Code-Switching By Multilingual Pakistanis On Twitter: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Code-switching is practicing two different grammatical systems where multilinguals also move between two languages or between two dialects or registers of the same language. In the current article, code-switching is characterized as the simultaneous use of two or more languages or dialects within a conversation. The current study focused on code-switching practices on the social media website Twitter. While posting on Twitter, multilinguals may use several languages. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze code-switched Tweets for any recurring patterns and practices. The population of this study involved Twitter users living in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad area of Pakistan. The Tweets were collected on the basis of time and location through a random cluster sampling method. A qualitative analysis of the individual Tweets was done, and recurring patterns were pointed out. This was purely observational research. It was found that the sampled Tweets only code-switched between Urdu and English. Code-switching at the intra-sentential level was more common than at the inter-sentential level. Code-switching at the level of clauses was the most common form of intra-sentential code-switching. Over half of the inter-sentential code-switching had the English sentence(s) preceding the Urdu sentence(s). The findings suggest that code-switching between English and Urdu occurs more commonly at the intra-sentential level. They further imply that the population generally prefers to start inter-sentential code-switching with English before code-switching to Urdu. The results of this study may be useful in demystifying the phenomenon of code-switching in online spaces.