The Concept of Switching

The concept of switching
“Code-switching” is switching between two languages or language variations in one

conversation across a sentence or clause boundaries.
Who could be able to do Code-Switching?
Linguistic code-switching is mostly used within bilingual and multilingual

communities, and there are many reasons to use this method, such as the need to
fit in with a group, solidarity, or to convey topics and concepts that might be easier
to explain in a specific language.
The Reasons of Code-Switching
1. Participant
People sometimes switch code within a domain or social situation. When
there is some obvious change in the situation, such as the arrival of a new
person, it is easy to explain the switch.’
Example: In a Polish family living in Lancashire in the 1950s, the family
used Polish in the home. When the local English-speaking priest called,
however, everyone switched to English. In both of these cases, the switch
indicates a change in the social situation and takes a positive account of the
presence of a new participant.
2. Solidarity
A speaker may similarly switch to another language as a signal of group
membership and shared ethnicity with an addressee. Even speakers who are
not very proficient in a second language may use brief phrases and words for
this purpose.
Example: The Maori greeting is an expression of solidarity. Such switches
are often very short and they are made primarily for social reasons – to
signal and actively construct the speaker’s ethnic identity and solidarity with
the addressee.
3. Status
A switch may also indicate a change in the other dimensions mentioned in
the first chapter, such as the status relations between people or the
formality of their interaction.
Example: More formal relationships, which sometimes involve status
differences too, such as a doctor–patient or administrator–client, often
involve the H variety or code: e.g. Bokmål in Hemnesberget, Spanish in
Paraguay, standard Swahili in Bukavu.
Friendly relationships involving minimal social distance, such as neighbors
or friends.
4. Topic
Bilinguals often find it easier to discuss particular topics in one code rather
than another. They often switch to English for considerable stretches of
speech. The technical topics are firmly associated with a particular code and
the topic itself can trigger a switch to the appropriate code. The switch
involves just the words that the speaker is claiming the quoted person said.
The speaker gives the impression – which may or may not be accurate – that
these are the exact words the speaker used. A related reason for switching is
to quote a proverb or a well-known saying in another language, for example:
Example 12
[The Mandarin Chinese is in italics. THE TRANSLATION IS IN SMALL
CAPITALS.]
A group of Chinese students from Beijing are discussing Chinese customs.
Li: People here get divorced too easily. Like exchanging faulty goods. In
China it’s not the same. Jià goǔ súi goǔ , jià jī súi jī. [IF YOU HAVE
MARRIED A DOG, YOU FOLLOW A DOG, IF YOU’VE MARRIED A
CHICKEN, YOU FOLLOW A CHICKEN.]
5. Switching for Affective Function

Not only for the purposes of accurate quotation, code-switching can be used
to get an affective function such as, amusement, dramatic effect, a sign of
anger, etc. A language switch in the opposite direction, from the L to the H
variety, is often used to express disapproval. So, a person may code-switch
because they are angry.
For example, in a Chinese immigrant family in the north-east of England,
Chinese is the usual language of the home. When a mother switched to
English to ask her son why he had not finished his homework, he recognized
he was being indirectly told that he had better finish his homework before
starting to play on the computer.
Metaphorical Sode-Switching
It refers to the tendency in a bilingual or multilingual community to switch codes

(language or language variety) in conversation in order to discuss a topic that
would normally fall into another conversational domain. "An important distinction
is made from situational switching, where alternation between varieties redefines a
situation, being a change in governing norms, and metaphorical switching, where
alternation enriches a situation, allowing for allusion to more than one social
relationship within the situation." For example, at a family dinner, where you
would expect to hear a more colloquial, less prestigious variety of language (called
"L variety" in studies of diglossia), family members might switch to a highly
prestigious form (H variety) in order to discuss school or work. At work (where you
would expect high prestige language) interlocutors may switch to a low prestige
variety when discussing family.
Lexical Borrowing
When speaking a second language, people will often use a term from their first
language because they don’t know the appropriate word in their second language.
These ‘switches’ are triggered by lack of vocabulary. People may also borrow words
from another language to express a concept or describe an object for which there is
no obvious word available in the language they are using. Borrowing involves single
words (mainly nouns) and it’s motivated by lexical need. It is very different from
switching where speakers have a genuine choice about which word or phrase they
will use in which language.
Borrowings often differ from code-switches in form too. Borrowed words are usually
adapted to the speaker’s first language. They are pronounced and used
grammatically as if they were part of the speaker’s first language. By contrast,
people who are rapidly code-switching tend to switch completely between two
linguistic systems – sounds, grammar and vocabulary. For example, the word of
‘elegant’ in English is borrowed from French.
Linguistic Constraints
Sociolinguists who study the kind of rapid code-switching described in the previous
section have been interested in identifying not only the functions or meaning of
switches, and the stylistic motivations for switches, but also the points at which
switches occur in utterances. It has been suggested for example that switches only
occur within sentences at points where the grammars of both languages match
each other. This is called ‘the equivalence constraint’. So, you may only switch
between an adjective and a noun if both languages use the same order for that
adjective and noun, for example:
English French Possible switch point?

red boat bateau rouge NO
big house grande YES: i.e. ‘big maison’ or
maison ‘grande house’
Attitudes to Code-Switching
People are often unaware of the fact that they code-switch. When their attention is
drawn to this behavior, however, many tend to apologize for it, condemn it, and
generally indicate disapproval of mixing languages.
Reactions to code-switching styles are negative in many communities, despite the

fact that proficiency in intra-sentential code-switching requires good control of both
codes. In some countries where multilingualism is the norm, attitudes to proficient
code-switching are much more positive.
Attitudes to a minority language are very important in determining not only its use
in a code-switching style but also its very chances of survival.
Here, the focus has moved from macro-level sociolinguistic patterns and norms
observable in multilingual and bilingual contexts to micro-level interactions
between individuals in these contexts. Individuals draw on their knowledge of the
norms when they talk to one another. They may choose to conform to them and
follow the majority pattern, using the H variety when giving a formal lecture, for
example. Or they may decide to challenge the norms and sow the seeds of potential
change, writing poetry in the L variety, for instance. People also draw on their
knowledge of sociolinguistic patterns and their social meanings when they code-
switch within a particular domain. Skillful communicators may dynamically
construct many different facets of their social identities in interaction.
Conclusion
The points at which people switch codes are likely to vary according to many
different factors, such as which codes are involved, the functions of the particular
switch and the level of proficiency in each code of the people switching. So, it is
suggested, only very proficient bilinguals will switch within sentences, whereas
people who are less proficient will tend to switch at sentence boundaries (inter-
sentential switching), or use only short fixed phrases or tags in one language on the
end of sentences in the other language.

The Concept of Switching

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The Concept of Switching

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The concept of switching

“Code-switching” is switching between two languages or language variations in one

Who could be able to do Code-Switching?

Linguistic code-switching is mostly used within bilingual and multilingual

The Reasons of Code-Switching

5. Switching for Affective Function

It refers to the tendency in a bilingual or multilingual community to switch codes

English French Possible switch point?

Reactions to code-switching styles are negative in many communities, despite the

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