The Reasons for Code-switching

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c. The Reasons for Code-switching

Code-switching is a language phenomenon that is considered common in many areas in the world. However, people switch their language from certain language to another with some reasons. As Wardhaugh 1992 states in his book that there are three common reasons for people to switch their code. “A number of answers have been suggested including solidarity with listeners, choice of topic, and perceived social and cultural distance” Wardhaugh ,1992: 106. By switching the code, people are trying to include the listeners to their conversation. Moreover, the topic discussed also affects the choice of code. People might change their language depends on the topic they are talking about because it would be easier to discuss particular topics in a certain code than another. The different kinds of relationships are often shown by different codes used. For example relation between teacher and students are more formal than neighbor or friends. Therefore, the languages they used are also different. According to Holmes 2001: 25-26, there are five reasons for code- switching: topic, social distance, status relationship, formality and function or goal of the interaction. Certain topics may commonly be discussed in one code than another, in particular, for technical topics like sports where people are more familiar to say offside because there is no exact term in Indonesian to explain offside term. Holmes also said that some topics “… are firmly associated with a particular code and the topic itself can trigger a switch to the appropriate code” Holmes, 2001: 37. 14 Other reasons for code-switching are presented by Hoffmann 1991. She writes in her book An Introduction to Bilingualism that “the reasons for code- switching are manifold” 1991: 115. From the examples that she provided, many reasons are contextual, situational and personal class. She describes that switching normally happens when the speaker is quoting someone else. As Holmes referred to “referentially oriented code switch” 2001: 37 which is used to emphasize precise massage content. The second reason is that when the speaker is being emphatic about something. The last reason, in addition, is that when the speaker repeats their utterance for clarification. Some additional reasons for code-switching are explained by Oksaar 1974, Poplack 1980 and Calsamiglia and Tusón 1984 as cited by Hoffmann 1991 said that people might switch their code to express their group identity and to show solidarity with a certain group.

d. Code-switching and Language Learning