Code-switching

Defined as:

 Switching from one language to language within a single speech

situation
 Refers to alternating between one or more languages or dialects
“I am so anxious about the trip. Kampung I jauh. About 5 hours
drive, tau!”
 Characterises the sociolect of bilingual speech communities
 (sociolect - a variety of language associated with a particular
social group)

 Members have the grammatical competence to code-switch

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 In some instances, code-switching is
necessary – speaker’s lesser degree of
grammar competence
For example:
 A person who received specialised education

in a second language – switch to native

language when talking about that
specialisation

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 People sometimes code-switch within a
domain or social setting
For example:
Sarah: I think everyone’s here.
John: Except Mary. She said she will be late
Sarah: She’s here. Kia ora Mary. Haere mai
(Hi Mary. Come in)
Mary: Kia ora e hoa (Hello my friend)

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 Code-switch occurs as there is an obvious
change in the situation with an arrival of a
new member
 Although – meeting was conducted in
English, Sarah switches to Maori to greet
Mary
 This shows an expression of solidarity (team
spirit / identity)
 Code-switch = to a particular participant or
addressee

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Another example:
 A Polish family living in London used Polish

at home.
 A local priest visited them, and everyone

switched to English
 This shows a change in the social situation

and takes positive account of the presence of

a new participant

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 People code-switch for social reasons too –
signal a speaker’s ethnic identity and solidarity
with the addressee
For example:
 Scottish Highlanders who are not proficient in

Gaelic use brief phrases and words to express

their identification with local Gaelic speech
community
• There are also speakers who use tags for this

purpose too

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For example:
(a) Tamrin: Engari (So), now we turn to more important matters.
(Switch from Maori to English)
(b) Peng: Confisicated by Customs, da gai (probably)
(Switch between English and Cantonese

 In (a), Tamrin uses a Maori Tag at the beginning of his

utterance while in (b),
Peng uses a final tag.
 This type of switching is called emblematic switching or tag
switching
 This switch – simply an interjection, a tag or a sentence filler
 This is to show an ethnic identity marker

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(c) A: Well, I’m glad I met you, ok?
B: andale pues (Ok swell) and do come again,
Mm?
(Switch between Spanish and English)
 In (c) the exchange is between two Mexican

Americans in the US
 By using the Spanish tag, B signalled to A that he

recognised the relevance of their shared ethnic

background
 The tag shows a solidarity marker between two

minority ethnic group members

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 Code-switching motivated by the identity and
relationship between participants = social
distance
 A switch reflects a change = the status
relationship between the speakers / formality
of their interaction
 Different kinds of relationships = expressed
through different codes
 More formal relationships involve status
differences too

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 Like doctor-patient, administrator-client
 are often expressed in the H variety – Spanish
in Paraguay and standard Zairean Swahili in
Bukayu
 Friendly relationships – neighbours or friends
involves minimal social distance = expressed
the L variety
 Guarani in Paraguay and Kingwana in Bakayu
 Speakers – code-switch from L code to H code
or vice versa

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For example: (David and Peter are neighbours)
David: Hello Peter. How is your son?
Peter: Oh, he is much better now. Thank you David.
David: That’s great. I am happy to hear that. DO YOU THINK YOU
COULD HELP ME WITH THIS PESKY FORM? I AM HAVING
A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFICULTY WITH IT.
Peter: OF COURSE. GIVE IT HERE…

 From the exchange above – nothing appears to change

 Only the topic of discussion and the code
 The change of topic = a change in the relationship
 Roles changes as neighbours to their civil servant and member of the
public
 Swtich from a personel interaction to a more formal transaction
 Role switch is commonly associated with a code switch in a multilingual
communities

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 Switch code within a speech event to discuss a
particular topic
 Bilinguals = easier to discuss particular topics in one
code than the other
For example:
 Chinese students living together in a flat often
choose to speak Cantonese with each other.
 Choose to use English = discuss their studies

 Learnt the vocabulary of economics or linguistics or

physics in English
 Terms not known in Cantonese, E.g – electron,
capital formation, morpheme
 Code switch known as referential oriented code

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 Another example of referentially oriented code
switch is when a speaker switches code to quote a
person
For example:
(a) Ben: That’s what she said. Ki a matou Ngati
Porou, te Maoritanga I papi ake I te whenua (We
of the Ngati Porou tribe believe the origins of
maoritanga are in the earth)
 Switch involves the words that the speaker (Ben)
is claiming the quoted person (she)
 Ben gives the impression that these are the exact
words the speaker (she) used

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 Switch to quote a proverb or well-known saying
For example: (Lee is discussing with a group of Chinese students)
Lee: Today people get divorced easily. In our society it is not the
same. Jia gou sui gou, jia ji sui ji (If you have married a dog, you
follow a dog, if you have married a chicken, you follow a chicken)
 Code switch corresponds exactly to the proverb in Chinese =
recitation is very clear
 Is referentially motivated switches – speaker wants to be
accurate
 Exact words are important
 Functions:

(a) to emphasise the precise message content

(b) to signal ethnic identity
 Have affective and referential function

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 Code switching = affective functions
 Most bilinguals or multilinguals are adept in
exploiting rhetorical possibilities of their linguistics
repertoire
For example:
(a) Standard Norwegian – language of the school
but in class the students – rude remarks or jokes
about the teacher in their local dialect
(b) In Paraguay – Guarani (L variety) – is more
appropriate for joking and humourous anecdotes
while discussing political issues – Spanish
 Language switch – L to the H variety
 To express disapproval – the speaker is angry

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For example:
Father: Time to do your homework, Robbie
(Robbie ignores him and carries on playing)
Father: Mr Robert Harris if you do not come in
immediately now, you will face the
consequences which you will regret.
 The use of two different styles of English

 Switch – involves a move from an intimate

and friendly style to a formal style

 Emphasises his anger and disapproval

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 A skilled bilingual moves switches into a different dimension
 No obvious explanatory factors for the specific switches, for
example from Buang and Tok Pisin
For example: (Tok Pisin in italics and underlined. Buang is not
italicised)
“Ikamap trovel o wonem, mi ken stretim olget toktok. Orit. Pasin ke ken be
menti, ti ken nyep la, su lok lam memba”
(If any problem comes up, I will be able to settle all the arguments. OK.
This is the way – the money there is there can’t go back to the
shareholders”
 No new person joined the audience at any point
 No change in the setting
 No change in the topic
 No quotations or even sign of anger nor humourous utterances

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 Switching between codes with such rapid, the speaker effectively
draws on the different associations of the two codes
 Speaker used Buang (a local tribal language) = his belonging
and emphasises his membership – community
 Speaker used Tok Pisin (lingua franca) = his role as an
entreprenuer and his superior knowledge and experience
 Buang symbolises:
- high solidarity
- equal status
- friendly feelings
 Tok Pisin symbolises:
- social distance
- status
- referential information of the business world

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 Code switches for rhetorical reasons – drawing on
the association of both codes
 Is known as ‘metaphorical switching’
 Rapid switching – code-mixing (mean – mixing the
codes indiscriminately)
 The switches are very well motivated in relation to
the symbolic or social meanings of the two codes
 Each code has a set of social meanings
 Distinctive conversational style – bilinguals and
mutltilinguals
 Operates like metaphor to enrich the communication
 Able to convey – affective meaning as well as
information

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BORROWING
 Words derived from another language
 English has borrowed thousands of words from
other languages - some are used without
adaptation, but others have been changed slightly to
fit in with the patterns of English
 Example:
 ‘bas’ in BM is borrowed from ‘bus’ (English)
 ‘amok’ in English is borrowed from ‘amuk’ (BM)
 ‘petit’ in English is borrowed from ‘petit’ (French)

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Lexical borrowing
 Speakers will often use a term from their mother tongue – when
conversing a second language
 Reason – they may not know the appropriate word
 Triggered by the lack of vocabulary
 Borrow words from another language – express a concept or
describe an object
 Mainly involves single words – nouns
 Borrowed words – adapted to the speaker’s first language
 Pronounced and used grammatically – part of the first language
 For example:

- New Zealand English – borrowed ‘mana’ from Maori

- no exact equivalent to its meaning in English
- though can be translated as ‘prestige’ or ‘high status’

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Language Planning

Language:
 the centre of social life

 the access to power and influence

 establishes social class and ethnic identity

 All these influence the desire to engineer

language and language choice

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Definition
(a) Language planning:
 any effort to modify language form or us
 can be considered the decision making
process, either formally or implicitly stated
regarding such issues related to language
as which languages will be taught, to whom
and for what purposes

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(b) Language policy
 a more neutral term after the failure of national planning activities

 Implementation of this policy to the extent practicable, across all

possible domains of language used referred to in the policy

(c) Status planning

 rules set up to determine, officiate or ban of each language when
two or more languages are involved
 refers to planning that involves attitudes towards the language

 Making people more receptive towards the use of English in

teaching Mathematics and Science

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(d) Corpus planning (DPB):
 the effort to fix or modify the structure of the language after
status planning is made
 Focuses on the language itself
 Involve in standarding the language and development

(e) Language standardisation:

 attempt to standardise grammar and pronunciation towards a
prescribed norm

(f) Normativism:
 Language standardisation by linguists to keep the language pure
 Maintain the linguistics consistency and standards of a language

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 Four different typical ideologies that may motivate language
planning
- linguistic assimilation
- linguistic pluralism
- vernacularisation
- internationalisation
 Linguistic assimilation
- a belief that everyone, regardless of ethnicity or cultural and
linguistic background, should learn one dominant language
 Linguistic pluralism
- opposite of linguistic assimilation
- promotes the use of more than one language
- can be complete or partial
- partial – the use of different languages only in certain select
situations

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 Vernacularisation
- Restoration or elaboration of an indigenous
language and its adoption as an official
language

 Internationalism
- When a non-indigenous language of wider
communication is adopted either as an official
language or for education

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 A language status decision produces a situation
where some people need to learn a new language
For example:
- In Finland, the decision to recognise both Finnish
and Swedish as official languages.
- Finns must learn Swedish and Swedes Finish
 Language acquisition planning and language
education policy is involved when a government
decides to have foreign languages taught in school
 A national policy to develop literacy in a particular
language is also a kind of language acquisition
policy

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 Language diffusion policy occurs when a
country or some social groups attempt to
encourage other people to learn their
language
For example:
- In religious missionary work, Islam spreads

Arabic
- Under national concerns, Russian is spread

throughout former USSR and Soviet-

dominated Eastern Europe

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Planning for a national official language
- Generally four interrelated steps
 Selection

 Codification

 Elaboration of function

 Acceptance

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 Selection
- choosing a variety or code to be develop
- a variety or combination of varieties can be selected and developed
- great social and political significance – recognised as prestigious by
community
For example:
In Tanzania, the first President of Tanzania chose Swahili, a language of
the Bantu language family – widely used in the country as a lingua
franca

 Codification
- standardising its structural or linguistic features
- kind of language processing is called corpus planning
- agencies or academies – produce dictionaries and grammar – define
what is correct and incorrect
- For example: DBP
- decisions made by these organisations – shared and accepted – users
of the language

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 Elaboration of Function
- extending its function for the use of new domains
- necessary to develop linguistic resources for handling new concepts
and contexts
- selected variety must cater for various functions and situations
- such as government, educational, business, scientific and others
- require additional linguistic items – process of borrowing

 Acceptance
- people’s attitude to the variety must be considered
- steps must be needed to enhance its prestige
- must be accepted as the standard language
- encourage people to develop pride in the language or loyalty towards
it

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 Language Shift in different communities
- is a description of changes in the language due to
factors such as proximity to a larger or more dominant
language or social attitudes toward other languages

For example:
Meena is a British Hindu woman who lives in
Manchester. She moved here with her family when
she was five years old. Now she is 18 years old.
At home – speaks Gujerati – parents / grandparents
At work – speaks English -

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 Pattern of language – at work has gradually shifted
over a period of 13 years
 At one stage – Gujerati but now she uses English
 Typical example of a person using a minority
language in a predominantly monolingual culture
and society
 Over a period of time – language of wider society
displaces the minority language mother tongue
 Migrant families provide an obvious example of
language shift

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 Factors that lead a community to shift
language
(a) for communicating
- migrant families meet English – at school
- need to communicate and interact with
others – teachers / other children
- English becomes the normal language
(b) pressure from the wider society
- immigrants – sound and look different and
often regard as threatening – majority group

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- immigrants – pressure to conform in all
kinds of ways – one of which is language shift
- Monolingual countries – England, Australia
and New Zealand expect immigrants to
speak English
- speaking good English is often regarded as
a sign of successful assimilation
- gradually shift from using Italians,
Vietnamese, etc to using English
- take three or four generations

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(c) Political and Economic factors
- During the World War II, Japan invaded South East
Asia, Japanese was used as the lingua franca.
- Japanese was taught in schools, official
transaction and economic advancement
- used as an official language in Malaya
- expressed formality and social distance
- when colonial powers such as France, Portugal
and United Kingdom invaded other countries –
imposed their languages along their rule

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- Aboriginal people – Australia and American Indian
people – US lost their languages – colonial rule
- are swamped by English – dominant group and
their numbers – decimated by warfare and diseases
- over the time – communities shifted to the
coloniser’s language
- shift location and language for the need for work
- Irish, Scottish, Gaelic and Welsh – shifted to
England – a job
- need English for their job success and social well-
being / to make friends

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Language Shift:
 Shift towards the dominant powerful group

 Dominant group has little incentive to adopt

the language of the minority

 Dominant language – status, prestige and

social success
 Used in more ‘glamour’ contexts – for formal

setting

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 As the domains in which speakers use the
language shrink, the speakers of the dying
language become gradually less proficient

 This will lead to language loss

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For example:
- Annie is a young speaker of Dyirbal, an Australian
Aboriginal language.
- She speaks English which she learnt at school

- No written Dyirbal texts for her to read and enrich

the language
- Few and few contexts for her to use the language

- Annie will become less and less proficient in it

(page 57)

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 What Annie is experiencing is LANGUAGE
LOSS
 She uses English for most purposes
 Her vocabulary in Dyirbal has shrunk and
shrunk
 Language will retreat and is used only in the
home
 Finally it is restricted to personal activities
 It is on its way to extinct
 The next few generations will be less
proficient in the language

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 Language loss has the following
characteristics
- There is a gradual reduction in the complexity
and diversity of structural features of the
language
- Speakers’ sound rules get simplified
- Grammatical patterns – less complex
- Vocabulary gets smaller and smaller
- Mainly used for ritual or ceremonial
occasions
 Hence this will lead to language death

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Language Death
- Languages can die

- Refers to when they no longer have any speakers

- Or when they do not serve any viable function

- Occurs when

(a) there is a subtle introduction of another language

– used in important societal domains and functions
(b) the population of speakers of the language
disappears for whatever reason (genocide)
(c) there is a forceful imposition of another language

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(d) parents are reluctant or unable to pass on
a language to their children
(e) the language ceases to serve
communicative functions
(f) the community of speakers is not stable or
expanding

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