Code-switching Patterns Research Articles

Structural Patterns of Multilingual Codeswitching between Arabic and English

As multilingualism is increasingly embraced in Saudi Arabia, the inevitable practice of codeswitching is a topic of heated debate. While it has been the subject of strong-held beliefs and opinions, established scholarly work is needed to enlighten the understanding of this use of languages. Hence, this study explored naturally occurring data of the codeswitching use of Arabic and English by multilingual Arab students as they attend Arabic weekly cultural seminar sessions during their temporary stay and study in the US. It captures their codeswitching use via video recordings and subjected to linguistic analyses on three levels: whole text-level, sentence-level and morpheme-level, with the implementation of the mixed-method approach. The findings revealed that the linguistic analysis of 523 codeswitching occurrences found in the data revealed the structural complexity and variety of codeswitching as a linguistic resource available to multilinguals fluent in Arabic and English. Occurring spontaneously and rather unpredictably in multilingual interactions, it disproved common Saudi and other perceptions of it as a form of language offense and careless linguistic behavior.

Indexicalities in Code-Switching Practices across Namibian Ethnicities

This study addresses the question of how multilectal behaviours can become stylistically functional. It proposes as a case study informal multilectal behaviours in Namibia, where indigenous languages co-exist with English and Afrikaans, the country’s lingua francas. The data involve informal intra-ethnic interactions featuring five Namibian ethnicities. A turn-by- turn analysis seeks to establish whether the participants’ code-switching patterns possess sequential salience and thus stylistic potential. Subsequently, an ethnographic perspective is taken to confirm whether this stylistic potential translates into sociolinguistic indexicalities. The study finds that—apart from white Namibians—the ethnolinguistic groups involved tend to display comparable interactional patterns of convergence/divergence in their code-switching behaviours, suggesting that the participants attach stylistic potential to code-switching. The ethnographic perspective links English to authority/worldliness, native languages to ingroupness, and L2 Afrikaans varieties to “street smart” attributes. Additionally, it shows that specific code-switching patterns are used as balancing acts between these values.

Code-switching in multilinguals with dementia: patterns across speech contexts

ABSTRACTThe study investigates code-switching by multilingual persons with dementia in two different speech contexts, picture naming tests and spontaneous conversation. It combines a psycholinguistic perspective on cognitive and linguistic skills with a qualitative conversation analytic approach to understanding the functions and appropriateness of code-switching in social interaction. The analysis shows that code-switching is used as a resource for compensating for word-retrieval problems in both the naming tests and in word search sequences in conversation. Furthermore, it serves to demarcate meta-communicative parentheses in which the participants comment on their process of word retrieval or express frustration about processing problems. Code-switching is generally treated as appropriate and relevant by the participants. In most instances, the speakers switch to a language known by the interlocutor. Only a few instances are treated as inappropriate by not being understandable to the interlocutor or by not adapting to the established language of the conversation. The patterns of code-switching are discussed considering typical symptoms of cognitive decline associated with dementia. Only very few instances may be interpreted as caused by a lack of awareness of the interlocutor’s language background (associated with reduced episodic memory) or a lack of inhibition. Code-switching thereby presents itself primarily as a communicative resource for handling and overcoming another dementia-related symptom, namely anomia.

Code Switching by Female Students of Islamic School in Daily Communication: Modern Islamic Boarding School

The multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society of Islamic boarding school students (santri) involves the occurrence of code switching. This research aims to reveal the code switching patterns by female students in daily communication in Islamic school Al-Mukmin Ngruki Islamic Boarding School and Assalaam Islamic Modern Boarding School in Indonesia, and the factors affecting the occurrence of code switching in daily basis communication in Islamic boarding school. The data are derived from the verbal interaction among the female students in Islamic school. Meanwhile, the data are populated by using the techniques of observation, recording, and interview. Further, they are analysed by the use of Hymes, (1996) ethnography method of communication. The result of this study shows that the code switching patterns includes Intersentensial switching, Intrasentensial switching, and Tag switching. However, the dominant pattern of code switching used by female students is Intersentensial switching. It is occupied in order to clarify the sender messages. In the domain of friendship, there are switches on the language of Indonesian, English, Arabic, Javanese, Sundanese, and Malay. The cause of the code switching relates to closeness between the speakers and the partners, prestige, popular terms. Also, it intends to convey the purposes and intentions of the speakers such as confirming information and maintaining cultures.

INTRA-SENTENTIAL SWITCHING USE IN CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

The research focused in the intra-sentential code switching used by the students in English Department of IKIP Siliwangi Bandung. The research was conducted to find out the intra-sentential switching that used by the students, why the students switch code, and the function of intra-sentential switching in classroom activity. The research employed a qualitative descriptive study involing field research. The samples are 3 groups presentation from class A2 English Education 2015 IKIP Siliwangi Bandung. This study explored pattern of intra-sentential code-switching (CS) that are manifest in classroom activity of English-Indonesia-Sunda in class A2 English Education 2015 IKIP Siliwangi Bandung, the reason why students switch thier code and in what situation students switch their code or language. The result of this research are 3 groups presentation were switching their language in type of intra-sentential switching, the reasons they switch their langugae are less vocabulary, to make they easier to express their mind, to make listener or audience easier to understand, and nervous. In presentation, group discussion, speech & daily conversation are situations they switch their code or language.Keywords: Code switching, Intra-sentential switching, classroom activity.

English Can Be Jewish but Hebrew Cannot: Code-switching Patterns among Yiddish-speaking Hasidic Women

Abstract This article discusses why and how English was able to turn into a contemporary Jewish language among Yiddish-speaking American Hasidic Jews, in marked contrast to Israeli Hebrew (IH), which has not been similarly adjusted. One reason is that communal attitudes towards English are not as ideologically charged as compared to the “zealous” opposition to IH. Another reason is that English is able to undergo phonological and lexical modifications that enable Hasidic English to function as an ethnolect used within the community. This process, however, is linguistically more complex for IH, which thus remains an outsider language among Israeli Yiddish-speaking Haredim. The outsider status of IH versus the insider status of Hasidic English is reflected in the code-switching patterns attested among Yiddish public speakers, resulting in a common and effortless pattern of Yiddish-English switching among American speakers, as opposed to rare and marked instances of switches to IH among Israeli speakers.

한국 화교의 韓中 코드전환 구조의 분석 : 부산 화교 3세의 문장내적 코드전환을 중심으로

한국 화교의 韓中 코드전환 구조의 분석 : 부산 화교 3세의 문장내적 코드전환을 중심으로

On-Screen ‘Othering’ of Bilingual Speakers: Being Bilingual in English and an Asian Indian Language

Analyses of bilinguals’ speech patterns and related cultural stereotypes as portrayed in films have become relatively frequent in recent years. This paper focuses on the nature and amount of ‘linguistic space’ provided by the film industry for the sociolinguistic presence of the ‘Other’ in bilingual contexts. It represents an analysis of films in which bilingual characters (in English and one of Asian Indian languages*) are presented. The analysis focuses on on-screen produced stereotypes about such bilinguals, immigrants’ struggles to assimilate to the English-dominant cultural and linguistic context, and patterns of code-switching between English and Asian Indian languages, i.e., contexts of usage of the two languages.

Introducing the Special Issue: Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars

To introduce this Special Issue entitled Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars, we begin by explaining what originally motivated this Special Issue [...]

二言語の能力とコード・スイッチング : 韓国系民族学校の高校生を対象として

二言語の能力とコード・スイッチング : 韓国系民族学校の高校生を対象として

Language mixing and genetic similarity

AbstractDefinitions of ‘mixed’ or ‘intertwined’ languages derive almost entirely from studies of languages that combine elements from genetically unrelated sources. The Mayan language Tojol-ab’al displays a mixture of linguistic features from two related Mayan languages, Chuj and Tseltal. The systematic similarities found in related languages not only make it methodologically difficult to identify the source of specific linguistic features but also mean that inherited similarity can alter the processes and outcomes of language mixing in ways that parallel observed patterns of code-switching between related languages. Tojol-ab’al, therefore, arguably represents a distinct type of mixed language, one that may only result from mixture involving related languages.

PATTERNS OF SWITCHING IN INDONESIAN - ENGLISH BILINGUAL POP SONGS

Recently many studies are conducted to explore the use of code switching in everyday conversation, which is spontaneous. However, there has been little concern on how code switching is used in written data or prepared discourse. Thus, the recent phenomenon of using code switching in the lyrics of Indonesian – English bilingual pop songs, which are well-prepared, is illustrated in this paper. This paper focuses on the examination of the patterns of code switching between Indonesian and English in pop music genre, and whether these patterns are similar to the ones in everyday informal conversation, which is spontaneous. The data analysed in this paper were gained from a corpus consisting of the lyrics of 25 popular songs. Different patterns of switching are identified. It is suggested that the language mixture in the lyrics of Indonesian – English bilingual pop songs shows four different patterns of switching; they are conversational-style code switching, lexically motivated code switching, organizational code switching, and switching in English-dominant lyrics. Moreover, most of those patterns have similarity to those in everyday spontaneous conversation.

Changes in Code-Switching Patterns among Hindi-English Bilinguals in Northern India

This study investigates changes in code-switching (CS) patterns among Hindi-English bilinguals in Northern India. There is a dearth of studies of naturalistic Hindi-English CS, which this study attempts to address. By recording a group of three older speakers and one of three younger speakers, the study identifies generational differences in CS behaviour. Echoing Si’s (2010) results, it finds younger speakers using more English overall, preferring to alternate between fully English or fully Hindi clauses, while older speakers insert English items into Hindi clauses more often. Finally, the paper investigates how CS reflects and aids speakers’ (linguistic) identity construction in modern India.

Intra-speaker variation in Chinese–English code-switching: The interaction between cognitive and contextual factors

Aims and objectives: This study examines intra-speaker variation in code-switching (CS) by comparing the frequency and pattern of CS across two different interaction modes (interview speech and online posting) based on the same individuals. This study also explores the reasons why these speakers exploit their linguistic repertoire variably in different modes. Methodology: I interviewed 40 Chinese–English bilinguals based in London and collected their speech data by recording the semi-structured interviews. Written data were obtained by collecting the participants’ posts on Sinaweibo, a popular Chinese social media. A detailed questionnaire was also administered among the participants to gather information on their language attitudes and other social backgrounds. Data and analysis: For each participant, 30 minutes of the interview were analyzed and 50 posts were chosen for written CS analysis. Quantitative analyses were performed to describe the frequency and pattern of CS. The use of CS across interaction modes was further compared and analyzed against the specific characteristics of each mode and also against the participants’ language attitudes. Findings: Results of quantitative analyses show that these participants used significantly more amount and more complex pattern of CS in their online posting. The suggested reason points to an elevated processing demand which is related to the nature of bilingualism and the level of synchronicity of interaction mode. Results of qualitative analyses also suggest that the participants’ positive attitudes towards CS and English language, both overtly expressed and covertly implied, contributed to the varying degree of CS use. Originality: This study is among the first attempts to compare CS data across different interaction modes based on same individuals. Comparative data of this kind are quite scarce in the international literature. Significance/implications: The findings highlight and provide insights into the dynamic interactions between social, cognitive, and situational factors under the surface of linguistic practice.

Pedagogic and Social Functions of University EFL Teachers’ Classroom Code-switching

This study attempts to study classroom code-switching with the focus on code-switching of university teachers of teaching English as the foreign language and teachers of using English mainly as the instructional language. The research methods are mainly ethnographic observations of four participants. It was found that three types of code-switching patterns were identified in the study across the participants. The four teachers switched between English and Chinese for pedagogical considerations. Code-switching also served to adjust teacher-learner relationship. The research findings show that codeswitching can be utilized by teachers as a useful and effective pedagogical and social strategy, which enriches the communicative repertoire and pedagogical resources.

Can Internet Data Help to Uncover Developing Preferred Multilingual Usage Patterns? An Exploration of Data from Turkish-Dutch Bilingual Internet Fora

This paper discusses the extent to which two characteristics of digital data make such data suitable for detecting preference patterns in code switching: an absence of paralinguistic disambiguation- cues and its extra-linguistic ‘context-freeness’. This paper reports on the exploration of a 219,536 word Dutch-Turkish digital data corpus compiled from bilingual internet fora. It describes both macro-sociolinguistic patterns of language choice as well as micro-linguistic contact features in bilingual data, comparing both macro and micro results with what is known from the sociolinguistic literature in general, and Turkish-Dutch code switching and contact linguistic literature in particular. The data are analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. Focus is on the analysis of densely bilingual data of the type that has been called in the literature ‘mixed language’ (Auer, 1999), ‘intimate switching’ (Poplack, 1980), or ‘unmarked switching’ (Myers-Scotton, 1983; 1993b). It is argued that data of this type of intensive language mixing should display a certain degree of predictability since it is generally perceived of as the most effortless way of speaking by its users. It is demonstrated that recurring patterns can be found in the data, both on the macro-level of language choice and the micro-level of lexical choice, as well as in code switching patterns, and lexico-semantic choices, and it is argued that in these patterns principles of transparency and frequency of exposure may be an explanatory factor.

Reasons and Types of Code Switching Patterns in Private Pre School in Kenya

Reasons and Types of Code Switching Patterns in Private Pre School in Kenya

Language choice, language alternation and code-switching in the Mercator-Hondius Atlas

The atlas of Gerardus Mercator (Gerard de Cremer), or the Atlas sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et fabricati figura, is one of first modern atlases and one of the most famous of those compiled in the Netherlands. The first (unfinished) edition was published in 1595, but the copperplates were later acquired by Jodocus Hondius (Joost de Hondt) and his business associates. The revised Mercator-Hondius Atlas was published for the first time in 1606 with added maps and texts. The texts printed on verso of the maps were written by Petrus Montanus (Pieter van den Berg), who was a brother-in-law of Hondius and a Latin teacher. Many subsequent editions of the atlas were produced in the years that followed. The first editions were in Latin, but versions in European vernaculars such as French, German and Italian were produced later as well. The present article focuses on the multilingual nature of the Mercator-Hondius Atlas (1613, editio quarta) by discussing language choice, language alternation and code-switching patterns in different parts of the atlas. The dominant language of the descriptive texts is Latin, but there are also switches into many other languages, including Greek (written in Greek script) and several vernaculars. Furthermore, the map pages tend to indicate the names of different types of area (e.g. cities, seas, and oceans) in different languages. The aim of the present article is to provide a preliminary exploration of the possibilities of approaching the atlas with the aid of concepts and ideas derived from modern code-switching studies. I demonstrate how these concepts can be used to describe the language choice patterns in the text and discuss some of the challenges the data poses for a linguistic approach.

Code-switching and vernacular support: an early Middle English case study

AbstractIn the multilingual history of England, the period following the Norman Conquest in 1066 is a particularly intriguing phase, but its code-switching patterns have so far received little attention. The present article describes and analyses the multilingual practices evinced in London, British Library, MS Stowe 34, containing one instructional prose text from c. 1200,

An Optimality-Theoretic approach to dialect code-switching

Despite the numerous frameworks for analyzing patterns of code-switching (CS) in multilingual communities, previous analyses have lacked a thorough treatment of the universality of the functions of CS. A recent model (Bhatt and Bolonyai 2011) addresses this gap by presenting a framework that incorporates principles of Optimality Theory (OT) and offers a precise model in which the countless functions of CS are reduced to five meta-constraints, the interaction and satisfaction of which account for the different grammars of bilingual language use. This framework’s applicability to situations of dialectal CS must be tested in order to show the breadth and depth of the model. This paper presents a reanalysis of the data in Mishoe (1995), which utilized the Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton 1993), within Bhatt and Bolonyai’s (2011) OT framework, demonstrating that data previously analyzed using another model of CS receives a better account under Bhatt and Bolonyai’s OT approach.