an analysis of code switching through messengers among k19 university english major students a sociolinguistic study

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HCM INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY SEMESTER 2 2021 - 2022 Research Methodology AN ANALYSIS OF CODE-SWITCHING THROUGH MESSENGERS AMONG K19 UNIVERSITY ENGLISH MAJO

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HCM

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

SEMESTER 2 (2021 - 2022) Research Methodology

AN ANALYSIS OF CODE-SWITCHING THROUGH MESSENGERS AMONG K19 UNIVERSITY ENGLISH MAJOR

STUDENTS : A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY

Lecturer: Dr Nguyen Huy Cuong

Pham Uyen Thu - ENENIU19104

June 2022

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INTRODUCTION

Communication is the process of creating meaning and message, also the exchange of flow of thoughts and interactions among social groups stated by Giffin & Patten (1976) The capability of conveying thoughts, expressing feelings, and ideas is thoroughly an exceptional skill As a tool of communication among the members of the society, language is influenced

by the society, where it is put into operation The use of language in communication The individuals put into operation various types of measures and approaches that are necessary in leading to development of language skills In bilingual communities, the speaker may know more than one code, often presents various codes within their speeches This phenomenon, which is defined by linguistics as code-switching is “ a well-known trait in the speech pattern

of avaerage bilingual in any human society the world over ” ( Ayeomoni, 2006) Code switching (CS) is a prominent multifunctional characteristic of the speech of bilinguals in both formal and informal settings Bilinguals are those who are considered to be fluent in communicating in two languages : the mother tongue and native language Therefore, in this study, Vietnamese students major in English were randomly selected participants, as they and those who were deemed to be expert undergraduates in English, frequently code-switch in

their conversation

In Vietnam, English language that has considered the most significant adoption rate in recent years than others language, namely, French, Russia and Chinese There is an estimated that 50% of the can speak this language This proficiency rises significantly in major cities, including Ho Chi Minh City English provides numerous chances for both students and workers Especially, it assists the learners to be more appealing in the attraction of employers Thanks to English, top universities are open to non-native students In case of Vietnamese students, the need for studying abroad is growing dramatically in the past years with the aim

of gaining access of wide ranges of promising chances in other nations and acquiring new knowledge Result in this emergece, the phenomenon of “code switching” was born, in which two or more languages are used in everyday interaction between people Many scholars’ significant interests has been observed and caught by this sociolinguistics subjects over the last two decades English has spread through radio, television, internet in which code-switching can be learnt from Thus code-switching occurs in a diversity of different

situations Consequently, code-switching (from Vietnamese to English) has been observed in

Vietnam

There is a growth in using code-switching in Vietnamese, most research papers only concentrate on the domains in which code-switching occurs in classroom or workplace or its functions in teaching and learning L2 From the code- switching phenomenon in the workplace (Tran, 2013) to its functions in language education (Nguyen, Grainger & Carey, 2016) An article about the observation about code-switching in the chat setting conversation

is found to be rare, espescially among young generations

This research study aims to categorize the types of CS used in the instant message conversations of the undergaduates Additionally, the study result will be analyzed the occurred frequency of particular types of CS, examined the purposes of the pariticapnet Later on, the findings will be categorized the most common domains and find out the motivation for the participants to code-switch

The research questions includes:

1 What type of CS is the most prominent in their conversation through text message app?

2 What domain do participants employ CS in their conversation through text message app : education, gossip or entertainment ?

3 What is the motivation of participants to employ these types of CS in their conversation through text message app?

In this research study, the assumed hypothesis is that undergraduates employ 3 types of code- switching during their conversations The way they elaborate flexibly the types of code- switching in exchanging the information with their peers

The scope of the study :

This analysis focuses on analyzing the English languages which are based on types, domains and motivation of motivation of students using code switch in their conversation

LITERATURE REVIEW

The term code and code choice is simply defined as “a set of linguistic items with similar social distribution” (Hudson, 1996, p.22) It is employed in specific social situations that include different accents, linguistic styles, dialects, and even languages that contrast with each other for social reasons “In every community there is a wide range of codes that are always available from which people can choose for communication according to the social

multilingual communities must select an appropriate code to communicate with other individuals The sociolinguistics also defined “code choice” as “Code-choice refers to a

speaker's decision of which code to use in a given utterance, and in case of a CS utterance, to

what extent the different codes are to be used” In other words, “speakers may accommodate

to each other's code-choice in positive or negative manner’ (Genesee, 1982)

II Code switching versus other phenomena

Code switching versus code-mixing

Code-Switching

Code switching takes place at sentece or clause bounderies Shifting from one to another language dialects in the context of a single sentence, either consicously or subsiconciously Code-mixing

Code-mixing is the other phenomenon related which have a close relation to code-switching, which is more exquisite than code-switching It is defined in different subfields of linguistics The alternating use by bilingual speakers of two or more different languages within a single utterance (e.g Kachru 1978, Muysken 2000)

Code switching versus code-mixing

Borrowing

Nguyen Van Khang states that “borrowed forms are usually used in donor language by monolingual people whereas CS forms are applied by bilingual ones”

E,g,.: “Ngu nhiéu qua day Day di! Now, get up!”

“%e thư bưu điện đến rồi đi Ngoài Coupons ra chắng có gì.Bạn tới chúc xuân khui nước ngọt,Buy one ngoài chg get one free”

As stated by Thai Duy Bao, “Borrowing is found in the level of words while code-switching

occurs in the level of sentences”

Vietnamese word borrowed from English

công-ten-nơ (container)

xăng-quých (sandwich)

bị sốc (shock)

gÌay xăng đan (scandals)

IH Bingualism and code switching

Bilingual is defined as complete and equal command of two languages in all situation In practice, spontaneously produce meaningful utterances Bilingual proficiency varies are

greatly fluent in both languages while others are greatly fluent in one language, which is the preferred language, and less proficient in the other Bilinguals can thus be defined as

“individuals or groups of people that result from interactions via language in which two or more linguistic codes (including dialects) are used for communication” (Butler & Hakuta

2006, p 114) When the source and target languages are spoken in the same conversation, bilinguals often code-switch between the two

IV Yarious types of Code switching

he types of code-switching is differently defined its terms by some reseachers

(Muysken, 2000) introduces two types of code-switching which involve intra-sentential code-switching and inter-sentential code switching, the types were later on termed code- mixing or intra-sentential code-mixing Meanwhile Poplack (1980) as cited in Romaine (1989), categorised based on the ‘location’ where it occur in an utterance

Intra-sentential code switching

The shift occurs within the clause boundary, with no interruption, hesitation, or pauses to indicate a shift The speaker has no awareness of the shift

E.g.: Minh highly recommend cuén sach nay Rat helpful với các mẹ mới sinh em bé nhé Inter-sentential code switching

The language switch occur at the sentence bondaries This types is deemed to be the most promient in fluent bingual communities

E.g : “Well, con ban thé nao? Is everything OK?”

Extra-sentential switching

The shift of either a single word or tag phrase from one language to another It involves the insertution of a tag form one language into an utterance in another language

When adding short phrases or interjections, speakers are using tag-switching

E.g.: Câu vẫn ôn cả chứ, right?

Blom & Gumperz (1972) classified code-switching into 2 types, which can be either situational or metaphorical

Situational code switching

Situational code switching happens when a person switches between codes because of a change in the situation which include participant, topics and settings

Metaphorical code switching

Metaphorical code-switching happens when the switch happens due to non-explicit reasons, E.g., to show identity or group membership

The typologies of CS examined in this research work are based on the theoretical feamework

by Poplack (1980)

V Code-switching and its functions

Code switching has its functions and purposes that have examined in a numerous linguistics domains (John J Gumperz, 1982) categories six main functions of CS which includes: quotation, addressee specification, repetition, interjection, message qualification, and personification Meanwhile, Crystal (1997) indicates that the speakers use CS for some reasons, namely, the deficiency, expressing solidarity, and conveying attitude (Sert, 2005)

specifies four functions, which includes equivalence, floor holding, reiteration, and conflict control

As suggested by Appel and Muysken (1987), listed six functions of code-switching posseess five functions, namely, (i) referential, (11) directive, (111) expressive, (iv) phatic and (v) metalinguistic Malik (1994) stated for ten reasons of employing CS as the lack of facility, lack of register, mood of the speaker, emphasizing a point, habitual experience, semantic significance, showing identity with a group, addressing a different audience, pragmatic reasons, to attract attention

VI Phenomenal shift to Code- switching : Vietnamese setting

English is not as an official language within a country, English is still considered “lingua franca” — “which is used habitually by people whose mother tongues are different in order to facilitate communication between them” (cited by Wardhaugh , 2014, p 115) In Vietnam, “a national policy on the use of classroom languages in foreign language education has not been developed yet” (Nguyen, 2013) Therefore, both English and Vietnamese can be employed in English classroom in Vietnam, and “‘code-switching between the two languages is common in classrom’” (Canh, 2014) “English as a medium of instruction programs have been

implemented at some Vietnamese universities in recent years” (Vu & Burns, 2014) In other levels of education, English has been placed right in the third grade of elementary schools (Phan, 2009) Thus, English has emerged in the linguistic choices and cultural identity of Vietnamese people in various domains: education, gossip and entertainment In consequence

of this English emergence, code-switching was originated English references in a

conventional conversation with Vietnamese participants become promient Bilinguals are those who have been taught under this English education policy, additionally, are major in English expect to frequently code-switch as their proficiency in English Therefore, K19 English major studetns is a target participant in this research

VII = Motivational Factor for Code-switching in text constant message

As stated by Appel & Muysken that mentioned below of its functions , there are numerrous purposes of the bilibgual to code-switch, talk about a particular topic, quote somebody, provide emphasis, repeat to clarify, express group identity, clarifying speech content, soften

or strengthen a request/commend, lack of equal translation in another language, excluding others when a comment is intended for an exclusive audience The nine reasons are adopted

as the conceptual framework for this study

VIIL Text constant message app: Messenger

In this research, Messenger in which the text constant conversation occured, will be used as a tool for the data collection instrument Messenger is a mobile app that allows the users to use

a variety of function: chat, voice and video calls and files communications between the social platform messaging Users conveniently exchange information with other in such a rapid and convenient way, also they can elaborate icons and stickers to express their emotions in these

messages Therefore, this app is common among youngsters in sending and receiving

message.

METHODOLOGY

1 Study Design

This research falls under the qualitative method to identify, classify and analyze what factor that influence the use of code-switching and the function of code switching occurences in K19 chat conversation The findings are synthesized and interpreted based on 20 chats conversation from 20 random participants in the International University, prior to collecting a data analysis step, the researcher will gather the screenshots of chat session during a month of

20 random participants as a data collection instrument

In these chat sessions, the dominant languagge is the source language of all the participants- Vietnamese, the subordinate language is the target language, English

2 Participants

The participants were all bilingual speakers of Vietnamese and English Each participant are those who major in English and expexted to have a good command in english, these participants had an advanced level of English In this study, participants are the K19 undergraduates majoring in English Linguisitic (EL) students from International University use code-switching for various domains in their chat session on Mesenger with the period of

one month, from March 22nd to April 22nd, 2022

3 Data Collection

The data for analysis is the screenshots in the chats sessions of the participants in one month Single utterances of the particpant in which they use the code-switch will be marked and counted The conversations were collected from 20nd March to 20nd April, including minimum ten lines for each data conversation ( the data is not counted for the icons and stickers) The time open for participants to send the screenshot images to the researcher is from 25th April to 30 April through mail

4, Data Analysis

The data analysis procedures are divided into three steps First, 20 code-switching texting conversations between 2 English Linguistics students were randomly collected Additionally, the data was counted and categorized by Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word programs