Attitudes towards code-switching

This paper is a sociolinguistic study that focuses on attitudes towards code-switching among university students with different majors of studies. 75 students at the University of Szeged took part in this quantitative research. The participants were divided into three groups: English majors, Hungarian teacher trainees, and other majors. The students all filled out a multiple choice questionnaire containing 25 closed questions and an optional open-ended question either online or in class. The data was analysed with regard to attitudes towards code-switching in different environments, and to the correlation between code-switching vs. knowledge, self-respect, and the Hungarian language, and lastly, the motivations to code-switch. The results demonstrated that the attitudes of the students were overall positive, nonetheless, English majors were the most positive, followed by Hungarian teacher trainees, and finally by other majors. The most striking finding was that those who study languages - whether in their first or second language - tend to have more positive attitudes towards code-switching.