Code switching is not a widely well-known term to describe to the changes between one’s behavior resulting because of the different people and settings they involve themselves with. My boyfriend and I have a very close relationship, we basically know everything there is to know about a person, but I didn’t that the way he would change his dialect, mannerisms, or just the way he would be with another person was him code switching. Michael has a job with an intense professional atmosphere, and him and I’s relationship is very open and loving. On the other hand his relationship with his friend George is very all over the place, free and carefree.
Even though a language is spoken that passes as English, syntax, voice, composure, and semantics
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all change depending on the audience, subject, occasion and the purpose of the conversation. Code-switching, a term most people don’t hear often or take time to understand if heard, as well as not realizing they are putting this term into action in their own lives when conforming to the different settings and people they come in contact with on a daily basis. Taken broadly, the term ‘code-switching’ refers to the juxtaposition of elements from two (or more) languages or dialects. There is, however, little agreement among scholars on either the semantic scope of the term as they use it, or the nature of distinctions to be drawn between it and other, related terms such as diglossia, code shifting, code mixing, style shifting, borrowing (Mccormick, 2001). People do this on a daily basis in their line of work, when around peers and family members. Basically this is done when you know that one way of conveying a message is suitable for one audience but not the other. A prime example of this term consumes my everyday life. Michael, my boyfriend exudes this behavior everyday. Code-Switch Saturday night, Michael a man of poise, and an effortless amount of structure and logic in the way he comes across to me and the people he works around walks through the front door to our apartment. It was a dark evening, him and I standing at the kitchen bar having a normal conversation about how our work days went and the day in general. As we greet each other I start of by saying, “Hi lovey, how was your day at work?” Michael cuts back and states “Work was okay, sold a car today!” I reply “That’s great lovey, I am so proud of you! Would you like to hear how my day went?” Michael replies, “Sure, how was it?” I start to go into my day talking about how rude a customer was today and then the phone rings! He rudely cuts me off and answers the phone call! Michael answers, “Dude, wassup?” Just by the way Michael answered this particular phone call, I knew exactly who it was on the other line. George! I can not hear what is being said on the other line all I hear is Michael asking George, “Yo man, you outside?” I am guessing he said yes because the next thing Michael says is “Ight man, come on up!” George comes up and comes in the front door. I never met this guy before, but I knew that I didn’t want my boyfriend hanging around him just by the way my boyfriend spoke with him. Anyways, Michael and George “dap up” as soon as they come in contact with me. I am sitting back thinking in my head, “I know this man sees me glaring and quite frankly looking perplexed.” Making the best of the situation is all I can think about, I continue to state in my head over and over again, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” As we all begin to start our evening, going out to have a few drinks at local hang out spot, you can only imagine the atmosphere. It was overwhelmingly loud. Drinks were being ordered, music was not really played in the background, it was basically overpowering the hundreds of conversations being held on this particular Saturday night. We order our drinks and begin our fun with Michael and George (the stars of the evening) beginning their conversations. As the conversations get tossed around amidst the noise, George starts off by saying, “So dude, work was %&*#?” Michael replies “#$%* dude, I know. Let’s get these drinks rolling.” I cut in feeling like an outcast, “Baby, I love you.” Michael, brushes me off and replies “Love you too”, in a very short, non-enthusiac manner as per usual. I glare at him, knowing he would notice, but without an ounce of care George starts back up a conversation with him, “Yo man, so wassup with that game last weekend?” Michael replies “It was dope man whatten it.” I butt in, “I know it was a great game! So glad the Panthers won!” Michael and George continue their conversation while completely ignoring my comments. With me saying little words and being treated as if I don’t exist is usually how it goes when his friends come around. I try to steer clear, so I don’t look like the mean girlfriend. It was time, a smoke break!
I knew that would help us get alone time! Yes we both smoke. as we walk outside, he goes for my hand, and says “I love you.” I reply, “I love you too baby, I just wish you would interact with me a little more even while your buddies are around.” Michael replies, “I know babe, I will, you’ve just got to understand we have a different relationship than me and you.” Not completely understanding why a difference in relationships will make you change how you interact with them, I reply, “I completely understand that, having a different relationship with someone doesn’t mean you have to completely ignore me.” Michael then stated, “Okay baby. I understand and will try to keep you more involved.” It is wonders what a simple conversation can do. We head back through the maze of tables, to find George drinking away. George yells from halfway across the bar, Yo dude, what took so long?” Michael looking around as if he was embarrassed, and as we get closer to the table he responds “I had to talk with my girl and we smoked a cigarette.” I butt in once again “Sorry George, smoke break!” Michael turns to me, “Hey baby, want to go request a song.” Yes he said the word request, my skin starts crawling with annoyance of how easy it is for him to switch back and forth between our two conversations while keeping our two different relationships in mind. I respond, “sure love! (I leave the table for two seconds and look back!) I see arms flying, their mouths looking like they’re going one hundred miles per minute. I never see this kind of behavior until he is around his
friends. Looking back at this specific night, it becomes apparent of how much code switching occurs. I can for sure say that when I heard Michael speak to George for the first time I thought I would never like this guy, but boy was I wrong! I figured out I do it too without even noticing. Code-switching, as I said before takes place in almost everybody’s everyday life. Code switching takes place for Michael from when he goes to work to speak to customers to when he comes home and talks to me and his friends. It doesn’t mean that he is fake, but we do however disguise ourselves in away to adapt to our environment. Now knowing what code-switching is, these changes I see before me eyes on a daily basis and how easily he can flip back and forth doesn’t tend to bother me as much as before.
Characters are always changing, in speech, thoughts, actions, and looks, whether it is or isn’t for the better. In the story, Code Talker, by Joseph Bruchac, the protagonist, Kii Yazhi(Ned Begay) changes mentally and physically through the story in many different ways from the beginning to the end. Ned is secretive of revealing that he still speaks Navajo, despite being shunned by white people. However, his secretiveness later turns into pride as he leaves school to pursue another path he is sure is right for him. Overall, Ned changed through major events in his life that proved him of his own
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
In William Wells Brown’s Clotel, the use of code switching aids in the escape of two slaves and prevents a free slave from paying an unfair price for riding aboard a train. Code switching is also represented by a slave in the manner used by most – to fit in amongst a group of people and to speak on their level. Nearly everyone utilizes the concept of code switching, from scholars to athletes, from Americans to Africans. Code switching portrays a universal concept and an important part of our society. Without the utilization of code switching, people would have a harder time understanding one another, and social gatherings involving different groups of people would not be as comfortable.
When people in todays society code-switch, we enhance our character and overall roundness to ourselves. There are instances where people code-switch to communicate with others in a different language, or we change our tone with certain groups of people. Speaking multiple languages in a household, can lead to a lot of code-switching because you can have that one relative who can’t speak english, so you become a “translator” to help them with daily tasks. Even though code-switching can happen with different languages, the most common code-switching is used when speaking to different groups of people. Talking to an adult would have a different type of tone, rather than speaking to one of your friends. Code-switching is used to help strengthen
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.
For instance, Mujumdar who grew up in the United States, but was born in India, was raised in an environment where her parents knew multiple languages: Marathi and English. Since the beginning, Marathi was a “symbol of security” for Mujumdar (1). Marathi is her protection from the outside world and only a few people are included in her privacy bubble. Therefore, one day when in the sleepy state she started talking in Marathi with her close friend sitting next to her, she felt more closer to her friend. She states, “To let someone else into that [close] blanket of security was a big moment” (Mujumdar 1). The person who has never let her marathi identity out to other people and when it does come out, it helps Mujumdar bond with her friend in a way that she never imagined. Code-switching is not necessarily an act of switching, but it’s about how language is being spoken that matters. Deggans on the other hand, had a hard time learning people’s reaction, but when he did he felt close to people
...nglish.” (Rickford, 1999) The ultimate goal is to produce readers and writers of standard English, as the conventional education system is not doing its job teaching many AAVE speaking children. To address the legitimacy of the language, linguists argue that it is impossible to call Ebonics slang. Although there is controversy over it being a language or a dialect, linguists whole-heartedly disagree with the notion that it is not a “full-fledged linguistic system.” (Rubba, 1997)
there are 3 switching cost that consumers face, which are Procedural, Financial, And Relational switching costs.
...n old diary or historical documents like the Declaration of Independence, when they are written in English, the language they speak.
Moreover, according to Walt Wolfram (1991, 2) “to speak a language is to speak some dialect of that language” all speakers of American English speak a
Yalom (2005) explained transference as being “attitudes toward the therapist that had been “transferred” from earlier attitudes toward important figures in the client’s life” (p. 201). This integration paper will describe a relationship I have with a work supervisor. Followed by an explanation of how and why aspects of our interactions have been influenced by me transferring attitudes I have, regarding my grandfather, onto my supervisor. Concluding with observations I have seen in this person’s interactions with me and others that suggest transference is potentially a factor.
we can use our language if we live where we were born. We don't even
Next, we shall evaluate the key features of language which are; communicative, arbitrary, structured, generative, and dynamic. Communicative, language can allow one to interact with another. According to Willingham (2007), the bond found with the elements in language and what they mean is arbitrary. The way language is set up shows how the symbols are not arbitrary. The set up language shows precisely how intricate it can be. Generative, one is able to build countless number of meanings from words. Dynamic, language never stays the same, therefore it can be known as sporadic. According to Willingham (2007), changes are being made all the time as new words get added and as the ways of grammar change. These elements can be quite critical when it comes to language.
Kachru, B. B. (1992). Teaching world Englishes. The other tongue: English across cultures, 2, 355-366.
In a sociolinguist perspective “the idea of a spoken standardized language is a hypothetical construct” (Lippi-Green, 2012, pp. 57). They are the form of Britain English and American English that are used in textbooks and on broadcasting. Giles and Coupland observe that “A standard variety is the one that is most often associated with high socioeconomic status, power and media usage in a particular community” (1991, p. 38). Both native speakers and learners of English, where English is taught as a second or foreign language (hereafter ESL/EFL), speak dialect of English in everyday conversation (Kachru, 2006, pp. 10-11; Owens 2012, p.