Code-switching: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Changing between languages during a single conversation}}

{{About|alternating between two or more languages in speech}}

{{distinguish|Plurilingualism|Situational code-switching}}

[[File:My SARAH G INTERVIEW experience (raw video).webm|thumb|[[Sarah Geronimo]] and an interviewer code-switch between English and [[Filipino language|Filipino]] {{see below|{{section link||Filipino and English}}, below}}.]]

[[File:Maya_Diab_interview_in_Morocco_-_Oct_28,_2017.webm|start=43|end=52|thumb|[[Maya Diab]] code-switches between English and [[Lebanese Arabic]] mid-sentence.]]

{{sociolinguistics}}

In [[linguistics]], '''code-switching''' or '''language alternation''' occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more [[language]]s, or [[language varieties]], in the context of a single conversation or situation.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} These alternations are generally intended to influence the relationship between the speakers, for example, suggesting that they may share identities based on similar linguistic histories.

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=== Code-switching and language transfer ===

There is much debate in the field of linguistics regarding the distinction between code-switching and [[language transfer]].<ref name="Treffers-Daller20092">{{Citecite journalbook|last=Treffers-Daller|first=J.|editor2-first=Almeida Jacqueline|editor2-last=Toribio|editor1-first=Barbara E|editor1-last=Bullock|year=2009|titlechapter=Code-switching and transfer: An exploration of similarities and differences|url=http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/20711/1/code-switching.pdf|journaltitle=The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Code-switching|pages=58–74|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511576331.005|isbn=9780511576331|s2cid=58409628 |access-date=2019-07-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122213609/http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/20711/1/code-switching.pdf|archive-date=2020-01-22|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Jeanine Treffers-Daller, "considering CS [code-switching] and [language] transfer as similar phenomena is helpful if one wants to create a theory that is as parsimonious as possible, and therefore it is worth attempting to aim for such a unified approach, unless there is compelling evidence that this is not possible."<ref name="Treffers-Daller20092" />

Not all linguists agree on whether they should be considered similar phenomena. In some cases, linguists refer to the benefits and disadvantages of [[language transfer]] as two separate phenomena, i.e., language transference and language interference, respectively.<ref name="Brice20152">{{Citecite journalbook|last=Brice|first=A.E.|year=2015|titlechapter=Multilingual Language Development|journaltitle=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences|volume=2|pages=57–64|doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.23126-7|isbn=9780080970875}}</ref> In such views, these two kinds of [[language transfer]], along with code-switching, comprise what is known as cross-linguistic influence.<ref name="Brice20152" />

Part of the debate may be solved by simply clarifying some key definitions. Evidently, linguists sometimes use different terminology to refer to the same phenomenon, which can make it confusing to distinguish between two phenomena from one another in investigative discourse. For instance, psycholinguists frequently make use of the term language switching in reference to the "controlled and willed switching" to another language. However, this term is hardly used by linguists working on natural code-switching.<ref name="Treffers-Daller20092" />

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* {{em|Intra-word switching}} occurs ''within'' a word itself, such as at a [[morpheme]] boundary.<ref name="Types" /> In [[Shona language|Shona]]-English switching one could say, "But ''ma''-day-s ''a-no a-ya ha-ndi-si ku-mu-on-a.'' ("But ''these'' days ''I don't see him much.''") Here the English plural morpheme -''s'' appears alongside the Shona prefix ''ma''-, which also marks plurality.<ref name="Winford" />

Most code-switching studies primarily focus on intra-sentential switching, asbecause it creates many hybrid grammargrammatical structures that require explanation. TheBy contrast, the other types typically involve utterances that simply follow the grammar of onea single language. orWithin the other. Intraintra-sentential switching, cantwo major patterns are commonly bedistinguished: alternational orand insertional. In alternational code-switching, a new mixed grammar emerges that iscombines a combination of the grammarselements of the two languages involved. InsertionalIn insertional code-switching, involvesby "the insertion ofcontrast, elements from one language are inserted into the morphosyntactic frame of the other."<ref name="Winford" /> Corroborating this typology, recent empirical work on social-media conversations reports that insertional code-mixing predominates, followed by congruent lexicalization and alternation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Aburqayiq |first1=Asma Mohammad Hussein |last2=Altakhaineh |first2=Abdel Rahman Mitib |last3=Alsariera |first3=Anas Hashem |date=26 April 2025 |title=Code-mixing between Arabic and English among Jordanians on social media |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311886.2025.2491705 |journal=Cogent Social Sciences |language=en |doi=10.1080/23311886.2025.2491705|doi-access=free }}</ref>

A {{em|portmanteau sentence}} is a particular type of intrasentential code-switching. It is a hybrid involving structures from two different languages in one sentence<ref name="Azuma-1990" />{{rp|199}} in which an item in one language is used as a bridge between portions of the sentence in languages which have differing [[word order|word order typologies]].<ref name="Azuma-1990">{{cite book |editor1-last=Hoji |editor1-first=Hajime |editor2-last=Clancy |editor2-first=Patricia |last1=Azuma |first1=Shoji |title=Japanese/Korean Linguistics: Volume 2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w5tVDKFqZscC&pg=PA193 |year=1990 |publisher=Center for the Study of Language (CSLI) |isbn=978-1-881526-14-8 |chapter=Word Order vs. Word Class: Portmanteau Sentences in Bilinguals}}</ref>{{rp|193–194}} It is more of a "syntactic blend" than the kind of lexical blend one sees in [[portmanteau word]]s such as ''smog''.<ref name="Chan-2015">{{cite journal |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |last=Chan |first=Brian Hok-Shing |title=Portmanteau Constructions, Phrase Structure, and Linearization |issn=1664-1078 |volume=6 |date=21 December 2015 |page=1851 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01851 |pmid=26733894 |pmc=4685654 |quote=The term "portmanteau" is supposed to refer to "blends" originally (e.g., "smog" that is blended from "smoke" and "fog"). Portmanteau constructions in code-switching obviously do not refer to such lexical blends but they are more like "syntactic blends" (e.g., SVOV is blended from SVO and SOV).|doi-access=free }}; anthologized in: {{cite book |editor1-last=Alexiadou |editor1-first=Artemis |editor2-last=Lohndal |editor2-first=Terje |title=The Grammar of Multilingualism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x8G0DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 |date=31 October 2016 |publisher=Frontiers Media SA |isbn=978-2-88945-012-1 |page=99}}</ref>

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=== Applications in language learning process ===

The application of code-switching under such a condition can be divided into two main different situations: one is the interaction between learners and the educator, and the other is the communication between students and classmates.<ref name="Hancock"/> Linguists and educators have different opinions and views toward the use of code-switching under different situations in language teaching, so the two situations will be discussed separately. Assuming that both learners and language teachers have the same native language background, which means that everyone can use their same native language to build normal communication. In addition, the situation of foreign teachers (whose native language is the target language), and students from diverse backgrounds (each student has a different native language) are not included.<ref name=Cahyani>{{cite journal|last1=Cahyani|first1=Hilda|first2=Michele|last2=de Courcy|first3=Jenny|last3=Barnett|title=Teachers' Code-Switching in Bilingual Classrooms: Exploring Pedagogical and Sociocultural Functions|journal=[[International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism]]|volume=21|year=2018|issue=4 |pages=465–479|doi=10.1080/13670050.2016.1189509 |s2cid=147719529 |url=https://unisa.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/view/delivery/61USOUTHAUS_INST/12142960180001831|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

According to Grace Cornell Gonzales and Emily Machado, many teachers adapt their teaching styles to code-switching because they believe that it allows students to feel as if they are maintaining their full identity.<ref name="Cornell Gonzales">Cornell Gonzales, Grace. Machado, Emily. "Taking the Leap: Supporting Multilingual Writers Through Translanguaging." ''The Reading Teacher''. Vol. 75, no.6, 2022. pp. 685–692.</ref> Some educators allow students to code-switch when talking or writing. This strategy has been seen to be effective because it allows students to communicate their experiences just how they felt them happen.<ref name="Cornell Gonzales" /> In some cases, some teachers will participate in code-switching when interacting with students because it allows students to feel more comfortable. According to Barbara Mellix, code-switching also allows students to feel more confident and secure with their languages and writing because they see that code-switching is acceptable in certain instances.<ref name="Mellix">Mellix, Barbara. "From Outside, In." ''The Georgia Review''. Vol. 41, no.2, 1987. pp. 258–267. {{JSTOR|41399284}}</ref> Although code-switching can become difficult to control, it has been said that speaking and writing go hand in hand: if a person can write, then they can speak and control their switch in the same or similar way.<ref name="Mellix" /> According to Ena Lee and Steve Marshall, the process of code-switching in a classroom also allows for a "greater access" to knowledge.<ref name="Lee-2012">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Ena |last2=Marshall |first2=Steve |title=Multilingualism and English language usage in 'weird' and 'funny' times: a case study of transnational youth in Vancouver |journal=International Journal of Multilingualism |date=February 2012 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=65–82 |doi=10.1080/14790718.2011.595795|s2cid=145753530 }}</ref> It is important to note that code-switching occurs more often with those whose dominant language is not standard English.<ref name="García-2018">{{cite journal |last1=García |first1=Paula B. |last2=Leibold |first2=Lori |last3=Buss |first3=Emily |last4=Calandruccio |first4=Lauren |last5=Rodriguez |first5=Barbara |title=Code-Switching in Highly Proficient Spanish/English Bilingual Adults: Impact on Masked Word Recognition |journal=Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research |date=19 September 2018 |volume=61 |issue=9 |pages=2353–2363 |doi=10.1044/2018_JSLHR-H-17-0399 |pmid=30076419 |pmc=6195050}}</ref><ref name="Mellix" />