Code Alternation

As in most new fields of research, labels can be disconcerting and confusing, because they change as new theories see the light, even when such theories are neither new nor bearers of significant modifications. So it is with code alternation, variations of which can be found in code switching, code mixing, code-shifting, code-choice, code-swaying, situational switching, and language switching--all subjects to refinements such as intersentential, intrasentential, diatopic, and diastratal code-switching. "According to estimations, about half of the earth's population speaks at least two languages... The alternating use of more than one language is one of the most striking features of many interactions in bilingual communities" (Auer, 1984:1). Most code-switching research has thus been confined to bilingualism. Yet, language education--ESL/EFL in particular--has lately been interested in applying language alternation techniques to the teaching of second or foreign languages. This very short paper attempts to define currently used terms and at briefly mentioning some contributions from several cultures, as well as applications and problems in this field.

Code-mixing or code-switching are "terms in sociolinguistics for language and especially speech that draws to different extents on at least two languages combined in different ways, as when a Malay/English bilingual says: This morning I hantar my

. . .
edominance of English, there is ambiguity in the feelings of French Canadians, ambiguity which is expressed by frequent code switching--in fact so frequent, that Anglicisms have become part and parcel of the Qudbecois--the patois spoken in Montreal. Speaking of intrasentential code-switching, Nishimura (1986:123) remarks that: "In communities where two or more languages are in contact, alternate use of these languages in a simple situation often arises. The alternation is rapid and occurs even within a sentence... Switching takes place so often even within a sentence that not all switching can be attributed to contextual features and that it may be more appropriate to view language alternation in terms of the norms of the community... The village entrepreneur in New Guinea code-switches constantly between Tok Pisin and Buang in village meetings." For Puerto Ricans in New York City, code-switching is a way of showing group solidarity among individuals with a common ethnic background. Code-switching can be so prevalent that it often becomes difficult to identify the phenomenon as such; rather, a new language or dialect--a pidgin, as it were, may emerge. Chary (1986-:187) remarks about this phenomenon in India: "The high incide
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
ENGLISH CULTURES, French Note, English-speaking French-speaking, York City, Montreal Speaking, Nairobi English, Diglot Weave, L1 L2, Chinese Japanese, L2 L1, los angeles, york ny, bilingual education, foreign language, 2nd ed, teaching english, teaching english foreign, english foreign language, english foreign, language processing, california los angeles, university press, language processing bilinguals, celce-murcia ed, psycholinguistic neurological perspectives,
Approximate Word count = 2353
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Code Alternation