Codeswitching

Carol M. Eastman
Table of contents

The phenomenon of codeswitching has, in recent years, received a great deal of attention, and articles on the topic have appeared in most parts of the world. Apart from the recognition that codeswitching refers to language, dialect or style alternation within a single speech event, there is little agreement as to how it fits into existing linguistic, sociolinguistic and social theories. As Swigart (1992: 16) noted, scholars who study codeswitching come from a number of disciplines and are influenced by the backgrounds they bring to bear on the subject. The result of this is a fragmentation in the study of codeswitching: apart from a relatively small tradition focused (almost) exclusively on the characteristics of codeswitching itself, the phenomenon is often mentioned or treated in the context of wider issues, without being the object of investigation in its own right. Thus, for instance, codeswitching is treated by anthropologists such as Fabian (1982, 1990) to illustrate more general issues of poetic performance in an emerging urban culture; for some sociolinguists, it becomes an object of study in the context of intercultural communication (e.g. Hinnenkamp 1987); still others use codeswitching as a test-case for general theoretical issues (e.g. Stroud 1992); social psychologists may use codeswitching as a symptom of linguistic, ethnic or class attitudes, or as a feature of ‘speech accommodation’ (e.g. Bourhis, Giles & Lambert 1975).

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price.

References

Auer, P.
1981 Bilingualism as a members’ concept. Papiere des SFB 99, Konstanz, 54.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1984 Bilingual conversation. John Benjamins.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1988 A conversation analytic approach to code-switching and transfer. In M. Heller (ed.): 187–213.  BoP Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1992 Introduction: John Gumperz’ approach to contextualization. In P. Auer & A. Di Luzio (eds.) 1992: 1–37.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Auer, P. & A. Di Luzio
(eds.) 1992 The contextualization of language. John Benjamins.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beardsley, R., R. Brock & C.M. Eastman
1977 Markers, pauses, and code switching in bilingual Tanzanian speech. General Linguistics 11: 17–27.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blom, J.-P. & J.J. Gumperz
1972 Social meaning in linguistic structures. In J.J. Gumperz & D.H. Hymes (eds.) Directions in Sociolinguistics 1986 (ed.): 407–434. Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blommaert, J.
1992 Codeswitching and the exclusivity of social identities. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development l3/1–2: 57–70.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P.
1977 The economics of linguistic exchanges. Social Science Information 16: 645–668. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bourhis, R.Y., H. Giles & W.E. Lambert
1975 Social consequences of accommodating one’s style of speech. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 6: 55–72.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Briggs, C.L.
1988 Competence in performance. University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, R. & A. Gilman
1960 The pronouns of power and solidarity. In T.A. Sebeok (ed.) Style in language: 53–276. MIT Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Durán, R.P.
(ed.) 1981 Latino language and communicative behavior. Ablex.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eastman, C.M.
1992 Codeswitching as an urban language phenomenon. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 13/1–2: 1–17. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eastman, C.M. & R.F. Stein
1993 Language display. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 14/3: 187–202. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fabian, J.
1982 Scratching the surface. Anthropological Linguistics 24: 14–50.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1990 Power and performance. University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gal, S.
1988 The political economy of code choice. In M. Heller (ed.) Codeswitching: 245–264. Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gold, D.L.
1981 The speech and writing of Jews. In C.A. Ferguson & S. Brice-Heath (eds.) Language in the USA: 273–292. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gumperz, J.J.
1982 Discourse strategies. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1992 Contextualization revisited. In P. Auer & A. Di Luzio (eds.): 39–54. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gumperz, J.J
.& E. Hernandez-Chavez 1969 Cognitive aspects of bilingual communication. Language Behavior Research Laboratory Research Paper no. 28.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heller, M.
1988 Where do we go from here? In M. Heller (ed.): 265–272.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1992 The politics of codeswitching and language choice. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 13/1–2: 123–142.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1994 Crosswords. Mouton de Gruyter.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(ed.) 1988 Codeswitching. Mouton de Gruyter.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hinnenkamp, V.
1987 Foreigner talk, code-switching and the concept of trouble. In K. Knapp, W. Enninger & A. Knapp-Potthoff (eds.) Analyzing intercultural communication: 137–180. Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kachru, B.
1979 Code-mixing as a communicative strategy in India. In J.E. Alatis (ed.) Georgetown University Roundtable on Languages and Linguistics 1978: 107–124. Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levelt, W.J.
1989 Speaking. MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li Wei, L. Milroy & Pong Sin Ching
1992 A two-step sociolinguistic analysis of code-switching and language choice. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 2/1: 63–80. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meeuwis, M. & J. Blommaert
1994 The ‘Markedness Model’ and the absence of society. Multilingua 13/4: 387–423.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1995 Layered codeswitching among Zaireans in Belgium. Paper, Workshop on Conversational Codeswitching, University of Hamburg, February 1995.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Milroy, L.
1980 Language and social networks. Blackwell.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Myers-Scotton, C. 1988 Codeswitching as indexical of social negotiations. In M. Heller (ed.): 151–186.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1992 Comparing codeswitching and borrowing. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 13/1–2: 19–40.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1993a Social motivations for codeswitching. Clarendon Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1993b Duelling languages. Oxford University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1993c Elite closure as a powerful language strategy. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 103: 115–148. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pfaff, C.
1979 Constraints on language mixing. Language 55: 291–318.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Poplack, S.
1980 Sometimes I’ll start a sentence in English y termino en espanol. Linguistics 18: 581–618. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1981 Syntactic structure and social function of code-switching. In R.P. Durán (ed.): 169–184.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1988 Contrasting patterns of codeswitching in two communities. In M. Heller (ed.): 215–244.  BoP Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rampton, B.
1995 Crossing. Longmans.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Romaine, S.
1989 Bilingualism. Blackwell.  BoP Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rubin, J.
1962 Bilingualism in Paraguay Anthropological Linguistics 4/1: 52–58.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sankoff, D. & S. Poplack
1981 A formal grammar for code-switching. Papers in Linguistics 14/1: 3–46. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stroud, C.
1992 The problem of meaning and intention in code-switching. Text 12: 127–155. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Swigart, L.
1992 Practice and perception. PhD. Diss., University of Washington.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Timm, L.A.
1975 Spanish-English code-switching. Romance Philology. 28/4: 473–481.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Treffers-Daller, J.
1992 French-Dutch codeswitching in Brussels. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 13/1–2: 143–156.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1994 Mixing two languages. Mouton de Gruyter.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Woolard, K.A.
1985 Language variation and cultural hegemony. American Ethnologist 12: 738–748. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1988 Codeswitching and comedy in Catalonia. In M. Heller (ed.): 53–76. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1989 Double talk. Stanford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
 
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue