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Crystal (2003, p.164) defines code-switching as “the process in which people rely simultaneously on two or more languages to communicate with each other”. Immigration stimulates non-native English speakers to use “loan words” as a strategy for establishing social relationships and enriching their discourse where different cultures co-exist. Considering Crystal’s definition, which of the 5 contexts below DOES NOT present code-switching?
a) Context 1: two women lawyers from Malaysia. The first speaker is Tamil and the second, Chinese.
“CHANDRA: Lee Lian, you were saying you wanted to go shopping, nak pergi tak? [tag question in Malay ‘Want to go, not?’]
LEE LIAN: Okay, okay, at about twelve, can or not?
CHANDRA: Can lah, no problem one! My case going to be adjourned anyway. [lah: emphatic particle]
LEE LIAN: What you looking for? Furnitures or kitchenwares?
You were saying, that day, you wanted to beli some barang-barang for your new house. [Malay ‘buy . . . things’]
(Adapted from Crystal, 2003, p. 166-167).
b) Context 2: Both speakers S [Subject] and M [his mother] are Japanese.
S: Dakara kore ‘Change’ tte kaitearu. (So it said change here.)
M: Hee, omoshiroi ne. (Oh, that’s interesting.)
S: Un. Etto (Yeah, well), it only works for certain things.
M: Hontoo (Really)? Aa, mata ude ga toreta. (Oh, the arm came off again.)
S: Daijoobu, daijoobu. (That’s ok, that’s ok.). Sore wa (Speaking of that), that’s not his arm.
M: Huun, doredemo ii wakeja nainda. (Oh, not everything will fit.)
S: Un, maa ne. Maa…Ah! (Well, yeah…oh!) This one! Mommy, look at this one.
(Adapted from Nakamura, 2005, p. 1682) c) Context 3: Both Mother (M) and her daughter, Isabella (I), are from Venezuela.
I: What’s that?
M: What’s what?
I: that
M: That noise? no se se que cosa es a lo mejor es que están limpiando la grama
I: A mi no me gusta eso
M: No te gusta? Por que?
I: Porque me pisa a mi
M: Ba!!! como te va a pisar
I: mira, and then she want to take me to she house
M: Tu crees que te va a llevar a su casa, baa!! ese señor é bom ese señor está solamente limpiando la grama
I: Y que dice?
(Adapted from Arias & Lakshmanan, 2005, p. 98) d) Context 4: Both speakers are Turkish.
Babs: Calm down. What’s the rush?
Joselyn: Sana söylemek için can atıyorum. (I’ve been bursting to tell you)
Babs: Tell me what? It’s obviously got you excited.
Jocelyn: Well, Heather just told me that Mandy has dumped Gordon and got a new boyfriend.
Babs: Oohh, fancy that. Who is he?
(Adapted from Esen, 2018. Available at: <https://owlcation.com/humanities/Code-Switching-Definition-Types-and-Examples of-Code-Switching>.) e) Context 5: Dialogue between African-American characters from the movie The Color Purple, based on Alice Walker’s novel.
Celie: [lunging towards Albert with a knife] I curse you. Until you do right by me everything you think about is gonna crumble!
Sofia: Don’t do it Mrs. Celie. Don’t trade places with what I been through.
Shug: Come on, Celie, let’s go to the car.
Sofia: He ain’t worth it, he ain’t worth it.
Albert: Who you think you is? You can curse nobody. Look at you. You’re black, you’re poor, you’re ugly, you’re a woman, you’re nothing at all!
Celie: Until you do right by me, everything you even think about gonna fail!
Grady: It’s been a pleasure meeting all of you. Good-bye.
(Transcriptions available at: <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088939/quotes>. See also: <https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=yqmreq-dV84>.)