CODE MIXING AMONG STUDENTS OF “BRILLIANT ENGLISH

COURSE” IN KAMPUNG INGGRIS PARE

Lakhdar Hagi
Universitas Negeri Malang
Email: lakhdarhagi.94@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:
This research aims to show the occurrences of code mixing among
students in Brilliant English Course. This Research focused on code
mixing in the teaching learning activity.
This research used descriptive qualitative research since the data of this
research consisted of words, not numbers. The data were collected
through the observation in Brilliant English Course when the students
are having teaching learning activity. The collected data were
transcribed and analyzed using Muysken’s theory of type of code
mixing.
The finding showed that insertion, alternation, and congruent
lexicalization are occurred in the students’ conversation. Insertion has
the higher occurrences compared to the alternation and congruent
lexicalization. Regarding the usage of code mixing, two teachers agree
with the students using code mixing, and two others agree and disagree
based on the level studies.
It can finally be concluded that from the total of 52 occurrences of code
mixing, insertion, alternation, and congruent lexicalization are occurred
in students’ conversation. This research can be used as an additional
reference for future researchers who try to conduct research about code
mixing.
Keywords: Code, Code Mixing, Students
English language has been taught to Indonesian student since elementary
school. Nowadays, English is not only taught as a foreign language, or a second
language, but also as an International language. It is the main foreign language which
is first learnt by the students at school. Brown (1980) says that the beginning stages
of learning a second language are characterized by a good deal of inter-language
transfer (from native language). Code mixing is in fact, a function to lead the student
to learn the foreign language. It is not a new speaking strategy. It is a common
strategy applied by the foreign language learner in terms of engaging their native
language in speaking (Abdullah, 2011). The student can mix the isolated words or
grammatical construction of the target language.

This research aims to define the code mixing occurrences of students in

Brilliant English Course. Muysken (2000) states that “using the term code mixing to
refer to all cases where lexical items and grammatical features from two languages
appear in one sentence”. In this case, the students use Indonesia as the main language
and English as the second language. The code mixing phenomenon has become
interesting topic to study as some prominent research in this area has conducted by
some researchers.

Alkresheh (2015) conduced study about “Code switching and mixing of

English and Arabic amongst Arab students at Aligarh Muslim Unversity in India”. He
examined the phenomenon of code switching and code mixing among Arab students
at AMU and the reason they code switch and mix to English in their daily
communication. The participants were 100 Arab students of different educational
levels which are Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. at AMU. He found that most of Arab
students at AMU do code switch and mix in their daily conversation. The interesting
about the finding is that the reasons Arab students at AMU do code switch and mix to
english refer to the lack of knowledge in English.

Syam et al. (2018) investigated the code mixing and code switching in the
classroom interaction used by the English teachers in SMA Negeri 2 Talakar. They
focused on the form of code mixing and code switching used by the English teachers.
The finding showed that code mixing and code switching that used by the teachers
based on the form has many differences, such as code mixing in the form of word and
in the form of phrase, while code switching in the form of the terms of inter-language
and in terms of the language used. The factors that influence code mixing and code
switching are social factor, cultural factor, and individual factor. They conclude that
the usage of code mixing and code switching in the daily communication does not
forbid.

This research is almost the same as the previous studies which analyze the
phenomenon of code mixing. However, in this study, I provide some different points
related to code mixing. It is the code mixing in the teaching learning activities of
English Course students. The previous studies focused on code switching and mixing
among Arab students at AMU, and code mixing and code switching used by the
teachers of SMA Negeri 2 Talakar. In short, none of the previous studies discussed
code mixing among students in the English course. Besides, I also discussed the
teacher’s opinion about the students that used code mixing which are yet to discussed
by those previous studies. This suggests that a research project dealing with English
course’s students in this global context where English and other languages are at play
is warranted.

RESEARCH METHOD

In this research, I used descriptive method with qualitative approach. I applied

qualitative approach because the data consist of words, not the numbers. Lincoln
(1994) “qualitative research is multi-method in focus, involving an interpretive,
naturalistic approach to its subject matter”. This means that qualitative research study
in their natural setting, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms
of the meanings the people brings to them. This research was conducted until the data
is fully gathered. It was conducted in the area of Brilliant English Course. Therefore,
the conversation of intermediate students that contain code mixing and the teacher’s
answer became the data source for this research.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The Types of Code Mixing
After classifying the data, the result shows that from 52 occurrences of code
mixing, 37 code mixing (71,1%) are included in insertion, 3 code mixing (5,8%) are
included in alternation, and 12 code mixing (23,1%) are included in congruent
lexicalization. (Table 1)
Table 1 Classification of Occurrences of Code Mixing
No. Type of Code Mixing Occurrences Percentage
1. Insertion 37 71,1%
2. Alternation 3 5,8%
3. Congruent Lexicalization 12 23,1%
TOTAL 52 100%

Table 1 demonstrates that the highest type of code mixing that the student
used is insertion which has 37 occurrences. Then after insertion, the next type of code
mixing is congruent lexicalization which has 12 occurrences. The fewest type of code
mixing is alternation which only has three occurrences.

Insertion
In this research, insertion has the highest number occurrences of type of code
mixing that the students used compared with alternation and congruent lexicalization.
The number occurrences in insertion is 37 occurrences with 71.1%. Below are the
data of insertion.
1) Data 7
“Kamu yang memorize dulu, nanti gantian aku.”
Memorize is a single word that has meaning commit to memory or remember.
Memorize is English lexical verb. The student talk to her friend to go for memorizing
first. She inserted the word “memorize” in her utterances. This statement is included
in Insertion because the usage of memorize is free from affixation and it is
incorporating into Indonesian language. So, it can be conclude that this statement is
insertion because insertion occurs when lexical items from one language are
incorporate into another.
Alternation
In this research, alternation is the fewest type of code mixing that the students
used. The number occurrences of alternation is three occurrences with 5.8%. Below
are the data of alternation.
1) Data 38
“Tiga sampai empat kali kayanya, it is not easy bro.”
In this statement, the student alternated two clauses from different language,
Indonesian and English. At first, the student said in Indonesian clause “tiga sampai
empat kali kayanya” after that said in English clause “it is not easy bro.”. In this
statement, the student mixed the English word in the end of his utterances when he is
talking to his friend. The clause “it is not easy bro” consist of subject and predicate.
This statement is alternation because the two languages are alternated and both of
them have their own structure. As Muysken said that alternation occurs when
structures of two languages are alternated indistinctively both grammatical and
lexical level, this statement is included in alternation.

Congruent Lexicalization
In this research, congruent lexicalization has 12 occurrences with 23.1%. This
is the second number of the type of code mixing that the students used. Below are the
data of congruent lexicalization.
1) Data 41
“Gimana si itu tadi pronounce-nya?”
This statement is included in congruent lexicalization. It is included in
congruent lexicalization because the student inserted the word “pronounce” which the
English lexical is a verb and –nya is one of Indonesian affixes which can modify with
a verb. As the definition of congruent lexicalization is where two languages share
grammatical structures which can be filled lexically with elements from either
language, this statement is included in congruent lexicalization.

Teacher’s Opinion about Student Using Code Mixing

There are four teachers that I asked for interview, namely Miss. D, Miss. N,
Mr. H, and Mr. R. Based on the interview, the four teachers give different opinion
about the student used code mixing. Below are the result of the interview.
Table 2 Teachers’ Opinion
No. Teacher Opinion
1. Miss. D a) It is okay as long as they do not
know the English
b) Usage of code mixing depends on
the level
 c) She gives a tolerance for pre-basic
and basic class because she afraid if
the student do not want to speak.
d) For intermediate class she is okay if
they do not know the English
e) For advance class it has to be full
English (100% English)
2. Miss. N a) She wants the students to speak
100% English although it is simple
b) She gives a tolerance depends on the
level, the usage of code mixing has
to be minimalized if the level is
getting higher
c) For advance class it should be 90-
100% English because she thinks the
student is still learning
3. Mr. H a) It is good for pre-intermediate, he
gives 50:50 for using English and
Indonesian
b) For advance class it has to be 100%
English
c) It is nice for pre-basic and basic
class for using code mixing
d) For intermediate class 70% English
and 30% Indonesian
4. Mr. R a) He has no problem for all classes for
using code mixing because they are
still learning.
 b) He gives tolerance when the
students is difficult in using English,
the students are allowed to use
Indonesian

Table 2 demonstrates that the four teachers have different opinion about the
student using code mixing although some of them might have same point. In
accordance with Jingxia (2010) on his study about the use of code mixing and
switching is a good effective strategy for English foreign language teaching and
learning, two teachers feel positive about the students using code mixing because
they think that the students are still learning. The two other teachers feel positive and
negative about the students using code mixing based on their classes. The teachers
feel positive about the students using code mixing if they are in pre-basic, basic, pre-
intermediate, and intermediate class. For advance class, the teachers feel negative
about the students using code mixing because advance class is the higher level.

Discussion on Types of Code Mixing

There is a possible explanation for the fact that the number of insertion
occurrences is higher than the number of occurrences of alternation and congruent
lexicalization. It is possible that the number occurrences of insertion is higher than
occurrences of alternation and congruent lexicalization is because the students is still
in learning process. Students might have a minimum understanding about either
lexical or grammatical English. Students are yet to understand or master English
language because they are still in learning process. The use of insertion does not need
to fully understand English at both lexical and grammatical level, while for
alternation and congruent lexicalization it does. It is said by Cardenas and Isharyanti
(2009) on their study that inserting a word from one language to another requires
minimal competence at a lexical and grammatical level. While for alternation and
congruent lexicalization, they said that both of them require full understanding on
both lexical and grammatical level.

Discussion on Teacher’s Opinion about Students Using Code Mixing

In Brilliant English Course, there are some levels related to the learning
process, which are pre-basic, basic, pre-intermediate, intermediate, and advance.
From four teachers, the two of them, are positive with the usage of code mixing in all
classes because they think that the students are still learning. The teachers might feel
that encouraging their students to use full English while in learning process might
affect the students understanding. The use of code mixing can also make the teaching
learning process more effective. Jingxia (2010) on his study said that the use of code
switching and code mixing is a good effective strategy for English foreign language
teaching learning.
The two other teachers are also positive about the usage of code mixing but
only for four classes, which are pre-basic, basic, pre-intermediate, and intermediate
class. Letting the students of low classes using code mixing can make them enjoy the
learning process. They don’t have to think much about the language that they will
use. Besides, it can also build their confident in participating the classroom activity.
As the result, the students might have a better understanding about the subject to
continue to the higher classes. Munoz and Mora (2006) state that code switching and
mixing allowed the students to be active participants, bridge the gap between teachers
and students as well as built students’ confident.
The two other teachers are also negative of the usage of code mixing but only
for advanced class as it is the highest class in the course before they graduated from
the course. As it is the class that determine the students to graduate, the use of full
English might be needed in the classroom. The teachers also need to motivate the
students to speak English during the teaching learning process. However, it is not
only motivating the students, the teachers have to provide a good situation for
students in the learning process. Rahayu (2016) in her study state that to get main
goal in learning a language, the lecturer has to create a situation for student to speak
English in the classroom.
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
Conclusions
Based on the findings, there are 52 occurrences of code mixing among the
students of Brilliant English Course. I classified the occurrences of code mixing into
three types based on Muysken’s theory. The highest type of code mixing that the
students used is insertion with 37 occurrences (71,1%), followed by congruent
lexicalization with 12 occurrences (23,1%), and alternation with three occurrences
(5,8%). Insertion is the types of code mixing most frequently used by the students of
Brilliant English Course during teaching learning activity. Since the students are still
in the learning process, it is possible that the occurrences of insertion is higher than
alternation and congruent lexicalization because insertion might require minimal
competence at lexical level rather than alternation and congruent lexicalization that
require full understanding at the lexical and grammatical level.
Then, teachers’ opinion about the students that used code mixing are varied.
From the four teachers that the researcher interview, two teachers feel positive about
the students that used code mixing because the students are still in the learning
process. While two other teachers feel positive and also negative about the students
that used code mixing based on their level of study.
Suggestion
For the teachers, they should consider that code mixing helps the students to
develop their knowledge in English. In addition, it also helps the students to improve
and memorize or remember their vocabularies easily. Therefore, code mixing
unconsciously makes the students get more confident and more active in the
classroom.
For the readers, this research gives the readers better understanding about
code mixing which is used by the student in English course. By reading this research
I hope that the readers can develop their language by using more than one language to
face the modern lifestyle.
For future researcher, they may use this research report as a reference in
conducting a study related to code mixing, especially in English course. They can
enhance their understanding more about code mixing by using this study as a
reference. Therefore, I would like to suggest that future researchers should investigate
code mixing not only in English courses, but also in another media such as novel,
television show, social media, and others.

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