Have you ever tried to join a conversation that was already in progress and the minute you showed up you noticed that something had changed? No, you're not imagining that. A linguistic element in that particular conversation actually changed. That element is called code-switching.
If you're not familiar with the term code-switching, this refers to switching between languages or registers while speaking or signing. Bilingual and multilingual individuals do it all the time and reasons vary. For the sake of brevity, this article only touches on two reasons why we code-switch and these are (1) We do it to accommodate others, or (2) We do it to converse with someone who understands our dialect.
The following are true-to-life examples but the names have been changed for anonymity's sake.
(1) Examples of code-switching for accommodation: …show more content…
But something's wrong! It appears that she's missing parts and the conversation is just not making any sense to her. As she gets closer the couple acknowledges her with a 'Hi'. Sandra joins their conversation but now she understands just fine because her deaf friends have slowed down their signing speed and attempt to use vocabulary that's familiar to Sandra.
Maria drives to her grandmother's house to pick her up. The plan is also to pick up a friend and go out to eat. Being that grandmother is the first to get picked up, the minute she gets in the car Maria starts speaking Spanish. But when she picks up her English-speaking friend they switch to English so as to include their friend in the conversation. After lunch and after dropping off their friend, Maria and her grandmother again continue their conversation in Spanish because it's comfortable.
(2) Examples of code-switching to converse with someone who understands our
If you're not familiar with the term code-switching, this refers to switching between languages or registers while speaking or signing. Bilingual and multilingual individuals do it all the time and reasons vary. For the sake of brevity, this article only touches on two reasons why we code-switch and these are (1) We do it to accommodate others, or (2) We do it to converse with someone who understands our dialect.
The following are true-to-life examples but the names have been changed for anonymity's sake.
(1) Examples of code-switching for accommodation: …show more content…
But something's wrong! It appears that she's missing parts and the conversation is just not making any sense to her. As she gets closer the couple acknowledges her with a 'Hi'. Sandra joins their conversation but now she understands just fine because her deaf friends have slowed down their signing speed and attempt to use vocabulary that's familiar to Sandra.
Maria drives to her grandmother's house to pick her up. The plan is also to pick up a friend and go out to eat. Being that grandmother is the first to get picked up, the minute she gets in the car Maria starts speaking Spanish. But when she picks up her English-speaking friend they switch to English so as to include their friend in the conversation. After lunch and after dropping off their friend, Maria and her grandmother again continue their conversation in Spanish because it's comfortable.
(2) Examples of code-switching to converse with someone who understands our