Code Switching Essay

Introduction

Wardhaugh, (2006) pointed out it is possible to refer to a language or a variety of a language as a code. Code can be used to refer to “any kind of system that two or more people employ for communication” (p.87). Therefore, the term code is used instead of language as a neutral term in order to avoid arousing emotions. He also argued that people can and should shift, as the need arises, from one code to another. People, then, are usually required to select a particular code whenever they choose to speak, and they may also decide to switch from one code to another or to mix codes even within sometimes very short utterances and create a new code in a process known as code-switching. Code-switching can occur when two or more speakers

It seems that the motivation of the speaker is an important consideration in his choice of language. Some studies investigated the relationships between code switching and identity marker. Using this approach, Bosire, (2006) investigated code switching as a language practice that contributes to the identity of Kenyan Americans. Code switching as the target group’s performance of ‘being Kenyan’ is a discourse that revolves around forging and maintaining a unique immigrant identity through the use of Swahili (and other Kenyan languages). Code switching, the resultant interplay of English and these various Kenyan languages is as much a statement about the group’s common linguistic legacy as it is a marker of membership in Kenyanness and a reaction to other discourses in the larger society that are hostile to difference and variety represented by immigrants. In this case, Auer, (2005) argued that bilingual speech is usually construed by members as an index of some extra linguistic social category. This category is not only ethnic but also social: bilingual speakers are portrayed and portray themselves in semiotic constellations such as local versus regional versus national, urban versus rural, autochthonous versus colonial,