Ministry of Higher Education

University of Misan
College of Education
English Department
MA Course in Linguistics

Code Switching
&
Code Mixing
Supervised by Dr. Kareem Lazim

Presented by Iman Yassin Jassem

June 2020
 Table of Content
no Subject Page

1 Introduction 1

2 What is Code switching 2

3 Types of Code Switching 4

4 Code switching vs Code Mixing 5

5 Social factors in code-switching 7

6 Reference 9
1 . Introduction

All human beings are genetically endowed with the ability to acquire a
language and they can learn more than one language and, therefore, use
them for communication. As human beings, we tend to express our thoughts,
ideas, and emotions through language. However, we do not always live in a
society, which uses only one particular language to communicate. Thus,
speakers brought up in different areas and cultures tend to acquire and learn
their languages, through travelling across countries and pursuing further
education. Consequently, they use them differently within a specific context
and for various purposes. Accordingly, sociolinguists seek for the different
factors that may affect language use.
When studying language contact situations, it is important to investigate the
context from various angles. As Clyne (2003: 1) states, ―... language
contact is a multidimensional, multidisciplinary field in which
interrelationships hold the key to the understanding of how and why people
use languages the way they do‖. Moreover, many factors shape a bilingual‘s
level or degree of linguistic proficiency. It is difficult to determine which
ones may contribute, or to what degree they contribute to the general
competence of one‘s linguistic abilities since these factors can change from
one context to another.
A bilingual speaker has the ability to use more than one language at his
disposal. Therefore, in contact with others, he may use his languages and
shift from one to another in the same conversation under some social and/or

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linguistic conditions to fulfil certain social functions. This phenomenon, is
called Code Switching (hereafter CS), has been studied from different
theoretical perspectives, employing various levels of analysis.( BENGUEDDA
.2017:9)

2 .What is Code Switching?

People who speak more than one language, or who have command over
more than one variety of any language, are generally very sensitive to the
differences in the vitality of the languages they use and they are equally
aware that in some contexts one variety will serve their needs better than
another. This may lead them to change the variety they use depending on
where they are. So a speaker of African American Vernacular English
(AAVE) may know that when they are applying for a building permit to add
an extension on their house, things may simply go a lot faster if they switch
into Standard American English (or the regional White vernacular) when
they are talking to the White clerk at City Hall. However, when they go
home and are telling their neighbours about what kind of extension they are
putting in, it may be more appropriate to use AAVE. This phenomenon of
moving between distinct varieties is known as code switching.
(MEYERHOFF .2006:116)
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. Scottish Highlanders who are not proficient speakers of Gaelic
nevertheless express their identification with the local Gaelic speech
community by using Gaelic tags and phrases interspersed with their English.
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Maori people often use Maori words and phrases in this way too, whether
their knowledge of Maori is extensive or not. 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.
Here are some examples.(Holmes.2013:34)
According to Callahan (2004: 5), code switching is …the use of words and
structures from more than one language or linguistic variety by the same
speaker within the same speech situation, conversation or utterance.
Conversational code switching refers to the use of two languages by the
same speaker within the same speech event. Codes witching may occur at
inter- and inter-sentential levels, and may consist of single words or phrases.
Contrary to popular belief, code switching is not a bastardized
reconfiguration of two separate languages as an uninformed public may
believe. Rather, it represents a highly sophisticated use of two languages that
obeys strict linguistic rules (Nuessel 2000a). Zentella (1997: 94), for
example, enumerates some of the conditions under which code switching
takes place, for example, topic shift, direct and indirect quotations,
declarative/question shift, role shift, rhetorical ask and answer, and narrative
frame break. Likewise, Woolford (1983) points out that code switching at
the syntactic level conforms to various syntactic constraints.(:Spencer129)
In Pamaka, a village in Suriname, young people switch between their local
community language, Pamaka, and Sranan Tongo, the language of Suriname
urban centres. Pamaka is the usual language of interaction in the community,
but young people often switch to Sranan Tongo to signal their sophistication
and identification with modernity. In one conversation, two young women

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and a young man are discussing local music. While the women use Pamaka,

their community language, the young man deliberately switches to Sranan

Tongo and avoids Pamaka. His language switch distances him from the
other participants, while also signalling his alignment with the urban western
world. A switch may also indicate a change in the other dimensions, such as
the status relations between people or the formality of their interaction. The
examples above have illustrated that different kinds of relationships are
often expressed or actively constructed through the use of different varieties
or codes. More formal relationships, which sometimes involve status
differences too, such as doctor–patient or administrator–client, often involve
the H variety or code: e.g. Bokm‫ه‬l in Hemnesberget, Spanish in Paraguay,
standard Swahili in Bukavu. Friendly relationships involving minimal social
distance, such as neighbor or friend, generally involve an L code: e.g.
Ranam‫ه‬l in Hemnesberget, Guaran‫ ي‬in Paraguay, Indoubil, Kingwana or a
tribal language such as Shi in Bukavu. Both involve creating hybrid words
or switching between two or more language within phrases, clauses, or from
one complete sentence to the next. Some use the terms "code mixing" and
"code switching" interchangeably, especially those who study morphology,
syntax, and other formal aspects of language, but other areas (like subfields
of linguistics, communication, or education theory) have their own
extremely specific definitions for code mixing.(Holmes.2013:36)

3. Types of Code switching

CS is a phenomenon which occurs in multilingual communities where two
or more languages or language varieties are used within a single
conversation or even within a sentence. It is usually present in various
bilingual contexts and sometimes it is not easy to classify. 4
However, scholars name different types and degrees of CS which have been
observed in different cases. Blom and Gumperz (1972) identified two types
of CS: situational and metaphorical. The former can be influenced by
situation change in a conversation or discourse such as the change of
participant, topic or setting, i.e., it varies depending on the situation in which
bilinguals are involved. On the other hand, the latter refers to the
conversational where CS may also change within a conversation to assist
conversational acts such as request, refusal, complaint or apology. Besides,
under the metaphorical category, CS varies according to discourse function,
e.g. to exclude or include someone from a conversation, to show intimacy,
or to emphasize an idea.
Other explanations, provided in Wardhaugh's work (1998), state that
situational CS occurs when the languages used change according to the
situations where the bilinguals decide to do so. They speak one language in
one situation and another in a different setting. No topic change is involved.
For Wardhaugh (1998), metaphorical CS occurs when the speakers
codeswitch to show their identities or a change of relations in the roles of the
participants in the conversation. He argues that metaphorical switching is
influenced by the topics of the conversation, not by the social situation. He
also explains that metaphorical CS has an affective dimension. He adds that
speakers may change the code according to the situation, i.e., serious to
humorous, official to personal, formal to informal, and politeness to
solidarity.
4 . Code switching vs. Code mixing
Hudson (1999: 53) defines code mixing as ―a kind of linguistic cocktail- a
few words of one language, then a few words of the other, then back to the
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first for a few more words and so on‖. In fact, some scholars like Kachru
(1983), treat these phenomena as distinct processes. Some other scholars like
Eastman (1992) and Scotton (1992), however, consider that there is no
distinction between them.
There are different views about the distinction between code mixing and CS.
Some linguists have used CS as the cover term to refer to these two
phenomena. For example, Scotton (1992) uses these terms interchangeably.
Bhatia (1992) too, uses code mixing as a cover term for code mixing and
CS. In this respect Clyne (2003: 75) distinguishes between the processes and
says:
We should reserve CS for transference of individual lexical items through to
whole stretches of speech; but we should adopt different terms like
transversion for cases where the speaker crosses over completely into the
other language. There are others like Muysken (2000) who uses CS for
alternation, i.e., when speakers alternate between languages in the same
conversation. CS, as Gardner-Chloros (2009) mentions, has gained larger
investigation in the language interaction phenomenon, among most of the
linguists, there are no general consensuses or agreements on maintaining or
not the distinction between the language contact phenomena. Other scholars
like Hill and Hill (1980: 122) reject the distinction between CS and code
mixing and use the terms interchangeably without seeing any difference
between them.
According to Scotton (1992), the borrowed and code switched forms behave
in the same way morphosyntactically in the matrix language, for this, they
should not be seen as distinct processes. Eastman (1992: 1) claims that
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―efforts to distinguish CS, code mixing and borrowing are doomed‖. After
all, there are more similarities than differences between the two concepts.
code mixing refers to the most advanced degree of bilingualism to the extent
that it requires considerable competence in the simultaneous processing of
the grammatical rules of both languages , Sridhar and Sridhar (1980). Only
highly proficient speakers can be well engaged in code mixing production
and this refers to the degree of bilingualism involved in the production of
code mixing sentences.

5. Social factors in code-switching

we saw that CS is often manifest within the process of language change,
which can lead to the creation of new varieties such as pidgins or mixed
languages. In other cases, it may be a temporary phenomenon, leading only
to some limited borrowing. The outcome of language contact situations is
determined by social and economic variables: the relative prestige of one
variety as opposed to another, or its association with a more powerful or up-
and-coming group. In this chapter, we will look at social factors in CS.
As Thomason and Kaufmann pointed out ,there are a range of factors which
determine whether or not CS occurs at all in a given language contact
situation. From a sociolinguistic point of view, three types of factor
contribute to the form taken by CS in a particular instance:
(1) factors independent of particular speakers and particular circumstances in
which the varieties are used, which affect all the speakers of the relevant
varieties in a particular community, e.g. economic “market” forces such as
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those described by Bourdieu (1997), prestige and covert prestige (Labov,
1972; Trudgill, 1974), power relations, and the associations of each variety
with a particular context or way of life (Gal, 1979).
2) factors attaching to the speakers, both as individuals and as members of a
variety of sub-groups: their competence in each variety, their social
networks and relationships, their attitudes and ideologies, their self-
perception and perception of others (Milroy and Gordon, 2003).
(3) factors within the conversations where CS takes place: CS is a major
conversational resource for speakers, providing further tools to structure
their discourse beyond those available to monolinguals.( Gardner.2009:55)

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REFERENCE
BENGUEDDA,A. (2017). Sociolinguistic Dimensions of Code switching:
the Role of Social Factors in its Occurrence in an Algerian Context,
Tlemcen Speech Community. PH.D. thesis. Aboubekr Belkaid University –
TLEMCEN. Algeria.

Clyne, M. (2003). Dynamics of Language Contact. English and Immigrant

Languages. Cambridge: CUP

Gardner, P. (2009) . Code Switching. Cambridge University Press:UK

Holmes, Janet. (2013) An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. New York:

Routledge.

Hudson, R. A. (1980). Sociolinguistics. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Meyerhoff. M.(2006).Introducing Sociolinguistics.Routledge: New York

Milroy, L. Gordon, M. J. (2003). Sociolinguistics: Method and interpretation.

Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell.