Code-Switching as Identity Negotiation in Multilingual Communities
Article Sidebar
Dimensions.ai Badge
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study examines how code-switching functions as a tool for identity negotiation in multilingual communities. Drawing on data from interviews, naturalistic recordings, and participant observation in a diverse urban neighborhood, the research analyzes how bilingual speakers use language alternation to signal group membership, navigate social roles, express emotion, and resist linguistic marginalization. Findings reveal that code-switching operates not only as a pragmatic strategy but also as a deeply embedded social act that reflects speakers’ alignment with cultural norms, power structures, and individual self-concepts. The study supports sociolinguistic theories that view identity as dynamic and interactionally constructed, and it emphasizes the role of code-switching in resisting dominant ideologies and maintaining cultural continuity. These insights contribute to a broader understanding of multilingualism as a site of agency, hybridity, and performative identity work.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Alim, S. H., Ibrahim, A., & Pennycook, A. (2008). Global linguistic flows: Hip hop cultures, youth identities, and the politics of language. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203892787
Auer, P. (1998). Code-switching in conversation: Language, interaction and identity. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203017883
Bailey, B. (2007). Chapter 2. Language alternation as a resource for identity negotiations among Dominican American bilinguals. In P. Auer (Ed.), Style and social identities: Alternative approaches to linguistic heterogeneity (pp. 29–56). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110198508.1.29
Bhinder, N. V., & Ivanitska, I. V. (2022). Theoretical aspects of formation of terminological competence of future officers of rocket and artillery armament. Pedagogical Sciences: Theory and Practice, 4, 101-109. https://doi.org/10.26661/2786-5622-2021-4-15
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. (2005). Identity and interaction: a sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies, 7(4-5), 585-614. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445605054407
Canagarajah, S. (2013). Translingual practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan relations. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203120293
Eckert, P., & McConnell-Ginet, S. (1992). Think practically and look locally: Language and gender as community-based practice. Annual Review of Anthropology, 21, 461–490. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.21.100192.002333
Garcia, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism, and Education. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385765
Gee, J.P. (2014). An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method. Routledge.
Gil de Zúñiga, H., & Valenzuela, S. (2010). The Mediating Path to a Stronger Citizenship: Online and Offline Networks, Weak Ties, and Civic Engagement. Communication Research, 38(3), 397-421. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650210384984
Grosjean, F. (2008). Studying bilinguals. Oxford University Press.
Gumperz, J. J. (1982). Discourse strategies. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611834
Hills, R. C., & Atkins, P. W. (2013). Cultural identity and convergence on western attitudes and beliefs in the United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 13(2), 193-213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595813485380
Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an Accent: Language, Ideology and Discrimination in the United States. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203348802
Mera-Lemp, M. J., Bilbao, M., & Basabe, N. (2020). School Satisfaction in Immigrant and Chilean Students: The Role of Prejudice and Cultural Self-Efficacy. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 613585. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613585
Moral, R., Perigo, C., & Legaspino, I. (2024). Influence of Master Teachers’ Workload on their Time Management Skills at Don Sergio Osmeňa Sr. Memorial National High School. EIKI Journal of Effective Teaching Methods, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.59652/jetm.v2i2.221
Myers-Scotton, C. (1993). Social motivations for codeswitching: Evidence from Africa. Oxford University Press.
Pavlenko, A. (2006). Bilingual Selves. Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 56, 1. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853598746-003
Poplack, S. (1980). Sometimes I’ll Start a Sentence in Spanish Y Termino en español: Toward a Typology of Code-Switching. Linguistics, 18, 581-618. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ling.1980.18.7-8.581
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn Taking in Conversation. Language, 50, 696-735. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/412243
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J.C. (1986). The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior. In S. Worchel, W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of Intergroup Relation (pp. 7-24). Chicago: Hall Publishers.
Treffers-Daller, J., Ongun, Z., Hofweber, J., & Korenar, M. (2020). Explaining Individual Differences in Executive Functions Performance in Multilinguals: The Impact of Code-Switching and Alternating Between Multicultural Identity Styles. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 561088. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.561088
Wei, L. (2011). Moment analysis and translanguaging space: Discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(5), 1222–1235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.07.035
Woolard, K. (2008). Why dat now?: Linguistic‐anthropological contributions to the explanation of sociolinguistic icons and change. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 12(4). doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9841.2008.00375.x