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Semester 5 Module: Sociolinguistics Semester 5 Youssef TAMER Associate Professor Department of English Studies Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir 2014-‐2015 WWW.ENGLISHSTUDIESINFO.BLOGSPOT.COM
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Language Choice and Code-‐switching
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Language choice in communities • Review: DOMAINS – Refer to typical habits of language use in a speech community: • Chinese in Hong Kong use Cantonese at home; • Indians in Singapore use English in education; • Chinese in Malaysia use Bahasa for government business.
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Language choice in communities • Review: DOMAINS – Refer to typical habits of language use in a speech community: • Amazigh in Souss use Tamazight at home; • They use SA in education; • They use SA / French for government tasks / Business.
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Language choice among individuals: Code-‐ switching • As well as making generalisations about speech communities, we also need to account for language choice among individuals; • CODE-‐SWITCHING refers to changes of code (variety) by individuals; • People sometimes switch code within a domain or social situation; • Code-‐switching is not arbitrary – there is always a reason (though it may be hard to see); • It refers to a choice made by the individual. Social factors influence the choices. WWW.ENGLISHSTUDIESINFO.BLOGSPOT.COM
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Code-‐switching vs code-‐mixing • In much of the literature: – CODE SWITCHING is at clause or sentence level; – CODE-‐MIXING is within a sentence; – But sometimes they are used interchangeably.
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Social factors involved in code-‐switching • Holmes (2001): – Participant; – Topic; – Affective functions – Solidarity
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When is a change of code, code-‐switching? • Amazigh speakers in Souss switch to Tamazight to address one another when an Amazigh speaker joins them even though this one speaker is not being spoken to directly; – They could continue in MA but in order to include this speaker in the group, they switch codes.
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• Code-‐switching can show group solidarity, shared ethnicity, social distance between participants WWW.ENGLISHSTUDIESINFO.BLOGSPOT.COM
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• Amazigh students participating in a discussion in an English language class in English change to Tamazight to talk about their plans for the weekend; – They could talk about their plans in English but they are more comfortable doing this in Tamazight. !
• Code-‐switching can reflect associations of certain topics with a language.
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• A teacher uses English in class. He/She changes to MA or Tamazight to tell off a student when he/she is angry because the student has consistently not done his/her homework. – The student would understand English but the telling off is more effective in their shared first language. The teacher’s anger is more apparent. !
• Code switching can show a speaker’s feelings rather than carrying referential meaning. WWW.ENGLISHSTUDIESINFO.BLOGSPOT.COM
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When is a change of code NOT code-‐switching? !
• Code-‐switching refers to CHOICE: • NOT when the speaker has to change because she is not proficient in a given code. • NOT when there is no word available in the code being used.
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Why do Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong use English words in their speech (Tse, 1992)? •
1. Luke (1998) refers to “orientational” switching. When educated Cantonese speakers have a choice, they may sometimes choose an English (or English sounding) word rather than a Cantonese word if the topic has Western associations AND if the 2 choices are equal in other ways (same level of formality, etc.)
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2. Holmes (2001) refers to “metaphorical” switching. To fill a lexical gap (“expedient”) owing to high frequency, field specific English vocabulary related to work or studies;
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3. To serve as euphemism or some kind of `emotional buffer’ in place of the unwanted taboo words or words carrying emotive meaning in Chinese
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Code-‐switching as a resource • Code-‐switching enables bilinguals to use their linguistic repertoire to respond positively to changes in social factors;
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Code-‐switching in education • “Mixed code”, as constructed in the Hong Kong government official discourses, is portrayed almost as an ugly, insidious, monstrous animal, wildly trampling on and destroying everything, especially young minds, if it is not severely controlled and banned from certain important domains, for instance, the classroom (Lin , 2000). WWW.ENGLISHSTUDIESINFO.BLOGSPOT.COM
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Code-‐switching in education The Hong Kong Government emphasises that teachers should not use “mixed code” in the classroom”. Why? Teachers in school are a linguistic model for their students. Students can only choose between two codes if they know two codes. If they consistently hear a mixture of English and Cantonese, their learning of English might be affected (probably not their learning of Cantonese).
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Code switching in the English classroom As an effective marker of boundaries in discourse and changes in frame (or footing). For example it can be employed to contextualize (usually simultaneously) the following: 1. A change in the discourse topic 2. A shift in the role–relationship between the teacher and students 3. A modification of the participation framework •
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Code switching in the English classroom
• For grammar teaching and vocabulary teaching: • The L2-‐L1-‐L2 sequence
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Two types of reasons for L1 use: Student-‐initiated reasons: • Students do not understand • Students lack discipline • Individual students need the help of L1 • For negotiation and defence • Not enough time left in the teaching period
! Teacher-‐initiated reasons: • The teacher enjoys using L1 • The teacher is over worried • The teacher considers the use of L1 to be expedient WWW.ENGLISHSTUDIESINFO.BLOGSPOT.COM
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Language choice in the Classroom • Low-‐English proficiency students • The unchanged demands of the English examination syllabus • The need to live up to the expectations of educators and or parents
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Swain (1997) has outlined a range of important research questions: • What use should be made of the students’ first language? • Should the teacher ever use it? • Are there ways in which he or she can use the first language to support second language learning rather than undermine it? And what about the students? • For what purposes do they use their first language? • Is the use of the first language cognitively essential to their learning of both content and the second language? (Swain, 1997, p.267) WWW.ENGLISHSTUDIESINFO.BLOGSPOT.COM
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Language choice
By a community
Domains
By individuals Social factors: Setting Participants Topic
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Social distance Status Formality
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Affective meaning
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Code-‐switching