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 APPROVAL SHEET

Title of Dissertation: Understanding Searchers’ Language Selection: Code-Switching in

Online Searching

Name of Candidate: Jieyu Wang

Doctor of Philosophy, 2018

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Dissertation and Abstract Approved: Dr. Anita H. Komlodi
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Department of Information Systems

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Date Approved: ________________

 CURRICULUM VITAE

Name: Jieyu Wang

Degree and date to be conferred: Ph.D., August 2018

Majors and Degrees: Human-Centered Computing, Ph.D., 2018, M.S., 2013

Department of Information Systems

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University of Maryland Baltimore County

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Intercultural Communication, M.A., 2009

Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural

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Communication

University of Maryland Baltimore County

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English, B.A., 2002

Beijing Language and Culture University, B.A., 2002

Publications:

Wang, J., Komlodi, A., & Ka, O. (2018). Understanding Multilingual Web Users’ Code-
Switching Behaviors in Online Searching. In Proc. of ACM ASIST’18. Vancouver, BC,
Canada.

Wang, J., Komlodi, A. (2018). Switching Languages in Online Searching: A Qualitative Study
of Web Users’ Code-Switching Search Behaviors. In Proc. of ACM CHIIR’18, New
Brunswick, NJ, USA.
Wang, J., Komlodi, A. (2016). Understanding Users' Language Selection: Code-Switching in
Online Searches. In Proc. of ACM CHIIR’16. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Wang, J., Joardar, S. (2015). Cultural capital at work in Facebook users' selection of different
languages. In P. L. P. Rau (Ed.), Cross-Cultural Design: Applications in Mobile
Interaction, Education, Health, Transport and Cultural Heritage (pp. 101-109). New
York, NY: Springer.

Weaver, K., Komlodi, A., Wang, J., Joshi, K., Seller, B. (2012). Parents Views and Rules about
Technology: As told by their middle school children in Hungary and India. In Proc. CA
TaC2012. Aarhus, Denmark, 2012.

Wang, J., Komlodi, A. (2012). Children’s Formal and Informal Definition of Technology, In
Proc. of iConference 2012, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Ahmad, R., Wang, J., Hercegfi, K., & Komlodi, A. (2011). Different people Different Styles:

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Impact of Personality in Web Sites Credibility Judgment. In M. J. Smith & G. Salvendy
(Ed.), Human Interface and the Management of Information (pp. 521-527). New York,
NY: Springer.
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Ahmad, R., Komlodi, A., Wang, J., & Hercegfi, K. (2010). The Impact of User Experience
Levels on Web Credibility Judgments, In Proc. of ASIS&T 2010, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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Professional positions held: Lecturer, International College Beijing

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University of Colorado, Denver

Previous Positions: Instructor, International College Beijing

University of Colorado, Denver

Translator, China Central TV

 ABSTRACT

Title of Document: Understanding Searchers’ Language Selection: Code-Switching in

Online Searching

Jieyu Wang, Ph.D., 2018

Directed By: Dr. Anita Komlodi, Department of Information Systems

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The availability of information in different languages on the Internet allows multilingual web

users to search in multiple languages for the same search task. When web users can search in
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multiple languages, they may combine these languages in various ways during searching. Few

studies have examined multilingual web users’ code-switching search behaviors in two or more
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languages online. This work bridges this gap, aiming to investigate the factors that impact code-

switching search behaviors of native Chinese web users who speak English as their second or
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foreign language (L2 users) and explore the L2 web users’ code-switching search patterns and

strategies when they seek information online.

This dissertation consists of two phases. The Phase I study confirms that code-switching search

behaviors naturally occur when L2 web users search for information online by using the methods

of diaries and interviews. Findings highlight that code-switching occurred in a wide range of

search topics in L2 web users’ daily searching. The factors, such as language proficiency and

translation, information sufficiency, cultural preferences, and feelings and attitudes, impacted L2

web users’ situational and metaphorical code-switching search behaviors. In the Phase II study,
controlled lab experiments and follow-up interviews were conducted so as to study L2 web

users’ code-switching information seeking behaviors in more detail during searching. This in-

depth study revealed the L2 web users’ code-switching search models, strategies, and more

factors such as context, information verification, language image, and website credibility that

impacted their code-switching behaviors.

The purpose of this work is to describe code-switching search behaviors and to provide design

implications for multilingual search systems. It contributes to a detailed study of L2 web users’

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language selection search behaviors from an interdisciplinary perspective using sociolinguistics

and information technology.

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UNDERSTANDING SEARCHERS’ LANGUAGE SELECTION: CODE-SWITCHING IN

ONLINE SEARCHING

By

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Jieyu Wang

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Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the

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University of Maryland, Baltimore County in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Human-Centered Computing

2018




ProQuest Number: 10846657




All rights reserved

INFORMATION TO ALL USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.

In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,
a note will indicate the deletion.



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ProQuest 10846657

Published by ProQuest LLC (2018 ). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author.


All rights reserved.
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This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code
Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.


ProQuest LLC.
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P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346
 © Copyright by

Jieyu Wang

2018

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 Acknowledgements

I would like to thank:

My parents and my sister;

My advisor, Dr. Anita Komlodi;

My committee members: Dr. Omar Ka, Dr. Lina Zhou, Dr. Kuber, and Dr. Jinie Pak.

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 Table of Contents
Chapter I Introduction…………………………………………………………………...1
1.1 Background……………………………………………………………………….1
1.2 Contributions……………………………………………………………………...3
1.3 Dissertation Summary ………………………………………...………………….4
Chapter II Literature Review…………………………………………………………….8
2.1Second Language Acquisition…………………………………………………….8
2.2Users’ Second Language Behaviors in Technology……………………………...12
2.3 Code-switching……………………………………………………………….….16
2.3.1 Definition………………………………………………………………16
2.3.2 Discourse-related Code-switching……………………………………..17
2.3.3 Code-switching in Technology………………………………………...19
Chapter III Previous data collection………………………………………………………24
3.1 Second language online searching: User behaviors and challenges……………..24
3.1.1 Introduction………………………………………………………….....24
3.1.2 Participants……………………………………………………………..24

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3.1.3 Methods……………………………………………………………...…25
3.1.4 Data Analysis……………………………………………………..…....26
3.1.5 Results/Discussion…………………………………………………..…27
3.1.6 Future Work……………………………………………………………36
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3.2 Code-switching on Facebook………………………………………………….....36
3.2.1 Introduction…………………………………………...………………..37
3.2.2 Methods………………………………………………………………...38
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3.2.3 Results…………………………………………………………...……..40
3.2.4 Discussion…………………………………………………...…………41
3.2.5 Conclusion and Future Work………………………...………………...48
3.3 Code-switching within a U. S. University Classroom: When, how and why it happens
with heritage students………………………………………………………………...49
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3.3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………….49
3.3.2 Participants……………………………………………………………..50
3.3.3 Methods………………………………………………………………...51
3.3.4 Results and Discussion………………………………………...……….52
3.3.5 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...56
3.4 Outline of Previous Studies’ Results……………………………………………..57
Chapter IV Research Questions and Methodology……..……………………………….59
4.1 Research Questions…………………………........................................................59
4.2 Methodology…………………………..................................................................60
4.2.1 Phase I Diary Studies and In-Context Interviews………………………............62
4.2.1.1 Participants…………………………………………………………...63
4.2.1.2 Demographic Questionnaire………………………………………….63
4.2.1.3 Diary Studies…………………………………………………...…….65
4.2.1.4 In-context interviews...……………………………………………….66
4.2.1.5 Data Analysis………………………………………………………....68
4.2.1.5.1 Descriptive Data Analysis…………………………………..68
4.2.1.5.2 Qualitative Data Analysis: Open-Coding……………….…..68
4.2.1.5.3 Qualitative Data Analysis: Axial-Coding………………..….68

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 4.2.1.6 Results of Pilot Testing……………………………………………..…69
4.2.2 Phase II Controlled Lab-based Experiments………….….……………………...69
4.2.2.1 Participants……………………………………….……………………70
4.2.2.2 Procedures……………………………………………………………..70
4.2.2.3 Instruments..……………………………………………………………71
4.2.2.3.1 Tasks…………………………………………………………71
4.2.2.3.2 Protocol………………………………………………………73
4.2.2.3.3 Experiment Observation……………………………………..73
4.2.2.3.4 Screen Video Analysis……………………………………….73
4.2.2.3.5 Follow-up Interviews………………….……………………..73
4.2.2.4 Analytical Approach…...……………………………………………....74
4.2.2.4.1 Descriptive Data Analysis……………………………………74
4.2.2.4.2 Observation and Video Data Analysis……………………….74
4.2.2.4.3 Interview Data Analysis……………………………………...76
4.2.2.5 The Pilot Study…………………………………………………………77
4.2.2.6 Limitations……………………………………………………………...78

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Chapter V Results……..……………………………………………………………………..79
5.1 Findings from Phase I……………………………………………………………....79
5.1.1 Participants’ Demographics………...……………………………………..80
5.1.1.1 Gender…………………………………………………………...80
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5.1.1.2 Age……………………………………………………………....81
5.1.1.3 Major and Degree………………………………………………..81
5.1.1.4 English Language Proficiency, Code-Switching Frequency, and
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International Experiences………………………………………………..82
5.1.1.5 Participant Limitation……………………………………………84
5.1.2 Topics of Code-Switching Episodes………………………………………85
5.1.3 Functions of Code-Switching……………………………………………...90
5.1.3.1 Situational Code-Switching in Language and Information
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Sufficiency………………………………………………………………91
5.1.3.1.1 Situational Code-Switching in Language and
Translation………………………………………………………92
5.1.3.1.2 Situational Code-Switching in Information
Sufficiency……...........................................................................94
5.1.3.1.2.1 Situational Code-Switching in Information Sufficiency:
Quality of Information………………………………………….94
5.1.3.1.2.2 Situational Code-Switching in Information Sufficiency:
Quantity of Information………………………………………...95
5.1.3.1.2.3 Situational Code-Switching in Information Sufficiency:
Both Cultural Perspectives of Information………………...…...97
5.1.3.2 Metaphorical Code-Switching in Cultural Preferences, Feelings
and Attitudes……………………………………………………………98
5.1.3.2.1 Metaphorical Code-Switching in Cultural Preferences of
Mixed Language Queries……………………………………….98
5.1.3.2.2 Metaphorical Code-Switching in Feelings and
Attitudes………………………………………………………...100
5.2 Finding from Phase II…………………………….………….….……………….…102

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 5.2.1 Participants’ Demographics……………………..…………………...…...102
5.2.1.1 Gender…………………………………………………………..102
5.2.1.2 Age…………………………………………………...………....103
5.2.1.3 English Language Proficiency, Major, Degree, and Code-
Switching Frequency …………………………………………………..103
5.2.2 Search Engines…………………………………..................................….104
5.2.3 Queries and Query Reformulations…………………………………...….105
5.2.4 Factors Impacted Users’ Situational and Metaphorical Code-Switching...107
5.2.4.1 Situational Code-Switching…………………………...………..108
5.2.4.1.1 Situational Code-Switching due to Information
Sufficiency…………………………………………………...…108
5.2.4.1.1.1 Situational Code-Switching due to Information
Sufficiency: Quantity and Quality of the Results…………...….108
5.2.4.1.1.2. Situational Code-Switching due to Information
Sufficiency: Information in Both Cultural Perspectives………..109
5.2.4.1.2 Situational Code-Switching due to Language Proficiency

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and Translation………………………………………………….109
5.2.4.1.2.1 Situational Code-Switching due to Language
Proficiency………..…………………………………………….110
5.2.4.1.2.2 Situational Code-Switching due to Translation….....111
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5.2.4.1.3 Situational Code-Switching due to Information
Verification……………………………………………………..111
5.2.4.1.4 Situational Code-Switching due to Context…………..113
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5.2.4.2 Metaphorical Code-Switching………………………………….114
5.2.4.2.1 Metaphorical Code-Switching due to Language
Image……………………………………………………………114
5.2.4.2.2 Metaphorical Code-Switching due to Feelings and
Attitudes…………………………………………………...……115
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5.2.4.2.2.1 Metaphorical Code-Switching due to Feelings and

Attitudes: Sense of Belonging……………………………….…115
5.2.4.2.2.2 Metaphorical Code-Switching due to Feelings and
Attitudes: Psychological Status……………………..………….116
5.2.4.2.3 Metaphorical Code-Switching due to Cultural
Preferences……………………………………………………..117
5.2.4.2.4 Metaphorical Code-Switching due to Website
Credibility……………………………………..…………….…117
Chapter VI Discussion………………………………………………………………………..120
6.1 Code-Switching in Sociolinguistics and HCI……………………….……………..120
6.2 Topics of Code-switching Episodes and the Roles of Languages…………………121
6.3 Comparison of Reasons and Factors Impacted Situational and Metaphorical Code-
Switching Search Behaviors in Phase I and II………………………………………….121
6.4 Code-Switching Search Models…………………………………………………….125
6.5 Code-Switching Search Strategies………………………………………………….138
6.6 Design Implications………………………………………………………………...141
6.6.1 Design Implications: Simple Vocabulary, Checklists, and Query
Recommendations………………………………………………………………141

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 6.6.1.1 Simple Vocabulary…………………………………………......143
6.6.1.2 Checklists………………………………………………………143
6.6.1.3 Query Recommendations…….………………………………...144
6.6.2 Design Implications: Translation Tools………………………………….145
6.6.3 Design Implications: Websites’ Different Language Versions…………..147
6.6.4 Design Implications: Providing Sufficient Information………………….150
6.6.5 Design Implications: Support for Comparing Information from Multiple
Sources…………………………………………………………………………151
6.6.6 Design Implications: Culturally adaptable UI design……………………153
6.6.7 Design Implications: Enhance Design Features to Build L2 User Trust...155
Chapter VII Conclusions…………………………………………..………………………..157
7.1 Contributions………………….……………………………………………………157
7.2 Limitations and Challenges………………………………………………………...159
7.3 Future Work…………………………………………………………………….….160
7.4 Related Publications………………………………………………………………..161
Appendices……………………………………………………………………………...……. 162

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Appendix 1 UMBC IRB Approvals…………………………………………................162
Appendix 2 Recruitment Description…………………………………………………..167
Appendix 3 Demographic Questionnaire………………………………………………168
Appendix 4 In-Context Interview Guide……………………………………………….179
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Appendix 5 Controlled Lab Experiments….…………………………………………...180
Appendix 6 Topics of Code-Switching in Phase I……………………………………..183
Appendix 7 The Factors and Reasons for Code-Switching in the Phase I Episodes…..185
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Appendix 8 The Factors and Reasons for Code-Switching in Phase II………………..186

References………………………………………………………………………...…………...188
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 List of Tables

Table 1: Task Time Comparison in Second Language Online Searching………………………28

Table 2: Example of Observation Note Analysis in Phase II…………………………………...75
Table 3: Example of Video Analysis in Phase II………………………………………………..76
Table 4: Gender of the Participants in Phase I…………………………………………………..81
Table 5: Age of the Participants in Phase I……………………………………………………...81
Table 6: Degree and Major of the Participants in Phase I……………………………………….82
Table 7: Language Proficiency, CS Frequency, International Experience in Phase I…………..84
Table 8: Sample of Code-Switching Episodes and Related Examples………………………….87
Table 9: Topics of Code-Switching Episodes in Phase I………………………………………..87
Table 10: Numbers of Code-Switching with Factors and Reasons in the Phase I Interviews…..91
Table 11: Gender of the Participants in Phase II…………………………………………….....103
Table 12: Age of the participants in Phase II…………………………………………………..103

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Table 13: Language Proficiency and CS Frequency in Phase II……………………………….104
Table 14: Search Engines the Participants Used in Phase II…………………………………...105
Table 15: Numbers of Queries and Query Reformulations in Phase II……………….………..106
Table 16: T-Test of Queries and Query Reformulations in Phase II……………………...……107
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Table 17: Numbers of Situational and Metaphorical Code-Switching with Factors and Reasons in
Phase II………………………………………………………………………………………….108
Table 18: Comparison of the Factors and Reasons of CS in Phase I and II……………………124
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Table 19: Languages the Participants Started with in Phase II………………………………....125
Table 20: L2 web users’ Search Strategies…………………………………………...………...139
Table 21: Results and Design Implication……………………………………………………...142
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 List of Figures

Figure 1: Demographic Questionnaire Sample Questions………………………………….……64

Figure 2: Sample of Self-Report Diary…………………………………………………………..66
Figure 3: In-context Interview Sample Questions……………………………………………….66
Figure 4: Sample of In-Context Interview (Participant 1) in Phase I……………………………67
Figure 5: Phase II Tasks in English and Chinese…………………………………………….......71
Figure 6: Sample of the Pilot Study for Phase II………………………………………………...78
Figure 7: TOEFL Score Descriptors…………………………………………………………......83
Figure 8: IELTS Bandscore Description…………………………………………………………83
Figure 9: Sample of the Episodes in Diaries……………………………………………………..86
Figure 10: Relationship of Episode, Search Task, Instance of Code-Switching, Query and Query
Reformulation……………………………………………………………………………………86
Figure 11: Hierarchy of Code-Switching and Reasons and Factors in Phase I………………...123

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Figure 12: Hierarchy of Code-Switching and Reasons and Factors in Phase II………………..123
Figure 13: L2 Web Users’ Code-Switching Search Model for the News Task Part I……….....128
Figure 14: L2 Web Users’ Code-Switching Search Model for the News Task Part II…………130
Figure 15: L2 Web Users’ Code-Switching Search Model for the Travel Task Part I………....132
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Figure 16: L2 Web Users’ Code-Switching Search Model for the Travel Task Part II………..134
Figure 17: L2 Web Users’ Code-Switching Search Model for the Medical Task Part I…….....136
Figure 18: L2 Web Users’ Code-Switching Search Model for the Medical Task Part II……....137
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Figure 19: Design Example Mayo Clinic Symptom Checker………………………………….144
Figure 20: Design Example Google Translate………………………………………………….146
Figure 21: Design Example Baidu Translate…………………………………………………...147
Figure 22: Design Example Website’s Language Option……………………………………....148
Figure 23: Design Example BBC Different Language Versions……………………………….148
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Figure 24: Design Example TripAdvisor in Chinese Provides English Translation…………...149

Figure 25: Design Example Baidu Baike Provides English Translation……………………….150
Figure 26: Design Example Information Verification………………………………………….152
Figure 27: Design Example Temperature in Celsius and Fahrenheit…………………………..154
Figure 28: Design Example Official Fiji Website……………………………………...………155

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Chapter I Introduction

1.1 Background

Since the Internet was introduced, the number of web users who search for information on it has

increased to 3.366 billion (Internet World Stats, 2015). In 2012 26.8% of internet users were

English language users and 56.6% of the information on the web was in English (Internet World

Stats, 2012). However, as the Internet has developed and the number of web users who are

speakers of other languages has increased, the role of languages on the web is becoming more

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important.

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2003), in the United States 18% of the population is

bilingual or multilingual. While in Europe, a European Commission survey suggested that 56%
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of the respondents speak two languages (Marian & Shook, 2012). As a whole, only 40% of the

world population is monolingual, whereas 60% of the world population is bilingual, trilingual, or
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multilingual (ILanguages, 2015). Though it is hard to investigate how many non-native English-

speaking web users use English websites (L2 users), Kachru (2005) estimated there were over

200 million Chinese people who use English.

Researchers in the field of technology have been studying how these L2 users interact with the

information on English websites. Recent studies have focused on different factors that influence

users’ second language web surfing such as language proficiency and culture, domain

knowledge, web accessibility in other languages, and language translation (Kralisch & Berendt,

2005; Nzomo, 2012; Marlow et al., 2008). However, little research has been conducted on the

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phenomena of users with multilingual backgrounds searching for information by switching

between their native languages and second/foreign languages in order to get more satisfying

results.

Code-switching phenomena have been studied in sociolinguistics. A group of researchers have

defined and analyzed code-switching in different social contexts (Gumperz, 1982; Myers-

Scotton, 1993; Auer, 1998; Woolard, 2004). Here we define users’ native/first language (L1) as

the language that a speaker acquires first chronologically and speaks most fluently as a result of

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other speakers in his environment speaking the same language. Second language (L2) is the

language that a speaker speaks other than his native language. Meanwhile, this language is
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spoken as a native language in his immediate environment (Ringbom, 1980). As a comparison, a

foreign language refers to the language other than a speaker’s native language. This language is
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hardly spoken in his immediate environment (Ringbom, 1980). Discourse-related code-

switching between one’s native languages and second/foreign languages has been extensively
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studied in sociolinguistics. Few studies have been done on web users’ code-switching behaviors

when they seek information online.

My research involves conducting demographic questionnaires, in-context interviews, controlled

lab-based eye-tracking studies, and follow-up semi-structured interviews to investigate web

users’ code-switching behaviors between their native language and their second/foreign language

when they search online. Ringbom (1980) pointed out that the difference between a second

language and a foreign language is that the second language is spoken in the immediate

environment of the speaker while the foreign language is not spoken in that environment. For

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example, in this study 25 participants whose native language is Chinese and whose

second/foreign language is English have been recruited. Participants who live in China are

considered web users who search in a foreign language. Participants who stay in the US within

an English environment are considered web users who search in their second language. Overall,

the research investigates users’ language switching between their native language (Chinese) and

their second/foreign language (English) when they search for information online.

1.2 Contributions

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The goal of this paper is to explore different factors that impact multilingual users’ code-

switching behaviors during online searching and the roles of languages that they use. The

research has three major contributions:

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1. It contributes to a detailed analysis of multilingual users’ code-switching behaviors
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in searching where little technological research has been done before.

2. Moreover, the studies in this work have been performed by applying concepts in
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sociolinguistics and technology from a broader interdisciplinary perspective.

3. It provides design implications for website designers concerning multilingual users’

code-switching search strategies, habits, and needs.

The detailed analysis of multilingual users’ code-switching behaviors includes examining when

and how the users code-switch and the reasons for their behaviors. Prior work has examined

multilingual users’ second language proficiency and cultural impact, domain knowledge, other

languages’ web accessibility, and language translation (Berendt & Kralisch, 2009; Kralisch &

Berendt, 2005; Marlow et al., 2008; Nzomo et al., 2012). This work explains multilingual users’

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code-switching behaviors by applying second language theories and sociolinguistic code-

switching concepts. This study will be based on previous research in both information

technology and sociolinguistics. Outcomes of the study are expected to include design guidelines

that are devised from a broader interdisciplinary perspective.

The paper aims to provide implications to support website design for multilingual web users,

especially non-native English users, who seek information on English websites. The implications

are for mixed language search interfaces which help designers further understand what

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challenges multilingual web users face when they switch languages and their information needs,

habits, search pattern, and search strategies. Thus, better user-centered websites may be created
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or refined to satisfy more multilingual web users’ information needs.
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1.3 Dissertation Summary

Chapter II Literature Review

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This chapter reviews related research in three research areas of different disciplines: second

language acquisition, second language behaviors in technology, and code-switching in

sociolinguistics and information technology. It aims to provide a wide range of research that has

been done to build a strong basis for this research. This chapter explains L2 web users’ search

behaviors from the factors that impact their second language acquisition to the factors that affect

their second language retrieval. It also describes the related research about code-switching in

information technology as well as in sociolinguistics.

Chapter III Previous Data Collection

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This chapter presents three related studies that have been done prior to this research. The first

study examined native English web users’ information seeking behaviors in their L2 language,

Spanish. It explored language and cultural factors that impacted their searching and the

challenges they faced. This study provided prior research experiences for this dissertation from

the L2 users’ information seeking perspective. The second study explored how multilingual web

users switched different languages to interact with information on Facebook. It emphasized the

impact of factors such as language proficiency, cultural capital, context, locality, and audience

on web users’ code-switching behaviors on Facebook. It offered effective research methods and

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prior experiences to allow further investigation of users’ code-switching behaviors on websites.

The third study examined participants’ discourse-related code-switching behaviors in a physical

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classroom, aiming to explain how code-switching behaviors have been analyzed in the

sociolinguistic field. It enabled me to investigate web users’ code-switching behaviors when

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they search for information online from an interdisciplinary perspective.
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Chapter IV Research Questions and Methods

This chapter first states six research questions for the Phase 1 and 2 studies. This work explores

when, how, and why non-native English web users search for information by switching between

their native language and their second/foreign language and examines the roles of the languages

that they use. L2 web users’ code-switching search patterns during searching have been

investigated in this research.

This chapter then describes the designed methods for this dissertation. The participants in this

dissertation are native Chinese web users who search for information using English as their

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second/foreign language. In Phase I self-report diaries and in-context interviews confirm that L2

web users code-switch and explore the reasons that L2 web users switch languages during their

searching. In-context interviews allow users to search for information and switch languages in a

natural way. In Phase I controlled lab experiments and follow-up interviews further examine the

factors that impact L2 web users’ code-switching behaviors and investigate these web users’

search patterns and strategies when they switch languages during searching. Two pilot studies

have been done for Phase 1 and one pilot study has been done for Phase 2 after the IRB approval

in August 2015. In this work, 10 participants have been recruited and completed the experiments

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in Phase I when the saturation was reached in the in-context interviews. Fifteen participants have

performed the tasks in Phase II when the saturation was reached in follow-up interviews.
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Chapter V Results
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This chapter reveals the findings from the Phase I and II studies. The data showed that code-

switching occurred during the participants’ information seeking process. They code-switched
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when they had language problems, needed translation, or searched for travel, academic, domain

knowledge information, and daily life information such as shopping and medicine. The two

studies figured out the factors that impacted the L2 web users’ situational and metaphorical code-

switching behaviors during their searching.

Chapter VI Discussion

This chapter presents and interprets the L2 web users’ code-switching search models and

strategies for their searching. It also provides design implications which are revealed from the

different themes of the results.

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Chapter VII Conclusion

This chapter emphasizes the contributions of this work. It explains the limitations and the future

work. It also presents all my publications related to this dissertation.

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