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Examples and Observations

Code-switching refers to alternating between two or more languages or language varieties in conversation. It serves several social and interpersonal functions, such as marking formal vs informal contexts, exerting control in conversations, and expressing ethnic identity. While some language communities strictly separate languages in formal vs informal settings, others freely code-switch in both contexts. Code-switching between African American Vernacular English and Standard American English can be advantageous in professional settings for African Americans. However, defining code-switching as a discrete phenomenon is problematic, as the boundaries between code-switching and other forms of bilingual language mixing are often blurred. While contact between languages, including code-switching, influences language change, the precise role and relationship

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25 views2 pages

Examples and Observations

Code-switching refers to alternating between two or more languages or language varieties in conversation. It serves several social and interpersonal functions, such as marking formal vs informal contexts, exerting control in conversations, and expressing ethnic identity. While some language communities strictly separate languages in formal vs informal settings, others freely code-switch in both contexts. Code-switching between African American Vernacular English and Standard American English can be advantageous in professional settings for African Americans. However, defining code-switching as a discrete phenomenon is problematic, as the boundaries between code-switching and other forms of bilingual language mixing are often blurred. While contact between languages, including code-switching, influences language change, the precise role and relationship

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Jawad Khalid
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Examples and Observations

 "Code-switching performs several functions (Zentella, 1985). First, people may use code-
switching to hide fluency or memory problems in the second language (but this accounts for
about only 10 percent of code switches). Second, code-switching is used to mark switching
from informal situations (using native languages) to formal situations (using the second
language). Third, code-switching is used to exert control, especially between parents and
children. Fourth, code-switching is used to align speakers with others in specific situations
(e.g., defining oneself as a member of an ethnic group). Code-switching also 'functions to
announce specific identities, create certain meanings, and facilitate particular interpersonal
relationships' (Johnson, 2000, p. 184)."
(William B. Gudykunst, Bridging Differences: Effective Intergroup Communication, 4th ed.
Sage, 2004)
 "In a relatively small Puerto Rican neighborhood in New Jersey, some members freely
used code-switching styles and extreme forms of borrowing both in everyday casual talk
and in more formal gatherings. Other local residents were careful to speak only Spanish with
a minimum of loans on formal occasions, reserving code-switching styles for informal talk.
Others again spoke mainly English, using Spanish or code-switching styles only with small
children or with neighbors."
(John J. Gumperz and Jenny Cook-Gumperz, "Introduction: Language and the
Communication of Social Identity.” Language and Social Identity. Cambridge University
Press, 1982)

 African-American Vernacular English and Standard American English


"It is common to find references to black speakers who code
switch between AAVE [African-American Vernacular English] and SAE [Standard American
English] in the presence of whites or others speaking SAE. In employment interviews
(Hopper & WIlliams, 1973; Akinnaso & Ajirotutu, 1982), formal education in a range of
settings (Smitherman, 2000), legal discourse (Garner & Rubin, 1986), and various other
contexts, it is advantageous for blacks to have code-switching competence. For a black
person who can switch from AAVE to SAE in the presence of others who are speaking SAE,
code switching is a skill that holds benefits in relation to the way success is often measured in
institutional and professional settings. However, there are more dimensions to code
switching than the black/white patterns in institutional settings."
(George B. Ray, Language and Interracial Communication in the United States: Speaking
in Black and White. Peter Lang, 2009)

 "A Fuzzy-Edged Concept"


"The tendency to reify code switching as a unitary and clearly identifiable phenomenon has
been questioned by [Penelope] Gardner-Chloros (1995: 70), who prefers to view code
switching as a 'fuzzy-edged concept.' For her, the conventional view of code switching implies
that speakers make binary choices, operating in one code or the other at any given time,
when in fact code switching overlaps with other kinds of bilingual mixture, and the
boundaries between them are difficult to establish. Moreover, it is often impossible to
categorize the two codes involved in code switching as discrete and isolatable."
(Donald Winford, An Introduction to Contact Linguistics. Wiley-Blackwell, 2003)
 Code Switching and Language Change
"The role of CS, along with other symptoms of contact, in language change is still a matter of
discussion. ... On the one hand, the relationship between contact and language change is now
generally acknowledged: few espouse the traditional view that change follows universal,
language-internal principles such as simplification, and takes place in the absence of contact
with other varieties (James Milroy 1998). On the other hand, ... some researchers still
downplay the role of CS in change, and contrast it with borrowing, which is seen as a form of
convergence."
(Penelope Gardner-Chloros, "Contact and Code-Switching." The Handbook of Language
Contact, ed. by Raymond Hickey. Blackwell, 2010)

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