The Types of Code-Switching
phenomenon since it involves two distinctive languages in a single context of occurrence. There are so many factors that affect code-switching to happen. The
different classification of the types of code-switching is considered normal and acceptable.
According to The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, there are seven types of code-switching. The classification among those seven types is
mainly according to the length of the juxtaposed elements which are borrowed from foreign language.
The first one is called diglossia. There are two distinctive varieties of code
that exist in diglossic communities. They are high H and low L variety. The first one is the prestige variety which is used in formal discourse, and the other,
which is lack of prestige, is used in less formal discourse. People may use L variety when they speak to their family at home but choose H variety, the more
formal variety, when they do job presentation in the office. The switching in diglossia occurs in discourse level and involves the switching from H to L variety
or just on the contrary. Discourse is a unit of language elements which is longer than a sentence.
The second type is situational code-switching. The language change
depends on the occasion faced by a speaker since certain occasion may encourage the speaker to exchange the language which is used. The change happens for the
whole part of one’s speech in one context. For example, an English teacher may talk in English for the whole part of the explanatory speech of a past perfect tense
to the second-grade students of Junior High School. Unfortunately, the students have not understood the teacher’s explanation of when to use this tense. It is
10 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
helpful and possible if the teacher re-explains her or his English explanatory speech in Indonesian so the students can fairly comprehend it. Despite the
framework of the context of occurrence which should be within one context, this example of situational code-switching also gives salient description that
situational code-switching happens without any change of the topic.
The third one is metaphoric code-switching. The role of relationship
between the speakers in a conversation may change. The change of the language or dialect that they use may also change in line with it. Unlike the previous one,
this type of code-switching asserts a change of the topic under discussion. When someone meets her or his neighbour doing a duty as a bank teller the person may
greet her or his neighbour with their daily language, the less formal one, such as a local dialect. But the person, then, appropriately and politely chooses the more
formal language to assert her or his main purpose to come to the bank, that she or he wants to draw some money. Here, the person changes the role of relationship
from personal to official. The different relationship between the speakers which is built by changing the code that they use asserts the existence of metaphoric code-
switching.
The fourth type of code-switching is called conversational code- switching. It can also be called style shifting or code mixing. It allows the speaker
to juxtapose various length of foreign language elements within her or his speech. The juxtaposed foreign language element in this type can be a phrase, clause, or
full sentence.
When the juxtaposed element is a single word, the process involves single- word code-switching. This fifth type can also be called borrowing. It welcomes
11 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
the speaker to borrow a single word from another language or dialect and place it within her or his native language utterances. Here is one example of this type of
code-switching which involves Indonesian and English language:
‘Ceritanya dari film itu mengambil setting di Portugal.’
From the example, it can be seen that the speaker replaces an Indonesian word lokasi with an English word ‘setting’.
The last type of code-switching introduced in The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics
is integrated loanwords. The juxtaposition in this type
happens in a morpheme level. Morpheme is a minimal functional element of a word. Here, someone may integrate a word from a foreign language with affixes
of her or his native language to form a certain language expression. Here is an example of this type of code-switching which involves English and Indonesia
language.
‘Ronald adalah pemain gitar yang ber-skill tinggi.’
From the sentence above, the speaker combines an Indonesian prefix ber- with an English word ‘skill’.
The next classification of code-switching is presented by Ronald Wardhaugh. He discusses three kinds of language switching that may exist in
society. The
first type
of code-switching
is situational
code-switching.
Wardhaugh 1992: 106 explains that situational code-switching happens when the language which is used by a speaker changes according to the situation which
is faced by the speaker. She or he may speak one language in one situation and another language in the different one. It can be seen when a teacher starts a kind of
12 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
formal lecture in a standard variety and then tries to encourage the following discussion in a local dialect so that the students will not get tired.
Second, there is metaphorical code-switching. One thing that enables
people to identify metaphorical code-switching is that it has an affective dimension; formal to informal, official to personal, serious to humorous, etc. This
type of code-switching can be seen when two leaders of local companies transact business together. Even though the standard language is generally used,
sometimes they also speak in a local dialect for special effect, e.g., to show that they trust each other.
The last type is conversational code-mixing. The difference between
code-switching and code-mixing can be seen through the context of the occurrence in which code-mixing occurs within a single utterance of someone’s
speech as what Wardhaugh 1992: 106 says that “Code-mixing occurs when conversances use both languages together to the extent that they change from one
language to the other in the course of a single utterance.” Here are some examples of conversational code-mixing that Wardhaugh gives between Spanish and
English language: a. No van a bring it up in the meeting.
‘They are not going to bring it up in the meeting.’ b. Todos los Mexicanos were riled up.
‘All the Mexicans were riled up.’