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An essay about code switching
Advantages of code switching
Explain the problems encountered in code switching
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In various societies, people use several different languages in conversations between their friends, family and peers. Especially in Singapore, it is not an unfamiliar phenomenon to hear two or more bilingual speakers speaking and code switching between the language English and Chinese, English and Malay, English and Tamil or even Standard English and Singaporean English to each other in a natural and effortless manner. In this line, I have mechanistically relate speech varieties with “codes” and despite having a vast variety of definitions for code switching to choose from; I have decided to use Heller’s definition. Heller (1988) defines code switching as the alternating between two or more languages in a single sentence or conversation. During this phenomenon, it is common for individuals to fluently use more than one language in a course of a single communication episode. When this happens, bilinguals are not coached in how to code switch, but instead, they rely on unconscious linguistic understanding in differentiating between what are tolerable and intolerable code switching usages. According to Auer (1989), factors such as cultural interaction, intercultural marriage, education, and colonization are some influences for code switching. Moreover, speakers may choose to alternate from one code to another, either to distinguish oneself, to show commonality with a social group, to discuss a certain topic, join in social happenstances, to impress and influence the audience or to express feelings and affections (Crystal, 1987). However, there has been a misconception in many people’s perception, that “code switching is bad”, “code switching creates confusion” and that “code switching will result in a language deficit where individ...
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...ly proven research that proves code switching to be a cause of delayed speech or cognition (De Houwer, 1999). However, it has been proven that being able to code switch between languages in a conversation benefits one cognitively, academically, as well as linguistically, as the individual have a larger and wider vocabulary, lexical terms, and phrases to choose from to convey a message (Skiba, 1997; Bialystok, 2001). Futhermore, by engaging in code switching, it also promotes cross cultural appreciaton and uniqueness (King & Fogle, 2006), where it can be embraced during the process of alternating between two languages in a conversation. Additionally, in my opinion, code switching should be cogitated as a spoken skill as it requires a high degree of linguistic proficiency rather than a weakness of consuming inadequate knowledge of one or the other language being used.
As a result of many negative stereotypes associated with certain variations of English many students have adapted codeswitching. When this concept came up in the book it made me think about my own language. I realized that I code switch quite often between what is seen as Standard English and African American English or Ebonics. Usually with family or other friends that speak Ebonics I use that Ebonics to communicate, but when I am in school, in a
Everyone has various styles of speaking and various ranges of vocabulary that they utilize depending upon with whom they speak. This concept, known as code switching, portrays an integral part of our lives in today’s society. The fact that different groups of people speak in different ways necessitates the use of code switching. One would not speak to a group of high school students in the manner that one would speak to a scholar, or speak to a prison inmate in the same regard that one would speak with the President of the United States. Speaking in standard American English and then in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), or Ebonics, portrays the most prominent use of code switching in today’s society, especially among American youths. Today, people utilize code switching to associate better amongst a group of people. In William Wells Brown’s Clotel, code switching plays an important role in the escape of two slaves, outwitting a train employee, and simply showing the difference between a slave’s behavior with other slaves and the slave’s behavior in the presence of his owner.
In Verhsawn Ashanti Young’s article titled, “Nah, We Straight: An argument Against Code Switching,” he makes his objectives clear as he argues against people Right to their own language. The author questions the advantage of standard American English as opposed to other types of English. He refers to those aspect as code switching, which he believes can lead to racist thinking. Code switching, according to Young, calls out for one way of speaking to be omitted in favor of others, based on one's rhetorical situations. The author points out that students are required to translate from Afro-American English or Spanglish to standard English and not the other way around, which is concerning. Youngs method to get around this segregation is the usage
When you are eating food, you have taste buds-which are sensitive. The taste buds are on your tongue, which then they send a message to the brain, where the brain receives it. This action tells you what is happening with your body. Looking at Richard Rodriguez And Bell Hooks essays, which they show the struggles that they went through during their time, when they were growing as a people. The ability to code-switch was a struggle for Rodriguez and Hooks, who came from a different discourse community, which the power of language had already perceived their identity. The term code switching means switching personalities among certain discourse communities, and the use of language to define us in every day life. We often face code switching in everyday life, but we must acknowledge- when it is happening. Having the ambition to overcome our struggles is already hard enough, even though it could be in school: work: among our own family. Doesn’t the power of language perceived our identity?
There so many differences between code meshing and code switching. As Vershawn Ashanti Young theorized the topic between the two. Code switching means the practice of moving back and forth between two languages or between two dialects of the same language Code meshing is a strategy for blending many varieties of language with privileged standard language.
Most people who grow up with a foreign language spoken in there house grow up with an advantage in society. This advantage can only occur once the individual learning that foreign language also learns the dominant language spoken in that country. Once both of these languages are learned and mastered, the individual has now placed them se...
Ting-Toomey, Stella., & Chung, Leeva C. (2012). Understanding Intercultural Communication. Oxford University Press. 43, 159-160.
America is home for thousands of cultures and languages. Most people can speak at least two different languages either because of the environment and family or simply by taking another world language class in school. One of the advantages with knowing more than one language is that code-switching becomes a part of you and it happens naturally. In “‘ I Don’t ‘Code-Switch’ to Hide my Identity. I ‘Code-Switch’ to celebrate It,”’ Vaidehi Mujumdar states that code-switching is enriching and exciting based on her personal experience. In “learning How to Code-Switching: Humbling, But Necessary,” Eric Deggans claims that code-switching is valuable and necessary in everyday lifestyle and it is lot more than just being about cultural differences. If one were to put Deggans and
I was surprised because, for the first time, I realized that Spanglish isn’t as normal as I think it is. Ortego states that Spanglish works “bi-directionally”, which means I can be speaking Spanish and mix in some English words, or vice versa (176). Behind an action I carry out every day, advantages that go unnoticed finally popped up. According to Boroditsky, the Kuuk Thaayorre are always spatially oriented because the only way for them to communicate successfully is by referring to each of the cardinal points (5). In a similar way, Spanglish speakers always need to be well aware of both languages to be able to understand the meaning of sentences when speaking. Ortego says that this “code-switching occurs logically” in the sentences, which suggests that Spanglish challenges our brains allowing us to become more dynamic and efficient when speaking (176). Spanglish causes Spanish and English to intertwine, taking the most suitable words from each language to make a conversation much more practical and flowing. We become so quick and agile at doing this, that our brains don’t have to stop and think about the right words to express ourselves. As Spanglish speakers, we can navigate from one language to another in no time and choose any word that enhances our speech and clarifies our intentions. Yet, it was with the help of Boroditsky’s research and support
Languages are continually changing and developing, and these changes occur in many different ways and for a variety of reasons. Language change is detectable to some extent in all languages, and ‘similar paths of change’ can be recognised in numerous unrelated languages (Bybee, 2015, p. 139). Since users of language all over the world have ‘the same mental processes’ and ‘use communication for the same or very similar ends’ (Bybee, 2015, p. 1), similar changes occur on the same linguistic aspects, and in many cases these changes produce similar results in multiple languages. However, language change is limited by the function it performs. Languages must be learnt to such an extent which allows communication between the generation above and below one’s own (McMahon, 1994, p. 5). Hence language change is a gradual, lethargic process, as only small changes in
"Languageand Communication within the Culture." Languageand Communication within the Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2014.
Being bilingual always made my life differ as if I lived two lives, speaking Spanish at home and English everywhere outside of home. On the daily basis at my house, my family speaks Spanish. When we communicate we speak very fast, at times we can not even understand one another. After this occurs we all burst out in laughter super loud, no boundaries are enforced in our lexicon. The enforcement changes when entering a different discourse community.
In the United States today, a nurse is more likely to encounter patients who speak a language that is different from their own. This kind of intercultural difference poses a formidable communication challenge, as one’s ability to communicate will depend on whether one can understand one another's verbal and nonverbal codes (Jandt, 2012).
Humans have been communicating since four million years. On the other hand, the birth of culture is estimated to have taken place about 35,000 years ago. Today, both culture and communication have evolved considerably and have become interdependent of one another, to the point that communication is considered to be a product of culture. Thus, our own culture has a deep impact on our thoughts and behaviors. Since each culture has its distinct aspects, intercultural communication can be the cause of conflict and disorder. There are three main issues which are at the root of the problem of intercultural miscommunication : language as a barrier, cultural diversity and ethnocentrism. I will analyze these three notions in situations in which intercultural communication is frequent such as : the workplace, the classroom and vacation trips.
What language we use, how we use it, and why we use it are all essential in others perceptions of us. If a man’s first comment to somebody is “Hey Baby, how you doing?” with a gloating tone and boastful...