What Is Code Switching In English Language

Code-switching is a normal part of everyday language and is often overlooked, but through this assignment it became more apparent than ever before, most notably when code switching occurred between languages and within each separate languages. For this field report, I analyzed code-switching in my native language-Polish and then English as they both took place in the same context, my sister’s kitchen.
It was a rather peaceful and relaxed saturday afternoon when the communication event took place. My sister was in the kitchen, her two kids were in the adjoining playroom and her husband had just returned from work not too long ago. My sister had also just put dinner in the oven and started cleaning up the kitchen when she got a call from her …show more content…
The syntax, the specific patterns and rules for constructing phrases and sentences, between languages changed dramatically. In the Polish language there is no one specific way the words have to be ordered in a sentence, the sentence will make sense either way, however, the sentence structure may be inappropriate depending on the context or style. Yet, the Polish language still displays a proper sentence order, the same one we follow in the English language: subject-verb-object. Subject being the person or thing being discussed, the verb the word or words that convey an action and the object is the thing being acted upon by the subject. In Polish, plural is also not represented by adding an s at the end of the word, but is created in other ways. There are also no “a’s,” “an’s,” and/or “the’s” before nouns. When my sister switched from speaking Polish to English, she demonstrated some of these simple differences. For example, when speaking to her mother-in-law, she didn’t add an s at the end of a word indicating its plural like she did with her husband and there was no use of “a’s, “an’s” and “the’s.” When speaking in English she also took extra care to make sure her sentence structure made sense, whereas when speaking Polish she was more lenient, knowing that her mother-in-law would still be able to understand her. The lexical items also changed in the process of code-switching. …show more content…
When speaking to her mother-in-law, my sister stuck to the Polish language, because even though her mother-in-law understands some aspects of the English language, to her, the Polish language is more sophisticated and more formal. The Polish language has a higher status in the eyes of her mother-in-law. However, when speaking to her husband there was no social hierarchy in regards to language and he was able to understand both, allowing for the use of both. This use of bilingualism and social hierarchy in speech relates to “Bonnie Urciuoli’s (1996) study of bilingual study of Puerto Ricans in New York City.” There are two distinct spheres in which language can be communicated bilingually: the inner sphere and the outer sphere. Just like in the study, where the inner sphere of communication between friends and family members allowed the use of both Spanish and English freely, so did the inner sphere of communication between my sister and my brother in law to use both Polish and English freely in their own home. The use of bilingualism also affects the outer sphere in this context, but slightly differently. In the study, the outer sphere referred to strangers and gatekeepers where Spanish had to be left at home, in this context, however, the outer sphere refers to family members who only speak Polish, the older