ESEM 5344 SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND CROSS - CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
ASSIGNMENT 1
With reference to your own community, critically discuss four reasons why code-switching might
happen. Provide examples to support your reasons.
Code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more
languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. A
multilingual person uses elements of multiple languages when conversing with each other.
Thus, code-switching uses more than one linguistic variety in a manner consistent with the
syntax and phonology of each array. According to Al-Qaysi, 2019 code-switching is the
combining terms or phrases from two languages together through the duration of speaking or
writing. Code-switching might occur at the beginning, middle and end of a sentence.
In the context of Malaysia, observing code-switching is very common. In our community, codeswitching is a typical process where English and other languages (codes) are intermingled in
phrases. As we know, speakers in Malaysia are likely to understand and speak more than one
language like Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil because of the bilingual education system
and the patterns used in multilingual communication in the Malaysian community. The present
generation in Malaysia is bilingual Malay – English due to the national education policy, which
stipulates Malay and English as compulsory second languages and the primary medium of
instruction (Asmah, 1982).
In my community, Indian code-switching occurs widely in their daily communication. The Tamil
language struggles in Indian communities vary from dialects and groups, which has been
considered ‘minority’ in the stand with Malay and English. There is a decline in the usage of the
Tamil language in communication and education. Therefore code-switching always happens in
their conversation. The Indians mix Tamil and Malay or English languages while conversing
with others. There are many reasons for it.
People resorted to code-switching in their interactions due to many reasons. One of the reasons
for code-switching is a lack of competence in a particular language. A group of people, while
conversing in English, might use words from their language because they do not have enough
language proficiency.
Another reason people do code-switching is the ease of speaking in their first language. They
tend to feel more comfortable speaking their language. At the same time, some might codeswitching to draw attention to the conversational context because alternating between two
languages is highly meaningful. Here the person feels more satisfied and confident.
It helps to convey a thought where people switch languages or employ colloquialisms to express
ideas. For example, even though my children speak English and Tamil, they tend to switch their
language to mandarin when ordering food or to buy things in a Chinese shop. My daughter has
shared many instances where she gets a discount for her stuff installed when she
communicates in Malay and Chinese during her school tour. She benefitted through her codeswitching.
Other than that, code-switching also takes place to fill in the gap in communication. Some
people compensated for the stopgaps and interruptions during a conversation using their native
language. Some speakers use code-switching when conveying intimacy to others or maintaining
privacy as they want to say something secret. My children speak in mandarin and English if they
do not want others to know what are they talking about. This is to make sure other people will
not understand what are they talking about.
Code-switching also occurs when bilinguals are in different moods, such as angry, anxious or
nervous. In most cases, the intended words are available in both languages; bilinguals may
code-switch when the words in the other language seem to take less effort and time to be used
at that particular moment.
Finally, our education system produces individuals who can speak all three main languages
interchangeably. The Indians change the code to Bahasa Melayu to make the message more
official and formal to suit the situation and profession. They use code-mixing in informal
conversation to share a thought or opinion or even to have fun. These resulted in codeswitching and code-mixing among people in my community.
.
Reference
1. Nilep, C. (2006). “Code Switching” in Sociocultural Linguistics. Colorado Research in
Linguistics, 19. https://doi.org/10.25810/hnq4-jv62
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching
3. Al-Qaysi, N. (2019). Students and educators‟ attitudes towards code-switching: A
longitudinal study. International Journal of Information Technology and Language Studies, 3(2),
61-72.
4. Aisha Bhatti1 , Sarimah Shamsudin1 & Seriaznita Binti Mat Said. (2018). Code-Switching: A
Useful Foreign Language Teaching Tool in EFL Classrooms. ELT Journal, 11(6), 93-101.
5. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v11n6p93 Auer, P. (Ed.) (1998). Code-switching in conversation:
Language, interaction and identity. London: Rutledge.
6. Ayeomoni, M. (2006). Code-switching and code-mixing: Style of language use in childhood in
Yoruba speech community. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 15 (1), 90-99.
7, Baker, C. (2000). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Third Edition.
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