1176 WORDS

SEMINARIO OPTATIVO: BILINGUALISM

IVONNE GARCIA LIMA

SOCIOLINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF CODE-SWITCHING IN BILINGUALISM

Spanglish: “cuando you can’t find la palabra en un idioma so you fill it in con la otra”.
Spanglish is “a hybrid language combining words and idioms from both Spanish and
English, especially Spanish speech that uses many English words and expressions”.
(Oxford Dictionary, s.f.) Some people would say it’s a mix of languages or even a language
interference, concept with a pejorative term according to Baker (2017) but in essence the
example mentioned before as “Spanglish” is called code-witching and it’s common
between bilinguals and the community they are in, the purpose of this essay will be present
the code-switching as a sociolinguistic phenomenon into bilingualism and the reasons of
why bilinguals use it.

Some definitions for code-switching include linguistics, psycholinguistics, and

sociolinguistics aspects. For example, Gardner-Chloros (2009) defines it as the use of two
or more languages or dialects in the same conversation and it occurs in bilingual people, by
the other hand Morrison (2022) defines it as the process of shifting between two different
codes and this shift will depend on the social context, mainly for identity reasons and Baker
(2017) refers to code-switching as “any switches between languages that occur within or
across sentences during the same conversation or discourse”(p. 98).

According to the previous definitions all include the shift or switch of a language
into other in certain circumstances into a bilingual discourse. Such circumstances could be
described from a sociolinguistic perspective, as Nguyen (2015) explains from a micro-level
or macro-level approach. The micro-level would focus on the speakers and the relationship
they had, their values, needs; and the macro-level would explain that institutional and
sociological categories influence the choices of a language of an individual.

These categories are reflected in the familiarity, the status of the listeners, the
context among others (Baker,2017) and they will affect that switch of languages. So, the
purposes or reasons why bilinguals use code-switching are numerous so on their functions.
For example, Appel and Muysken (1987) reunite them in six categories as:

1. Referential: the speaker has lack of knowledge or facility in the language.

2. Directive: the speaker excludes to someone into the conversation.
3. Expressive: the speaker stresses the identity into the mixed language.
4. Phatic: the speaker specifies the change of the tone of the conversation.
5. Metalinguistic: the speaker mentions the language that uses into the code-switching.
6. Poetic: the speaker uses literary devices as metaphors, puns, etc.

Thus, these categories involve mostly social reasons about code-switching, excluding, or
including to someone, a part of identity or humoristic and it also fits into the fourteen
purposes that Baker mentions where the reasons are for remarking, clarification, emphasis,
exclusion, or substitution, reasons that has similar meaning as the mentioned before (2017).

As a referential purpose as Appel and Muysken (1987) and Baker (2017) agree that
is mainly for replacing an unknown word from the language or because this word fits better
in the other language. However, there are some distinctions between them, Appel and
Muysken (1987) makes emphasis that is due to a lack of knowledge of the language or of
certain topic afterwards Baker (2017) mentions that is due to the use of languages in
different life’s domains.

In fact, in new research (Yow et al. 2018) about codeswitching and knowledge
about the language it has demonstrated that bilingual adults who use it they have a proper
knowledge about the grammar systems of the two languages and it reflects their linguistic
competency. In the case of children there are debate if codeswitching is due to a confusion
of linguistic systems or they’re still incompetent in the language.

However, Genesse refers that the codeswitching in children show a well

understanding of the two grammatical systems of the languages and it reflects a cognitive
and communicative skill (mentioned in Yow et al. 2018); and even in recent research it has
demonstrated that “children develop the pragmatic competence to adjust their code-
switching behavior depending on the situational context”. (Yow et al. 2018, p.1076).
 Therefore, code-switching could be understood more than only a substitution of
words also the pragmatic purposes it has. As the categories mentioned before code-
switching could be for expressing identity, friendship or social distance, a change of
relationship or even for excluding. The language that the individual decides to choose
would be according to the degree of intimacy, formality that exist between the speakers and
it would be determined by the reference group. (Hakuta, 1999, mentioned in Nguyen,2015)

But noy only the relationship that exist between the speakers or the topic explains
the choice of a language also it’s important to consider the domains and context. For
example, Fishman mentions a study of Puerto Rican community in Jersey, where speaking
English or Spanish brings a different expectation, and each language has with their own
variety (citated in Nguyen, 2015). In this case, English was used for formal situations, at
work and institutional activities whereas Spanish was used for informal activities, at home
for example.

The choice of the language in each domain would change in each linguistic
community. The domains can be different and numerous and once again it would depend
on the community where the study is developed. For example, in Malaysia the code-
switching occurs into Malay-English and both languages are used for informal or formal
settings, but Malay, Chinese or Indian are preferred at home domain (Hamin, S. 2016).

More recently code-switching has been seen as adjusting the style, the speech, the
behavior for a better treatment or even employment opportunities. Consequently, individual
would adjust their behavior and even the personality according to the setting and it would
depend how is perceived the majority/minority language (McCluney et al. 2019). In a study
about Afro-Americans employees demonstrated that code-switching could lead a positive
and negative effect: obtain a better position at work and by their community they can be
seen as “acting white” (McCluney et al. 2019).

The purposes and reasons of code-switching are numerous and there is nor only one
explication or one approach for explaining. However, according to the research code-
switching is a normal phenomenon that occurs into the bilingualism and for example
Genesse et al. (2004) mentions that in children is “a reflection of cognitive and community
competence” and according to The National Center on Cultural and Linguistic
Responsiveness (2019) adults plays an important role when they let children to switch-code
and they give to children simple responses in one language.

Therefore, code-switching is a natural process that can occur from childhood and
adults play an important role for developing or not. The individuals are conscious about
why they choose to speak in one language and each choice have a reason, it not only
because they don’t have the enough knowledge about the language, code-switching could
be a way for express different things, feelings, excluding or including to someone, as a
literacy device and therefore it would have effects into the community they live and
interact, code-switching could give them a sense of identity or recognition into a
monolingual society.
 REFERENCES

Appel, R. and Muysken, P. (1987). Language Contact and Bilingualism. Amsterdam University
Press.

Baker, C. (2017). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (6th Ed.). Multilingual
Matters.

Gardner-Chloros, P. (2009). Code-switching. Cambridge University Press.

Genesee, F., Paradis, J., and Crago, M. B. (2004). Dual language development and
disorders: A handbook on bilingualism and second language learning.
Paul H Brooks Publishing.

Hamin, S. and Nadiah, N. (2016). Functions of Code-Switching: A case of a Mixed Malay-

Chineese Family in the Home Domain. Social Sciences and Humanities, 24 (S), 181-
194. http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/

McCluney, C., Robotham, K., Lee, S., Smith, R. and Durkee, M. (November 15 th, 2019). The
Costs of Code-Switching. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-costs-
of-codeswitching

Morrison, C. (November 1st, 2022). Code-switching. Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/code-switching

Nguyen, T. (2015). Code Switching: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Anchor.

Oxford Learner’s Dictionary (s.f) Spanglish. In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

Obtained Friday 25th,2022, from
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/spanglish

The National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness (February 4th, 2019). Code
Switching: Why It Matters and How to Respond. Head Start. ECLKC.
https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/culture-language/article/code-switching-why-it-matters-
how-respond
Yow, Q., Tan, J. and Flynn, S. (2018). Code-switching as a marker of linguistic competence in
bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21 (5), 1075-1090.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000335