s items need to be modified in terms of the language

code (code-switching) and remove some unrelated questions. (18 sentences)

b. Besides domains/contexts, another social factor that can be used to determine language

attitudes is social identity. In this section, a sequence of more abstract questions will be asked,

including social values, identity reflection, linguistics identity, etc. (7 sentences)

All the questions in the second and third sections are general statements. The minimum number of

participants for this step is 500 people.

3.2 Interview

After going through all the questionnaires received from the participants, an individual

interview will be conducted to further investigate their responses. The interviewees are randomly

selected from the Interview list (which collects all the participants’ information who accepted to
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attend). In this Interview section, more abstract and “WHY” questions will be asked. (See

Appendix B) The main focus is to explore why people hold such attitudes, their attitudes towards

code-switching users, their perceptions of this phenomenon’s influences on its users, on

Vietnamese, English, social perception, etc. An interview is expected to last from 40-45 minutes

and is recorded with the consent of the participants. The expected number of participants is 20

people.

3.3 Recording (Non-restrictive context)

In order to obtain the most natural language behavior of participants, recording is a suitable

choice. A non-consecutive 3-day conversation of 50 participants will be collected (with consent).

The frequency and types of code-switching will be the two factors to be concentrated on.

3.4 Consciously produce session (Restrictive context)

The same group of participants who do the recording will also do this section. 3-day

conversations sometimes might not contain enough information to investigate, so this is considered

another data source. Even though they are in a controlled situation and are expected to use code-

switching, people tend to use the type they feel most comfortable with, ensuring the validity of

this research. Moreover, it supports and strengthens the hypothesis concluded from the previous

step (non-restrictive context). For example, consider this case:

Through the questionnaire (and maybe the interview as well), it is concluded that A (one of the

participants) holds a negative attitude towards code-switching. In the non-restrictive context, there

will be two different scenarios happens:

a) A does not code-switch at all, or only a very small proportion.

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b) A still produces different types of code-switching in certain domains.

Since this study wants to answer whether there is a correlation between attitudes and types

of code-switching, not the frequency, so if A does not produce anything (like in (a)), it is

impossible to settle the situation. Likewise, in (b), even though A does not like code-switching,

he/she can still use it, as a result of its popularity in Vietnam and expressing solidarity with certain

social groups. Therefore, only a non-restrictive context is not enough to make a valid conclusion.

In both cases, (a) and (b) can be decided with a restrictive context:

If A does not produce any code-switching, it is valid to conclude that there IS a correlation.

If A can produce as many types as a speaker who holds positive attitudes, then there IS

NOT a correlation.

Constructed in a lab in Ho Chi Minh City, participants will be asked to consciously produce

a story using code-switching. Using the same technique that Monte-Alcala (2000) employed,

familiar folktale stories that have already begun with a code-switching sentence are given to the

participants. (See Appendix C) They can choose one out of two (Tấm Cám and Ăn khế trả vàng)

and continue the story. Since the previous part is recording orally participants’ conversations, this

one will also require participants to create the story orally.

Participants who take part in the interview, recording, and in the lab will receive incentives.

Additionally, 6 undergraduate students from International University in Ho Chi Minh city are

chosen to do the trial and give feedback for all 4 parts before they are actually conducted.
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4. Data Analysis

The cross-sectional questionnaire will be examined by using statistical analysis, in which

SPSS software is the main instrument. The mean score and standard deviation will be calculated

to conclude the overall attitudes of Vietnamese young people towards the code-switching

phenomenon. In addition, the attitudes towards each domain are included. For the interview,

common ideas will be gathered and put into 3 different categories (Positive, Negative, Neutral).

Data from both restrictive and non-restrictive contexts will be transcribed by using NVivo and

then put into different groups of code-switching types. The SPSS software, once again, will be

employed to explore the most used type among Vietnamese young people.

5. Ethical Considerations

Participants can withdraw from the research at any point. Their personal information will

be kept confidential. Data collected from the questionnaire, interview, recording, and lab will be

employed for research purposes only. A consent form will be given to participants. (See Appendix

D)
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Anticipated Results

As shown in Table 1, the anticipated results will focus on the average score of attitudes in

general and also in different domains, by which the conclusion about Vietnamese young people’s

attitudes will be explored.

Average Types of code-

No. Domains Common reasons
score switching

1 Overall 3,5 – 4 Intra-sentential

As an extremely high, formal domain,

2 Religion 1 using code-switching can be considered

as being disrespectful.

Some think that students should use only

Vietnamese/English in the education

environment, not mixing them for

3 Education 3,5 – 4
professional reasons. Others think that as

long as it is convenient, there is no harm

to use it

Some code-switching terms become

Media and slang in social media. Therefore, it is

4 4
Public used as a way to mark identity, social

groups in the media.

Daily For convenience. For not immediately

5 4
conversations thinking of the Vietnamese terms
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Living in a country that is under the

influence of Confucianism, sensitive

topics (especially sexual topics) are

viewed as taboo subjects. Even with the

emergence of Western culture, this

perception remains some of its effects

6 Sensitive topics 4,5
until today. Using code-switching to

refer to sensitive terms (especially sexual

terms) can maintain the actual meaning

of the terms and also help both readers

and hearers feel less shy, as if they are

separated from the topic.

Table 1

The overall attitude of Vietnamese young people towards code-switching is positive, and

the most frequently used type is intra-sentential code-switching. However, even with those who

hold a negative attitude, they do not completely ignore code-switching, but still use it as a result

of its popularity in many different domains.

Some of the common reasons are anticipated. Since the main focus of this research is not

to investigate the reasons, the data is only for the research to further understand users’ attitudes,

and also as a base for other research in the future. Nevertheless, reasons that directly affect

language choice will be carefully recorded and shown in the final result.
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Timeline

Activity Task analysis Timeline

1. Choose randomly some

universities in HCM City

2. Contact these universities to set a

1. Recruit research date September, 2021 –

participants 3. Go there on the date arranged to November, 2021

talk about the research and give the

consent form for those who are

interested

1. Send participants the URL of the

2. Send follow-up emails for September, 2021 –
questionnaire
willing participants November, 2021
2. Send Thank You emails

1. Contact participants who are

willing to do the interview

2. Arrange the day, time, and setting September, 2021 –

3. Conduct interviews
that each participant feel December, 2021

comfortable

3. Do the interview

4. Analyze questionnaire 1. Assign a specific code for each November, 2021 –

results question/answer December, 2021

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2. Enter the data (in code form) into

the SPSS

3. Extract the data

1. Use NVivo to transcribe

5. Analyze the interview 2. Assigned code for the data September, 2021 –

results 3. Use the SPSS to analyze January, 2022

4. Extract the data

1. Contact participants who are

willing

2. Arrange the day October 2021 –

6. Record conversations
3. Instruct them to use the recording November, 2021

device

4. Collect the recording

1. Make a survey for participants to

choose their available days

2. Contact the lab at International

University and book an appointment

7. Construct code-switching in October, 2021 –
on the day that every participant is
the lab December, 2021
available

3. Instruct participants to use the app

on the computer to record

4. Collect the recording

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1. Use NVivo to transcribe

2. Assign code for the data

3. Use SPSS to analyze and

8. Analyze the recording calculate November, 2021 –

results 4. Put them into different categories February, 2022

and compare each participant’s data

from the recording and the lab in

pairs.

October, 2021 – February,

9. Write the research paper
2022

February, 2022 – March,

10. Prepare for the defense
2022

11. Defend dissertation March, 2022

12. Graduate May, 2022

Table 2
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Autonomous Catalonia. Language in Society, 311.

Yim, O. (2020). CODE-SWITCHING, ATTITUDES, AND IDENTITY. Ottawa.

 26

Appendices

APPENDIX A - QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTIONS

Background Obligatory
No. Questions Options
information (x if not)

1 Email

2 Phone number x

Man

3 Gender Woman

Do not want to reveal

Freshman

Sophomore
4 You are a _ student
Junior

Senior

Less than 1 year

1-3 years
How long have you been
5 3-5 years
learning English?
5-10 years

More than 10 years

1 (very bad)

Your self-evaluation about your 2

6
Vietnamese competency 3

4
 27

5 (very good)

1 (very bad)

2
Your self-evaluation about your
7 3
English competency
4

5 (very good)

Home

School

Work

Mass media

Where do you see/hear people Entertainment

8
code-switch? Daily conversation

Religious places

*You can choose more

than one option

 28

There are a total of 4 (four)

steps in this study in order to

analyze Vietnamese young

people's attitudes towards code-

switching.

1) The questionnaire that you

are doing right now

2) An individual interview that

will be conducted from

I am willing to do
September to December 2021
(2)
3) A 3-day recording daily
(3) & (4)
NOTE: conversation (October – x

December, 2021)
*You can choose more
4) A 30-minutes producing
than one option
code-switching consciously (on

a lab in International University,

HCMC) (October – December,

2021)

Note: The exact day will vary

depending on the arrangement

between the researcher and each

interviewee

You can choose to do other

 29

steps if you are comfortable and

your time is available during

that time.

IMPORTANT: The (3) and (4)

steps come in pairs, so only

choose (3) and (4) if you can do

both.

Language

attitudes

(domains)

1 (totally disagree)

2 (disagree)
It is appropriate to code-switch
9 Religion 3 (neutral)
in the temple/pagoda
4 (agree)

5 (totally agree)

It is appropriate to talk to the

10 " (as above)
monks using code-switching

Code-switching should be used

in schools for the sake of

11 Education "
learning languages (explaining

new English terms, introducing

 30

the English equivalents of

Vietnamese terms, etc.)

It is appropriate to code-switch
12 "
when doing group work

It is still professional to code-

13 "
switch when talking to teachers

Code-switch is necessary and

14 unavoidable in the education "

environment

It is appropriate when people

15 Media and Public use code-switching in their post

on social media "

It is appropriate when

16 famous/influenced people code- "

switch in television

It is appropriate when code-

17 switching appears in music "

lyrics, movies, etc.

It is appropriate to code-switch
18 Daily conversation "
with friends

19 Code-switching helps daily "

 31

conversation smoother and

easier to deliver messages

It is appropriate to code-switch
20 "
at home

It is better to use English terms

21 Sensitive topics when mentioning sensitive "

topics

Code-switching helps you

explain the sensitive topic better

22 since it does not appear in "

Vietnamese culture/have a

Vietnamese equivalent

Code-switch is necessary when

talking with Vietnamese about

23 "
sensitive topics in order to make

people feel less shy

It is appropriate to use code-

24 General "
switching in any situations

Code-switching can be

25 appropriate/inappropriate "

depending on certain contexts

26 It is inappropriate to use code- "

 32

switching in any situations

Language

attitudes (social

identity)

Code-switch can help people

27 Social values "
make a good impression

I do not feel comfortable when

28 "
people use code-switch

Code-switching can help people

earn respect from others

29 "
(knowing more than one

language, being educated, etc.)

Code-switching indicates that

30 Linguistic identity people have a good English "

competency

Code-switching indicates that

31 people have a good Vietnamese "

competency

Code-switching indicates that

32 people have a bad English "

competency
 33

Code-switching indicates that

33 people have a bad Vietnamese "

competency

Code-switch helps people more

34 "
fluent in both language

Code-switch damages the purity

35 "
of Vietnamese

I code-switch because it makes

36 Identity reflection me feel good in front of other "

people

I avoid code-switching as much

as possible because it makes me

feel bad in front of other people

I code-switch because
37 "
everybody does that

I do not code-switch because

38
everybody does that

Expressing myself using code-

39 switching is easier than using "

only one language

 34

I code-switch because it helps

40 me blend in/easier to talk to "

others

APPENDIX B - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Were you encouraged to speak more than one language at home? Why? Why not?

2. Do you think that it is better to speak only one language or mix Vietnamese and English

together?

3. Why don’t you use code-switching?

4. What do you think about people who code-switch?

5. Do you think that code-switching can help improve/worsen one’s language skills?

6. Do you think that code-switching can have any influences on its users? If not, why? If

yes, is it positive or negative? Why?

7. Do you think that code-switching can have any influence on language in general?

(Vietnamese and English) If not, why? If yes, is it positive or negative? Why?

8. Do you think that code-switching is necessary in Vietnamese society?

APPENDIX C - LAB SESSION

Choose one of the stories below and continue the story. Using code-switching (Vietnamese -

English) is required.
 35

1. Tấm Cám (The story of Tam and Cam)

Once upon a time, có hai chị em cùng cha khác mẹ. Chị tên là Tấm, em là Cám…

2. Ăn khế trả vàng (The golden star fruit tree)

Once upon a time, có hai anh em nọ được thừa hưởng gia tài cha mẹ để lại sau khi qua

đời…

APPENDIX D - A COMPLETED CONSENT FORM

INFORMED CONSENT

Informed consent to participate in research: Attitudes of Vietnamese young people

(18-22) towards code-switching

[International University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam]

Title of Research Project: Attitudes of Vietnamese young people (18-22) towards code-

switching

Name of Principal Investigator: Đặng Mỹ Linh

Email of Principal Investigator: mylinhdang2003@gmail.com

Phone of Principal Investigator: 0942327600

A. PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND

Đặng Mỹ Linh, a student from International University is conducting research on the attitudes of

Vietnamese young people from 18 to 22 towards code-switching. This project aims to offer an
 36

analysis of young people’s attitudes and their language choice as a result of these attitudes. You

were selected as a possible participant in this study because you are an undergraduate student

studying in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

B. PROCEDURES

If you agree to participate in this research study, the following will occur:

1. You will be asked to do an online questionnaire about your attitudes towards code-

switching. This questionnaire will take you about 15 minutes.

NOTE: Your personal information (Email and/or phone number) is required for further

research. You can choose to only do the first step or do other steps if you feel

comfortable and your schedule is available. A detailed instruction will be given to you in

the questionnaire, so that you can decide whether to take part in other steps or not.

2. If you choose to continue participating, you will also do an interview to answer more

questions about code-switching. The interview is expected to last for about 40-45

minutes.

3. Participants who accept to do this step will be recorded consecutively for 3 (three) days.

All the conversations from school, work, to home will be used to analyze. A device that

only captures voices will be employed.

4. Finally, participants will be asked to come to a lab at International University (HCMC) to

code-switch orally on a computer. You will be asked to tell a folktale story that entails
 37

code-switching. Your story is recorded orally through a computer app. There will be a

detailed instruction before the lab session. The amount of time can vary from person to

person, but the anticipated time is about 25-30 minutes.

NOTE: The third and fourth steps come in pairs, so if you feel uncomfortable doing one of the

two, you can choose not to do both. Moreover, participants are encouraged to also do the second

step (the interview), but it is not obligatory.

C. RISKS

You may feel uncomfortable when continuously being recorded for 3 days. For the second and

the fourth steps, you will have to go to an assigned setting (a coffee house, a lab) to do the

interview and the code-switching production, which might take place far from your place. The

place for the fourth one cannot be changed; however, the place for the second step can be

managed to suit your own condition. Moreover, some questions in the questionnaire and

interview parts may make you upset. If you do not wish to answer a question, you can stop

immediately. The researcher will be willing to discuss appropriate support and explanation, if

you become distressed as a result of your participation.

D. CONFIDENTIALITY

The records from this study will be kept as confidential as possible. No individual identities will

be used in any reports or publications resulting from the study. All the information collected

from the questionnaires, interviews, recordings, and the results in the lab will be given codes and

stored separately from any names or other direct identification of participants. The data will be

used for research purposes only. Research information will be kept in locked files at all times.

Only research personnel will have access to the files and only those with an essential need to see
 38

names or other identifying information will have access to that particular file. After the study is

completed, all the personal information of the participants will be imported to the International

University server where it will be stored for five years. Then, it will be deleted and expunged.

E. BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATION

A Thank You email will be sent to you after doing the questionnaire. If you are willing to do

other steps, you will be given 200.000 VND as a way for the researcher to appreciate your time

and effort. Moreover, the anticipated benefit of your participation in this study will have the

researcher analyze a popular case in Vietnamese society, to deeply observe Vietnamese

language, attitudes and users’ language choices.

F. VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION

Participation in any research project is voluntary. If you do not want to take part, you do not have

to. If you decide to take part and change your mind in the middle of the project, you are free to

withdraw at any stage of the research without prejudice.

Your decision whether or not to participate in this study is voluntary and will not affect your

relationship with the researcher or International University.

G. QUESTIONS

If you have any questions about the study, please contact Đặng Mỹ Linh by calling

(+84)92327600. You can also contact International University with any questions about the

rights of research participants or research-related concerns.

Sincerely,

Đặng Mỹ Linh
 39

CONSENT

YOU ARE MAKING A DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN A

RESEARCH STUDY. YOUR SIGNATURE BELOW INDICATES THAT YOU HAVE

DECIDED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY AFTER READING ALL OF THE

INFORMATION ABOVE AND YOU UNDERSTAND THE INFORMATION IN THIS

FORM, HAVE HAD ANY QUESTIONS ANSWERED AND HAVE RECEIVED A COPY OF

THIS FORM FOR YOU TO KEEP.

Signature Research Participant

Signature Interviewer

Date Date