Code Switching

Linguistic code switching, encompassing code mixing and code alternation, is shifting language used to express oneself in conversations. It is not limited to switching between languages and can also refer to shifting in dialect, register, and style. Code switching is a result of language contact and can occur at morpheme (intra-word), lexical (intrasentential), or clause or sentence (intersentential) boundaries. Metaphorical or conversational code switching is traditionally and generally perceived to occur at the intrasentential level; situated code switching is generally intersentential. The study of code switching and language alternation can be approached from a few perspectives: sociolinguistically or ethnographically via pragmatics or conversation analysis or vis-à-vis grammatical analyses. Regardless of the approach taken or model adopted, language choice is determined by one's speech community. This is inclusive of the people (interlocutors or participants), the setting [Page 238](place or situation), and the topic (social event or function of the interaction).

Korean-English (Konglish), Tagalog-English (Taglish), and Chinese-English (Chinglish) should not to be confused with their usage in popular culture; as it is used in applied linguistics, these portmanteaus refer to the practice of linguistic code switching defined previously. Chinglish as it is used here does not refer to Chingrish or Engrish in popular usage, nor does it carry the depreciative connotation of misused or poorly translated English by speakers of East Asian languages. In the context of Asian American code switching, Chinglish, Konglish, and Taglish are not simply linguistic deviations due to lack of lexicon; bilinguals may code switch to their heritage language when they communicate in English (that is, talking about pop culture among Asian American peers) or code switch to English when they communicate in their heritage language (that is, when communicating with first-generation immigrants whose dominant language is not English). Asian American speakers may alternate between a heritage language and English; in some cases, they can also code switch between English and a nonheritage language.

As a matter of interest for Asian American studies, code switching has social indexical values that are linked to culture-specific models, though it has also been acknowledged that there is no one-to-one correlation between social value and language choice. Traditional accounts of code switching have taken up grammatical organization of discourse as a point of departure, but to speak of bilingual discourse in terms of switching or mixing of two distinct grammatical codes loses sight of the hybridized speech that is negotiated over a stretch of discourse. In the context of bilingual encounters, the social indexical values brought about by code switching transform a language and result in hybrid registers. That is, code switching among Asian Americans can be seen as a marker of their bi- or multicultural identity.

While Asian American language practices may be perceived from a deficit perspective, it is also possible to view language mixing and code switching not as outcome of heritage language loss but as a result of a multilingual, multicultural context that enables hybridity; proficiency in two languages allows for and accommodates mixing of two languages. Asian Americans who are native speakers of English, or consider English to be their primary medium of communication, are the fastest-growing segment of the Asian American population. American-born bilingual youths of Chinese-, Korean-, or Tagalog-speaking communities typically use English as a dominant language but may attempt to display ethnic language conversance to claim the rights and resources associated with dual membership in their ethnic and mainstream society. Sometimes code switching can become the main language used at home—particularly in first-generation immigrant households.

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