Bilingualism
There
are various approaches to comprehend bilingualism. For example we can examine
bilingualism from psycholinguistic aspects including bilingualism education and
bilingual speech; sociolinguistic aspects including bilingual in society,
language choice, language maintenance, language shift and identity.
Psycholinguistics
analyzes how the usage of multiple languages affects to the individuals.
Macnamara and Lambert are interested in the psycholinguistic mechanism that
allows bilinguals to speak either one language or the other and not a haphazard
mixture. Their premise was that bilinguals often keep their languages separate
and that some special mechanism must allow them to switch from one language to
another .To this question, Penfield proposed that bilinguals have an effective
automatic switch that allows each individual to turn from one language to
another, and this switching system can control which language is on and which
language is off (Grosjean, 249). Later, Macnamara developed Penfield’s idea
and created a model with both an output switch and an input switch.
“The
output switch is under the speaker’s control; he or she decides which language
to speak and operates the switch consciously. The only time the speaker is not
in conscious control is when overlearned or automatic sequences are involved
such as counting, swearing or praying. In these cases
the bilingual may use the other language without actually being aware of doing
so”
(Grosjean,
249).
This
notion of a switch that turns language s on and off can also apply to code
switching. Based on the resent research, Grosjean states that:
“It
would seem that a one- or a two- switch model just couldn’t account for both
the independence and the interaction of languages. Investigators have pointed
out that certain aspects of a language may be “on” while others are
“off”, as shown by the fact that many bilinguals can speak one of their
languages with the pronunciation of the other (a French-English bilingual,
imitating Maurice Chevalier speaking English, for example)” (Grosjean, 253).
Therefore,
Psycholinguistics is interested in examining how individuals process “on and
off ” to deal with the movement from one language to another and code
switching.
Sociolinguistics
seeks to understand the relationship between language and society, between the
uses of language and social structures. Also, sociolinguistics assumes that
human society is the creation of many related patterns and behaviours, some of
which are linguistic (Spolsky, 3). One of the favourite topics in recent
sociolinguistic work is to examine language choice in bilingual communities.
Based on the results from various bilingual communities, Grosjean summarizes the
factors associated with language choice.
1,
language proficiency –location/setting 2, Language preference-Presence of
monolinguals 3,Socioecomomiuc status-degree of formality 4, Age and Sex- Degree
of intimacy 5, Occupation-Content of discourse 6, Education-Topic 7,Ethnic
background- Type of vocabulary 8, History of speaker’s linguistic
interaction-Function of interaction 9, Kinship relation- To raise status 10,
Intimacy-To create social distance 11, Power relation-To exclude someone 12,
Attitude toward languages-To request command”(Grpsjean,136).
Grpsjean’s
examples demonstrate that language choice is a well- learned and complex
behaviour whose extreme complexity only becomes apparent when it breaks down. I
think that it is hard for bilinguals to be aware of many psychological and
socioliguistica factors that interact and that are complex weighted formulas to
help choose one language over another. Also, socioliguistics examines code
switching which involves a two-stage decision process of language choices.
“In
the first stage the bilingual decides which base language to use, and in the
second stage he or she determines whether to code-switch. This second stage
occurs only when the bilingual is addressing another bilingual, and even then
the decision may be delayed for some time”(Grpsjean, 145).
Code
switching can occur between a dialect and a standard language or between
different languages. For example, Canadian students use different language
varieties when they talk to their friends and to their professors. Perhaps,
there are unspoken rules that allow students to use slang and swear words with
friends, but not with professors. In another case, code switching happens
between different languages. For example, when I speak English to my Japanese
friends who speak English and Japanese, our sentences are a mixture of English
and Japanese. In this paper, I focus on code switching which occurs between
different languages. Spolsky states
that:
“Bilinguals
often switch between their two languages in the middle of a conversation. These
code switches can take place between or even within sentences,
involving phrases or words or even parts of words”(Spolsky, 49).
Hoffmann
also describes how code switching involves the alternate use of two languages or
linguistic varieties within the same utterance or during the same conversation
(Hoffmann, 110). I have noticed that many bilingual speakers have the tendency
to use more than one language in a sentence. For example, when I have a
conversation with my Japanese friends in Japanese, we often use many English
words in the middle of a sentence.
Romaine suggests that there are three types of code switching: Tag switching, Inter-sentential and Intra-sentential. Tag switching involves the insertion of a tag (e.g. you know, I mean, etc) in one language into an utterance that is otherwise entirely in another language (Romaine, 122). Hoffmann gives some examples:
(1)
A Spanish-Catalan bilingual:
‘Hay
cuatro sillas rotas y’ (there are four broken chairs and’) prou!’
(‘thay’s enough’) (Ibid: 115)
(2) An
adult Spanish-America English speaker:
‘…
Oh! Ay! It was embarrassing! It was very nice, though, but I was
embarrassed!’ (Silva-Corbalan 1989:185)
According
to Hoffmann, (1) and (2) illustrate emblematic switching items such as tags (‘prou’)
or exclamations ( ay!) serving as an emblem of the bilingual character
(Hoffmann, 111-112). I have noticed that I often use the word I mean in
the middle of a Japanese conversation. For example, I might say “nanika
atutano? I mean nande sonnani kyuuni nihoni kaeritaino?” which means
“ Is there anything wrong? I mean why are you suddenly saying that you want to
go back to Japan”? I found that words such as “ you know” and “I mean
can” be easily inserted in Japanese language because these words do not
violate Japanese syntactic rules.
The
second type of code switching is Inter-sentential. According to Romaine,
inter-sentential code switching involves a switch at a clause or sentence
boundary. In order for bilinguals to use this type of code switching, they need
to have greater fluency in both languages than when they use Tag switching. This
is because when bilinguals use inter-sentential code switching, the major
portion of the utterance must conform to the rules of both languages (Romaine,
123). Hoffmann provides examples:
(3) An English-German-Spanish trilingual
Mother:
‘ Na, wie war’s beim football? (‘ How was the football?’)
Pascual:
‘ Wir haben gewonnen. Unsere Seite war ganz toll.Ich war der(‘ We won. Out
team was
(4) An
adult Spanish-Catalan bilingual:
‘…
y so sices “perdon” en castellano, se te vuelve la mujer y te dice:’ ( ‘
… and if you say “ sorry” in
Castilian Spanish, the lady turns to you and says:’ ) ‘En catala’
(‘ In catalan!’)
(5) An
adult Spanish-English bilingual:
‘Tenia
zapatos blancos, un poco, they were off-white, you know’
(Silva-Corbalan1989: 181)” (Hoffmann, 111-112).
According
to Hoffmann, (3), (4) and (5) illustrate that code switching can take place
between sentences. I found that sometimes inter-sentential code switching is
problematic because unless the speaker and the listener understand both
languages, they cannot understand each other. For example, English/French
bilinguals will not understand if I say a sentence with Japanese and English
such as Students are very excited about Christmas, demo watashi ha syougatu
no houga motuto taisetu desu which means “Although students here are very
excited about Christmas, for me New Year is more important than Christmas”.
This is because the first clause is in English and second is in Japanese.
Therefore, in order for a person to understand this sentence, she/he has
to have English and Japanese language knowledge.
The
third type of code switching is Intra-sentential which arguably involves a
syntactic risk and may be avoided by all but the most fluent bilinguals
(Romaine, 124). Interestingly, I hear this type of code switching the most. For
example, my classmate in Spanish starts speaking in English, but there are
French words and Spanish words in middle of her sentences. Since we are both
learning Spanish in the class, I understand the Spanish words and the English
words that she uses, but I do not understand French words that she uses. I think
that because she knows three languages, she code switches using three different
languages.
Intra-sentential
is also often used among my friends. For example, among Japanese/English
bilinguals, we say kyou ha zetutai bensyou sinaito, for my classes, datute nannka takusan assignment due arukara. It means
“I have to study for my classes because I have many assignments due
soon”. In this case, it shows that one clause has two languages, which are
English and Japanese language. Hoffmann gives examples of intra-sentential code
switching:
(6) A
Spanish-English bilingual:
‘I
started going like this. Y luego decia (and then he said), look at the
smoke coming out of my fingers’
(7) A
French-English bilingual:
‘Va
chercher Marc (go and fetch Marc) and bribe him avec un chocolat
chaud(with a hot chocolate) with cream on top’ (Hoffmann, 111-112).
I
found that since there are different languages within sentences, it is important
for users to have good knowledge of both languages that they use. For example,
when I do intra-sentential code switching, I have to make sure that the two
languages that I use are not violating each other in my sentence structures. If
the basic language that I use is Japanese, I have to make sure that the English
word does not violate the Japanese sentence structure and the same notion
applies when the language that I use is English.
Grosjean
examines how code switching occurs. According to him, there is the two-stage
approach that bilinguals take. First, bilinguals decide on the base language to
use and then, if the interlocutor is also a bilingual, bilinguals decide whether
or not to code switch (Grosjean, 129). For example, since my parents only speak
Japanese, I speak only Japanese when I talk to them. On the other hand, I will
perform code switching when talking to English/Japanese bilinguals. However, I
will not do English-Japanese code switching when talking to English/French
bilinguals.
Jan-Peter
Bolom and John J.Gumperz discussed how it is necessary to examine the particular
speech events that code switching occurs (Syoji, eler,
267). According to them, the description of code switching must include (1) the
setting, (2) the social situation, and (3) the social event in which the code
switching occurs. I think that we decide what language we speak to someone in
the particular situation. Based in this choice, we can see people doing code
switching all the time.
What
could be the possible reason that bilinguals code switch?
Grosjean
stated that:
“Bilinguals
switch when they can not find an appropriate word or expression or when the
language being used does not have the items or appropriate translations for the
vocabulary needed. Some notions are
just better expressed in one language than another”(Grosjean, 150).
I
believe that this leads to the notion of “the most available word” which is
very often used among bilinguals. For example, when I talk about Christianity in
Japanese, I use the English words for God, Son and Holy Sprit. This is because I
believe that using the English words for this instance is more appropriate.
Spolsky also discusses the reason why people choose to code
switch:
“For
a bilingual, shifting for convenience (choosing the available word or phrase on
the basis of easy availability) is commonly related to topic. Showing the effect
of domain differences, a speaker’s vocabulary will develop differently for
different topics in the two languages. Thus, a speaker of a language who has
received advanced education in a professional
field in a second language will usually not have the terms in their native
language. Scientists trained in an English speaking country giving university
lectures in their own language often mix in English words or even switch to
English phrases and sentences” (Spolsky, 50)
I think that the same things happen to me. When I was asked to describe world religions in Japanese, I often had to use English words because I learned the different world religions in English and did not know the terminology for talking about world religions in Japanese. Therefore, I had to use many English words even though I was using Japanese.
Spolsky also states that each of a bilingual’s languages is likely to be associated not just with topics and places, but also with identities and roles associated with them (Spolsky, 50). I agree with him because I think that as I use language, which is code switched with English and Japanese, it creates interpersonal closeness to the person with whom I am talking. It can also tell the identities and which ethnic group we belong to.
Grosjean
also makes the same claim that although many cases of code switching can be
explained by the lack of appropriate terminology in one language, the most
available word notion, habit, or triggering, there are other things that involve
particular verbal or communicative strategies (Grosjean, 152):
“Gumperz(1970,1976a,b;
Gumperz and HernandezChavez, 1978) has stressed that switching at a particular
moment conveys semantically significant information. According to him, code
switching is communicative
resource that builds on the participant’s perception of two contrasting
languages. She writes that code switching is
meaningful in much the same way that lexical choice is meaningful: it is a
verbal strategy, used in much the same way that a skillful writer might switch
styles in a short story. Gal (1979) reinforces this view, stating that listeners
interpret code switching as an indicator of the speaker’s momentary attitude,
communicative intents, and emotions” (Grosjean, 152).
Grosjean
summarized some reasons for code switching:
“1,
Fill a linguistic need for lexical item, set phrase, discourse marker or
sentence filler. 2, Continue the last language used (triggering). 3, Quote
someone. 4, Specify address.5, Qualify message: amplify or emphasize
(“topper” in argument). 6, Specify speaker involvement (personalize
message). 7, Mark and emphasize group identity (solidarity). 8, Convey
confidentiality, anger and annoyance. 9, Exclude someone from conversation.10,
Change role of speaker: raise status, add authority and show expertise” (Grosjean,
152).
I
have a personal example that illustrates Grosjean’s point. When I talk to
other Japanese students on campus discussing matters that we do not want other
people to know about, we use Japanese. Although there could be many other
students in the same room, only people who can speak Japanese and English will
be able to understand a Japanese-English code switched language. I think that
this is a good example of the fact that code switching can exclude someone from
conversations as Grosjean pointed out. I also believe that this usage of
language, Japanese/English code switched language, can create and emphasize
one’s group identity. For example, when I use code-switched language with my
friends, I feel that there is a closer relationship between us because even
though we are not speaking using only one language that is either Japanese or
English, we can still understand each other. I think that in particular
situations such as on campus, the ability to code switch between Japanese and
English is the symbol of Japanese identity.
I
found that there are different attitudes toward code switching. Grosjean
discusses the reason why some monolinguals and bilinguals do not like code
switching. According to him, from the monolingual’s point of view, “code
switching is a grammarless mixture of two languages, a jargon or gibberish that
is an insult to the monolingual’s own rule-governed language” (Grosjean,
140). Some bilinguals have negative attitudes toward code switching because they
think that “Switching is done mostly out of laziness”, “It is
embarrassing”, “It might be dangerous if it becomes too common”, “I try
not to code switch”, “Code switching is not very pure” (Grosjean, 141).
Based
on his research, Grosjean concluded that:
“One
consequence of this attitude is that some bilinguals never switch, while most
other restrict it to situations in which they will not be stigmatized for doing
so.
Bilinguals
avoid code switching with those who have very strict norms concerning language
use, such as parents and teachers, reserving it for close acquaintances and
those who also code switch” (Grosjean, 147)
I can understand why some people do not like code-switched language based on my personal experiences. My grandmother, my parents, my aunts and my uncles do not like me to use English words when I talk to them. Especially, my grandmother does not like code-switched language. If I say words that do not sound Japanese, she always tells me “ You are Japanese and if you cannot talk proper Japanese to me, do not talk to me.” I think the reason why my grandmother does not want me to use foreign words is that she thinks that the more I use foreign words, the less I will be Japanese. Perhaps, from her perspective, the language that I speak is the representation of my identity as Japanese.
Although there are people who do not like code switching, I think that
code switching is a good skill to have. To support this, I have an example from
this summer. I was in Japan and on the way to go to see my friends. As I was
walking toward an entrance of the subway, I could see one Japanese policeman and
two women discussing something. I could hear that the two women were speaking
English to the policeman who had a dictionary in his hand trying to answer
something. Since my father is also a policeman, I decided to help the policeman.
I soon found that the two Asian women were asking him which train they should
take in order to go home. Although I had not spoken any English in about three
and one-half months at that point, I still could translate Japanese into
English. I could do it quickly because I often used two languages simultaneously
including code switching while I was in Canada. I translated Japanese into
English as if I were code switching. Based on my experience, I think that the
practices of code switching help me when I translate whole sentences from one
language into another. Therefore, I think that the skill of code switching is
good because it helps people when they translate from one language into another.
After examining many aspects of code switching, I started to find that
code switching could lead to several societal questions. How does code switching
affect the society in which we live? What is the relationship between identity
and code switching? Is it
appropriate to say that the more people code switch, the more cultural diversity
we can see in society? How is code
switching viewed differently from one culture to another?
All of these questions deserve to be investigated further.
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