Abstract
This paper investigates the Kuwaiti attitudes and code-switching practices between the two most common languages used: Arabic and English. Additionally, it discusses which factors may affect how Kuwaitis code-switch, as well as their attitudes toward this phenomenon. In this study, a qualitative approach was used to collect data by conducting one-on-one interviews with seven participants. The study results showed that four of the seven participants had positive attitudes toward code-switching, whereas the remaining few had either neutral or negative attitudes. The thematic analysis of the qualitative narratives revealed that all of the participants habitually employed code-switching in their social interactions, despite their different attitudes. Being a bilingual speaker is an advantage—it can widen users’ horizons and open new socioeconomic opportunities thanks to globalization and English as a lingua franca. Therefore, parents, teachers, and policymakers are encouraged to work and help create bilingual speakers who are competent users of their mother tongue and their second language, English.
Highlights
Bilingualism and multilingualism are widespread throughout the world because of colonization and globalization, with English established as the lingua franca (Grosjean, 2010)
Despite the number of studies conducted on code-switching in the Kuwaiti educational context, few studies have focused on the practice of code-switching in social contexts outside the classroom
This study investigates the Kuwaiti attitudes toward code-switching in the social context and seeks to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the Kuwaiti attitudes toward English-Arabic code-switching in the social domain?
Summary
Bilingualism and multilingualism are widespread throughout the world because of colonization and globalization, with English established as the lingua franca (Grosjean, 2010). One of the outcomes of bilingualism and multilingualism is code-switching, an essential topic in the field of linguistics. Code-switching has become one of the most controversial topics in Kuwaiti society (Dashti, 2015)—a judgment tool by which Kuwaitis form their opinions about one another. People discuss it on several platforms, including social gatherings and social media platforms. Some perceive code-switching negatively, they want their children (and themselves) to practice it. The negative attitude toward code-switching is that many believe it is only used as a bragging tool or that speakers exaggerate their reliance on it in almost every situation among their peers
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