Motivations for Code-Mixing English Words into Spoken Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan: Qualitative Survey Results

Abstract

This study investigates which English words are considered by today's young people as the most common loan words in Taiwan, and what might account for their high usage among Taiwanese youth. Since equivalent lexical items are available in their first language Chinese, why do young Taiwanese people prefer to use the English loan word instead? Forty-five native Taiwanese college from different majors (average TOEFL score approximately 400) were asked to list 30 English loan words that they think are the most commonly used among Taiwanese young people. A subsequent survey asked forty native Taiwanese young students (between the ages of fifteen and twenty-six) to identify the possible motivating factors for Taiwanese young people's higher use of these English loan words. Broadly following Li (2002), we have identified possible explanations for Chinese-English code-mixing in Taiwan among young people, including the principle of economy, lexical availability and specificity, euphemisms both benign and manipulative, and the prestige lent to a speaker by the creation of an appearance of being educated. We also considered the possibility of a ”halo effect” on at least some of the response.