RUNNING HEAD: Spanish-English Code Switching

Title: Spanish-English Code Switching

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AUGUST 08, 2009

 Spanish-English Code Switching 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................. 2
 Spanish-English Code Switching 3

Title: Spanish-English Code Switching

1.0 Introduction

There exists numerous definitions of the term Code switching, however social-

cultural linguistic scholars agree on one definition that is becoming universally accepted in

the field of social-cultural linguistics. These scholars have defined code switching as “the use

of more than one language in the course of a single communicative episode” (Heller,

1988a:1). Other scholars like Auer and Myers-Scotton have provided similar definitions.

Auer (1984) has defined code switching as “the alternating use of more than one language,”

whereas Scotton (1993) refers to it as “the use of two or more languages in the same

conversation.” The most unique definition though of the term code switching was provided

by Gumperz. Thus according to Gumperz (1982), “conversational code switching could be

defined as the juxtaposition within the same speech exchange of passages of speech

belonging to two different grammatical systems or subsystems” (p.59).

For the purpose of this research paper, we are going to assume that “languages” and

“grammatical systems and sub-systems” as used in the above definitions are synonymous.

We’ll also assume that the use of plural “languages” in the prior definitions refers to language

varieties such as English, Spanish while “grammatical systems” or “subsystems” refers to

linguistic elements like lexical items, language syntax, and prosodic phenomena (Zentella,

1997). Drawing from the above definitions of code switching, this paper will explore and

describe Spanish-English code-switching variety, linguistic structures, social aspects and the

description of a contrastive linguistic analysis.

2.0 Linguistic Structure

According to Zentella (1997), code switching commonly occurs where the linguistic

syntaxes of two bilingual speakers align in the same sentence. Recent findings of social-

cultural linguistic studies have indicated that even distinct languages would align
 Spanish-English Code Switching 4

syntactically at a relative clause boundary or at a boundary of other sentence sub-structures1.

Similar syntactic re-alignment at clause boundaries has been reported in Spanish/English

bilingual speakers. In his attempt to differentiate code switching from borrowing, Poplack

(1980) asserted that borrowing usually takes place in the lexicon, whereas code switching

occurs either at a syntax level or utterance-construction level (p.117). Nonetheless, it still

remains a great challenge for linguists to differentiate loanword usage from code switching.

Consequently, Milroy et al (1995) argues that this challenge greatly contributed to the

unsuccessful attempt by social-cultural linguists to set grammatical rules and syntactic

boundaries that indicate where code switching could possibly occur.

Becker (1989) proposes various constraints such as free-morpheme constraint,

equivalence constraint, Matrix Language Frame model, closed class constraint and the

functional head constraint. According to the free-morpheme constraint, it is impossible for

code switching to happen between bound morphemes. The second constraint, equivalence

constraint provides that code switching can only take place in positions where “the order of

any two sentence elements, one before and one after the switch is not excluded from either

language” (Poplack, 1980:p.94). For example a sentence such as “I like you porque eres

simpatico.” Which translates to “I like you because you are likable?” is permitted since it

adheres to the comparative clause pattern rules of both Spanish and English.

The third constraint is the closed class constraint which provides that closed class items

such as pronouns, prepositions and conjunctions cannot be switched in a sentence during a

conversation (Heredia, 1997). On the contrary, the matrix language model separates the roles

played by the two contributing languages namely Spanish and English. Milroy et al (1995)

suggests that functional head constraint prohibits the occurrence of code switching where

there exists a functional head or inflection. He further observes that CS cannot also occur

1
Pfaff, C. (1976a). Syntactic Constraints on Code Switching: A Quantitive Study of Spanish/English.
 Spanish-English Code Switching 5

where there exists a functional head complement either in a sentence, noun, phrase or a verb-

phrase.

3.0 Social Aspects of Spanish-English CS

In a Spanish/English instructional environment where English is the primary

dominant language, teachers would form negative attitude towards students who make use of

code switching during classroom interaction (Myers-Scotton, 1993). This happens because

just like any other stigmatized language variety, code switching is often regarded as a

deviation from specific societal norms2. Consequently, during a study to determine the

teacher attitudes towards non-standard varieties of American English, Ramirez and Milk

(1986) required instructors of bilingual students to evaluate four varieties of American

English. These varieties were: one standard language variety and three non-standard language

varieties in terms of instructional effectiveness, degree of correctness as well as student’s

academic potential (Zentella, 1997). Their findings revealed that Spanish/English code

switching emerged as the least acceptable language variety form. In fact, Spanish-English

CS was ranked even less favorably as compared to ungrammatical Standard English. Hence

based on these findings, it is evident that teachers’ beliefs about their students’ linguistic

prowess would possibly influence the level of student achievement. According to Pfaff

(1976), the curricular practices of bilingual teachers are considerably shaped by social

conditions outside of the classroom. Moreover, other linguistic scholars have emphasized the

importance of evaluating the social-cultural environment that exists in a bilingual classroom.

Myers-Scotton (1993) contends that bilingual classroom interaction can be improved with

greater research in the area of bilingual speech and especially Spanish-English code

switching.

2
Refer to Poplack, S. (1981b). Syntactic Structure and Social Function of Code-Switching:

pp. 169-184. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

 Spanish-English Code Switching 6

Recent studies in psycholinguistics have greatly focused on the identification of

specific factors that could possibly have an impact on the comprehension level of code

switched words. Poplack (1980) asserts that Spanish-English bilinguals achieve greater

comprehension of code switched words when there is a phonological overlap between the

two languages. Another hypothesis by Zentella (1997) has suggested that language

dominance plays a significant role in code switching. In this respect, language dominance

refers to the language that is regularly used. For instance Pfaff (1976) reports that Spanish-

English bilinguals encounter more code switching or linguistic interference especially while

communicating using their first language, Spanish. He further argues that such bilingual

speakers experience little or no linguistic interference while communicating in English which

is their second language. It therefore implies that bilingual Spanish-English speakers

experience code switching more when they are communicating in Spanish than when

communicating in English.

Numerous empirical research studies have also yielded results that support these

assertions. Besides social-cultural linguistic research findings supporting bilingual code

switching among Spanish-English bilinguals, psycholinguistic researchers have also

advanced evidence that support this bilingual theory. Psycholinguists’ have postulated that

such bilinguals have a greater capability to access English code switched words faster

particularly while listening to Spanish sentences. On the contrary, they have argued that the

same bilinguals are slower to retrieve Spanish code switched words while listening to English

sentences. In support of this hypothesis, Becker (1989) observes that there is evidence which

suggests that code switched words are accessed faster than monolingual words as long as the

code switched word is in English while the primary communication language remains

Spanish. These findings have conclusively suggested that Spanish-English speakers rely more

on their second language rather than on their first language. Linguistic scholars have
 Spanish-English Code Switching 7

explained the bilinguals’ overreliance on their second language. They have categorically

attributed this phenomenon to a certain level of language competency that bilinguals attain as

a result of persistent use of their second language. Due to this language proficiency and

frequency of use, a language shift occurs in which the second language gains more

dominance over the first language (Zentella, 1997). It therefore means that the second

language becomes bilingual’s best choice for communication due to ease of accessibility to

the mental dictionary.

The argument that Spanish-English speakers in the U.S are more fluent in Spanish

than English could be attributed to the fact that these bilinguals obtain their formal education

in English. Moreover, their day-to-day social interactions primarily occur in their second

language, English. Consequently, English words and concepts become more accessible than

Spanish words and concepts thus making English their most dominant language. This

language dominance affects the degree of code switching depending on whether the bilingual

is using English or Spanish. Therefore the degree of code switching is high when bilinguals

are communicating in Spanish than when communicating in English.

4.0 Discourse Functions of Spanish-English CS

Bourdieus’ theory emphasizes the role of power as a social function of CS as opposed

to solidarity (Pfaff, 1979b). There are numerous aspects of Bourdieus’ theory regarding the

functions of CS in a bilingual discourse as well as the critical factors that influence the choice

of code. Numerous studies and research findings have suggested that CS mainly signals

group identity and solidarity among members of the bilingual communities (Bailey, 1999).

According to Gumperz (1982), the two codes are the we-code and the they-code thus

implying that the greatest function of CS is to symbolize solidarity among members of the

two participating languages. Spanish-English bilinguals often use Spanish in informal social

interactions whereas English is often reserved for out-group interactions, and primarily in
 Spanish-English Code Switching 8

formal interactions. A finding by Myers-Scotton and Bolonyai (2001) revealed that there was

a high association between the speakers’ choice of language pattern and their extensive social

network. Moreover, numerous research findings have conclusively suggested that CS

achieves the same goal for bilingual speakers as style-shifting does for the monolingual

speakers (Bailey, 199). Auer (1995b) has explained CS based on the Speech accommodation

theory. This theory stipulates that bilingual speakers adjust their language style in order to

articulate their objectives or attitudes. Milroy and Muysken (1995) thus introduced two

theories: convergence and divergence. In this theory, convergence refers to accommodation

towards the speech style of a fellow bilingual speaker while divergence communicates a

sense of solidarity among the bilingual speakers. In support of this theory, a research by

Heredia (1997) established that Spanish-English speakers often use Spanish to signify

solidarity and English to symbolize accommodation for the speech style of their counterpart.

5.0 Conclusion

This research paper explored diverse issues ranging from structural to social-linguistic

facets of Spanish-English code switching. From a structural perspective, many linguistic

scholars and researchers have advanced different models derived from pre-existing syntactic

theories that have attempted to explain the phenomenon of code switching among Spanish-

English speakers. Alternation models that have been discussed include equivalence point

switching which attempts to define CS based on word order equivalence. On the contrary,

insertion models have explained code-switching based on the hypothesis that the two

participating languages produce varying degrees of CS. This research has also established

that the model differences are largely caused by dissimilar typological features that exist

between Spanish and English languages. From a social-linguistic point of view, the social

explanation of CS among Spanish-English bilinguals is largely drawn from societal norms

that determine the social code. Besides, CS is used as a strategic tool by two bilingual
 Spanish-English Code Switching 9

speakers to create social reality as well as signal solidarity. However most importantly,

Spanish-English CS provides conversational functions that include signaling of dual identity,

exclusion of non-members, and emphasizing a specific point or message in both formal and

informal language discourse.

References
 Spanish-English Code Switching 10

Auer, P. (1988a). A Conversation Analytic Approach to Code-Switching and transfer. In M.

Heller (Ed.), Code-switching: Anthropological and sociolinguistic perspectives (pp.

187-213). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Auer, P. (1995b). The pragmatics of code-switching: A sequential approach. In L. Milroy &

P. Muysken (Eds.), One speaker two languages: Cross-disciplinary perspectives on

code-switching (pp. 115-135). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Bailey, B. (1999). Switching. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 9(1-2):241-43.

Becker, R.R. (1989). Spanish-English Code Switching. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Heredia, R.R, “Bilingual Memory and Hierarchical Models: A Case for Language

Dominance.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 10 (1997)

Pfaff, C. (1976a). Syntactic Constraints on Code Switching: A Quantitive Study of

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Poplack, S. (1981b). Syntactic Structure and Social Function of Code-Switching. In R. P.

Durán (Ed.) Latino Language and Communicative Behavior (pp. 169-184). Norwood,

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Milroy, L., and Muysken, P., (1995). One Speaker, Two Languages: Cross-Disciplinary

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Myers-Scotton, C., & Bolonyai, A. (2001). Calculating Speakers: Code-Switching in a

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Zentella, A. C. (1997). Growing up Bilingual. NY: Blackwell Publishers.