27.941, Review: Cog Sci; Pragmatics; Socioling: Yakpo, Stell (2015)

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Subject: 27.941, Review: Cog Sci; Pragmatics; Socioling: Yakpo, Stell (2015)

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Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2016 16:50:14
From: Liubov Baladzhaeva [baladjaeva at gmail.com]
Subject: Code-switching Between Structural and Sociolinguistic Perspectives

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-447.html

EDITOR: Gerald  Stell
EDITOR: Kofi  Yakpo
TITLE: Code-switching Between Structural and Sociolinguistic Perspectives
SERIES TITLE: De Gruyter linguae & litterae 43
PUBLISHER: De Gruyter Mouton
YEAR: 2015

REVIEWER: Liubov Baladzhaeva, University of Haifa

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

“Code-switching Between Structural and Sociolinguistic Perspectives”, edited
by Kofi Yakpo, tries to combine the structuralist, psycholinguistic and
sociolinguistic perspectives on code-switching (CS). The editors embrace a
wide definition of code-switching, including the switching between different
codes in one speech event, in one sentence and in one word. The last two are
sometimes defined as code-mixing (Muysken, 2000); however, the editors prefer
not to put code-mixing into a separate category. The chapters in the volume
focus on code-switching in many different places and on less-studied
languages, such as Light Warlpiri and Pana.

Most authors of the chapters employ the Matrix Language Frame Model and
Markedness Model in their analyses and use Muysken’s typology of
code-switching. According to the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) (Myers-Scotton,
1993a), when two languages are combined in one sentence, one is the matrix
language (ML), while the other is the embedded language (EL). The model
predicts that the word order in a clause that contains code-switching will be
taken from the matrix language. Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton, 1993b)
explains code-switching from the social and pragmatic perspective. CS is
marked if it is used to convey a social or discourse message. It is not
marked, if its presence does not serve to convey such a message. Muysken’s
typology (Muysken, 2000) divides CS into three types: insertional (items from
language A are inserted into sentences in language B), alternational (items
from language A and B alternate in a sentence), and congruent lexicalization
(languages A and B converge morphosyntactically). All three types of CS can be
marked or unmarked.

Chapter 1: Gerald Stell, Kofi Yakpo. “Elusive or self-evident? Looking for
common ground in approaches to code-switching.” 

The first chapter serves as an introduction to this edited volume. In the
chapter the authors give a brief overview of the study of code-switching and
the issues with defining code-switching; they describe different approaches to
classification of code-switching. The authors suggest that community-wide
code-switching is not necessarily a sign of a language shift, since it might
be a stable system and not a transition state. They maintain that
code-switching should be seen in a social context and should be approached
holistically. The authors conclude that currently none of the grammatical
models of code-switching embrace all the existing types of code-switching.

Part 1: Code-switching between cognition and socio-pragmatics

Chapter 2: Ad Backus. “A usage-based approach to code-switching: the need for
reconciling structure and function.” 

This chapter presents a preliminary theoretical model of code-switching. The
author argues that the usage-based approach can enable a unified account of
code-switching. This approach sees code-switching, loan translation,
structural borrowing and transfer as aspects of a more general and continuous
process of language change and not as separate phenomena. Backus suggests that
code-switching should be studied both from synchronic and diachronic
perspectives, and that lexical and structural types of code-switching should
be investigated as parts of the same continuum. Backus argues that specificity
and entrenchment are major factors in borrowing and code-switching.

Chapter 3: Gerrit Jan Kootstra. “A psycholinguistics perspective on
code-switching: Lexical, structural, and socio-interactive processes.” 

In this chapter the author tries to connect psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic
and structural accounts of code-switching. He defines code-switching as the
overt use of elements of more than one language in a single sentence (unlike
transfer which is a covert use). The chapter presents experimental data on
code-switching in which psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic approaches were
combined. The results of the experiments show that interactive alignment is
one of the major factors that influence code-switching. Bilinguals both make
strategic choices to code-switch in order to convey a message and
automatically and subconsciously align to the style of their interlocutor. 

Chapter 4: Maria Carmen Parafita Couto, Margaret Deuchar, Marika Fusser. “How
do Welsh-English bilinguals deal with conflict? Adjective-noun order
resolution.” 

This chapter presents an experimental study that attempts to test the Matrix
Language Frame model. The focus of the study was noun-adjective combination in
the speech of Welsh-English bilinguals. In English the adjective precedes the
noun (‘red wine’), while in Welsh it follows the noun (‘gwin coch’).
Therefore, if code-switching occurs in the noun-adjective combination, it
might be a potential source of conflict for Welsh-English bilinguals. The
results of the study mostly adhered to the MLF model: most combinations that
contained code-switching followed the order of the matrix language. They also
found significant correlations of language attitudes with the code-switching
in production: those who were against code-switching tended to produce it
less. 

Chapter 5: Evershed Kwasi Amuzu. “Combining the Markedness Model and the
Matrix Language Frame Model in analyzing bilingual speech.” 

In this chapter the author tries to combine the Markedness Model and the
Matrix Language Frame model in order to explain the structural and the
conceptual patterns of code-switching in an Ewe-English bilingual community in
Ghana. The results show that while speakers are not necessarily conscious of
their code-switching they are capable of monitoring their speech and choosing
not to code-switch if the situation requires it. Using English was sometimes
an unmarked option in a dialogue between two bilinguals, since code-switching
is very common among educated speakers in Ghana. At the same time, English can
signify formality of the discourse or seriousness of the situation.
Alternation and insertion appeared in both marked and unmarked types of
code-switching.

Part 2: Multilingual interaction and social identity

Chapter 6: Gerald Stell. “Towards an integrated approach to structural and
conversational code-switching through macrosociolinguistic factors.” 

In this chapter the author analyzed code-switching patterns in three groups of
bilinguals in South-Africa: White Afrikaans-English, Coloured
Afrikaans-English (Coloured is the South African name for people of mixed
race) and Black Sesotho-English. Stell wanted to investigate whether
macrosociolinguistic factors, such as language prestige, would be more
predictive of the percentage and type of code-switching in bilingual speech
than typological factors (whether the languages are typologically close or
distant). Unlike the findings in the previous chapter, there was a strong
one-to-one relationship between socially meaningful paternal and grammatical
patterns (alternation and insertion). On one hand, Afrikaans samples (both
White and Coloured) show the tendency towards insertional CS, while Sesotho
samples favored alternation. However, both Coloured Afrikaans and Black
Sesotho samples also demonstrated a stronger tendency towards congruent
lexicalization than the White Afrikaans sample. The author concludes that
macrosociolinguistic factors seem to predict both conversational (percentage)
and grammatical (type) patterns of code-switching.

Chapter 7: Eric A. Anchimbe. “Code-switching: Between identity and exclusion.”

The chapter provides an account of code-switching in multilinguals in
Cameroon. The author analyzed a corpus of online interactions of Anglophone
Cameroonians who switch to French and CPE (Cameroon Pidgin English) from a
sociolinguistic perspective.The author argues that in post-colonial Cameroon
none of the three languages can be an unmarked choice. English and French are
a marked option that demonstrates education and class, as well as belonging to
either an Anglophone or Francophone community. According to the corpus
analysis, the authors of interactions consciously use code-switching in order
to achieve pragmatic purposes. French is used to express negativity towards
outsiders, while CPE, which is also primarily a language of the Anglophone
community, is used to mark solidarity with the group. The author states that
in order to analyze the pragmatic intent of CS, one needs to factor in
colonial history, studies of ethnicity and identity and culture.

Chapter 8: Katherine Hoi Ying Chen. “Styling bilinguals: Analyzing
structurally distinctive code-switching styles in Hong Kong.” 

In this chapter, the author attempts to combine sociolinguistic and structural
analysis of code-switching. According to the study, different structural
patterns of code-switching in Cantonese-English bilinguals in Hong Kong
signify different social identities they project. Code-switching between
Cantonese and English is common among the local residents, especially among
the youth. However, they normally insert English words into a Cantonese base
sentence. At the same time, code-switching to English is stigmatized in the
general culture and by older generations and considered to be a contaminating
influence on Cantonese. People who returned to Hong Kong after living abroad
exhibit different patterns of code-switching where alternation between English
and Cantonese is prominent. This style of code-switching is stigmatized even
among the code-switching local youth as it projects the Western identity over
local. Thus, both styles of code-switching, structurally different, are used
as linguistic markers of social identity. 

Chapter 9: Bettina Migge. “The role of discursive information in analyzing
multilingual practices.” 

The author analyzes a corpus of recorded conversations of Nengee and
Sranatongo Creole speakers from French Guiana and Suriname. Both Creoles are
English-based and share many similarities, which makes the analysis of
code-switching between them quite difficult. The corpus data also show that
speakers code-switch not only content morphemes, but system morphemes as well.
As a result, in order to analyze the hybrid structures combining two or more
languages, it is not enough to rely on structural methodology. It is also
important to consider “salience” – what is important or distinctive in a given
language. It is not necessarily unambiguous which language is matrix language
and which is embedded. The author calls for a fine-tuned sociolinguistic
analysis that takes a close look into specific discourse of the interaction
and situated language use, since the same pattern of CS can hold different
meaning in different situations. 

Chapter 10: Adam Blaxter Paliwala. “Creole/Superstrate code-switching:
Structure and consequences.” 

The author analyzes spoken conversation in Tok Pisin that took place in Madang
and Port Moresby, as well as political speeches in the National Parliament.
There is a discussion whether Tok Pisin and English in Papua New Guinea are
fully separate languages or parts of a language continuum and whether the
variation in Tok Pisin is a sign of developing decreolization and future
language loss. Urban varieties of Tok Pisin appear to employ multiple switches
to English, exhibiting insertion, alternation and congruent lexicalization.
Urban population is often fluent in both languages and switch fluidly between
them. Examples of the switches show that there are possible changes to the
grammar of Tok Pisin, such as a consistent use of articles or double
pluralization. However, it is not clear how stable are the changes and whether
they will hold in the long term. 

Part 3: Code-switching and social structure

Chapter 11: Klaus Beyer. “Multilingual speakers in a West African contact
zone: An integrated approach to contact-induced language change.” 

The articles focuses on multilingualism in a contact zone called Souroudougou
between Burkina Faso and Mali, specifically on speakers of Pana. Pana speakers
are a linguistic minority, while the main language of the region (acting as
lingua franca) is Jula and French is the official language. One of the effects
of the contact between the two languages is reduction in labialization of
word-initial obstruents (present in Pana, but not in Jula). The data showed
that speakers who are very integrated into the village community employ more
labialization, while less socially integrated people are, apparently, less
conservative in their language use and more affected by Jula and exhibit less
labialization. The author suggests that contact-induced language change
emerges here faster than in Western societies due to the fact that Pana is not
used in education or media.

Chapter 12: Kofi Yakpo. “Code-switching and social change: Convergent language
mixing in a multilingual society.” 

This chapter focuses on code-switching in three Surinamese languages: Sranan
(an English-based Creole), Sarnami (dialect of Bhojpuri) and Surinamese
Javanese. Speakers of all three languages code-switch to Dutch (the sole
language of education), in addition, speakers of Sarnami and Javanese also
switch to Sranan (also serving as a local lingua franca). Code-switching is
fairly pervasive in all three languages and speakers exhibit favourable
attitudes towards it. However, the author argues that at the moment it cannot
be said that there is one stabilized mixed language. There is some indication
that there is a shift from Javanese to Sranan in younger speakers who exhibit
limited proficiency in Javanese, however, it is not the case with Sarnami.
Rise in education levels and urbanization led to extensive exposure of the
population to Sranan and Dutch, which created a society in which most speakers
are multilingual. Despite the fact that all three languages are typologically
distant, the patterns of code-switching in all of them are very regular, which
can point to a certain convergence of the languages caused by social factors
(multilingualism and social interaction) rather than by the structures of the
languages.

Chapter 13: Carmel O’Shannesy. “Typological and social factors influencing a
new mixed language, Light Warlpiri.” 

This chapter is about Light Warlpiri, a language that has recently emerged  in
Australia as a result of stabilizing and conventionalizing code-switching
between Warlpiri (an Aboriginal language) and English/Kriol (local
English-based creole). The author describes specific characteristics of the
language which are different from both English and Warlpiri, such as the
verbal auxiliary system which is used for the future-nonfuture distinction.
Speakers of the language see it as a dialect of Warlpiri used by younger
generations rather than a fully separate language. 

Chapter 14: Sabine Ehrhart. “Continua of language contact.” 

The chapter focuses on language ecology. Erhart argues for a holistic view of
language contact situations and multilingual communities, where a notion of
fully separate languages is not employed. The author compares classroom
language policies in Luxembourg and New Caledonia. She states that
code-switching and contact languages are the expression of the same phenomena,
where creole languages appear as a result of prolonged code-switching. The
author argues that code-switching should be seen as a normal and essential
part of a multilingual society and it can create a positive environment in a
multilingual classroom.

EVALUATION

The volume is aimed at linguists who study code-switching and multilingualism.
It brings together different perspectives on code-switching in an attempt to
form a holistic and integrative approach to the phenomenon. The studies
published in this volume demonstrate that addressing just the pragmatics or
just the grammar of code-switching might provide only a limited understanding
of CS. Code-switching is viewed as a normal and even essential part of
communication in multilingual societies and not as a sign of language shift or
deterioration. An important contribution of the volume is that it focuses
mostly on less studied languages and on societies in which bi- or
multilingualism is the norm. The studies employ diverse methodology and
provide interesting insights into the practices of code-switching around the
world.

The editors state that they do not wish to accept a single definition of
code-switching for the volume and leave defining these terms to the chapter
authors. However, sometimes this might lead to confusion, as the authors of
chapters use different and not necessarily compatible definitions. In
addition, almost in every paper the authors spend a significant portion of the
text on defining the Matrix Language Frame Model, Markedness model and types
of code-switching. Defining the basic terms in the introduction of the first
chapter and referring to them in the following chapters might have brought
more cohesion to the volume. The chapters in the first two parts of the book
connect to each other and look at the same issues from different sides.
However, the third part of the volume seems to be less connected to the first
two parts, and the chapters in it are less connected to each other than the
chapters in the other two parts. 

REFERENCES

Muysken, Peter. 2000. Bilingual speech: A typology of code-mixing. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

Myers-Scotton, Carol. 1993a. Social motivations for code-switching: Evidence
from Africa. Oxford: Calrendon Press.

Myers-Scotton, Carol. 1993b. Duelling languages: Grammatical structures in
code-switching. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Liubov Baladzhaeva is a PhD student at the University of Haifa. She is
interested in multilingualism, language acquisition and attrition.





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