The Use of Code-Switching among the Senior High School Students of Sulu College of Technology, Incorporated

The increasing emphasis for strategical pedagogy to promote comprehension and enhance classroom engagement through effective instructional method, particularly to navigate language obstacles in educational context through code-switching is integral. While prior studies emphasize code-switching as a purposeful and strategic tool for learning, insubstantial attention in multilingual and culturally diverse region is given on the alternation of language behavior by the students even in the face of extensive researches done on code-switching practices of the teachers. This study investigates the use of code-switching in classroom communication assessing students’ level of use of code-switching in terms of lectures, group discussions, and individual tasks, as well as differences when grouped according to age, gender, strand, and grade level. Using quantitative descriptive-correlational design, 120 senior high school students participated selected through stratified sampling during the School Year 2025–2026. The findings reveal that students demonstrate a high-level use of code-switching across lectures, group discussions, and individual tasks, indicating that code-switching is frequently used as a cognitive and communicative strategy to support learning. Statistical analyses indicated no significant differences according to age and grade level across all contexts, while gender showed a significant difference in group discussions and strand showed a significant difference in lectures. Correlation analysis revealed significant high positive relationships among lectures, group discussions, and individual tasks. Overall, the results support the use code-switching, strategically to enhance students’ understanding while improving English proficiency.