Analysis of Code-Switching in Cross-Cultural Communication At 'The Center'.

ABSTRACT

Tugas akhir ini ditulis untuk mmenuhi salah satu persyaratan kelulusan
program sarjana di Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen
Maranatha.
Dalam penulisan tugas akhir ini, saya menemukan orang-orang yang
memiliki dua bahasa atau lebih yang mencampurkan kemampuan dua bahasa
mereka dalam perkataannya yang saya hubungkan dengan teori Marie Koziol
tentang fungsi-fungsi dari alih kode karena orang-orang yang saya amati
melakukan alih kode dari satu bahasa ke bahasa lainnya.
Saya mengambil bahan pengamatan dari orang-orang asing di ‘The
Centre’, di mana mereka mengajar Bahasa Inggris kepada orang-orang indonesia
sebagai objek pengamatan untuk dianalisis. Dari pengamatan ini, saya bermaksud
membahas fungsi dari alih kode orang-orang asing itu dengan mengambil
pendekatan sosiolinguistik.
Dengan menggunakan pendekatan sosiolinguistik, saya mencari fungsifungsi dari alih kode mereka yang dihubungkan dengan teori Marie Koziol.
Wawancara yang saya lakukan adalah untuk mencari tahu tujuan mereka
melakukan alih kode.
Pada akhirnya, saya mendapati fungsi-fungsi alih kode pada kategori
personalization, reiteration, emphasis, clarification, dan untranslatability.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ……………………………………………….......i
TABLE OF CONTENTS

…………………………………………………..iii

ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………..iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
…………………………………………....1
Statement of the Problem
……………………………………………4
Purpose of the Study …………………………………………………....4
Methods of Research ……………………………………………………4
Organization of the Thesis ……………………………………………5

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

……………………6

CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF CODE-SWITCHING IN
CROSS-CULTURALCOMMUNICATION AT ‘THE CENTER’.................15
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION

……………………………………30

BIBLIOGRAPHY

……………………………………………………………34

APPENDICES

……………………………………………………………36

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Appendix 1: Table Analysis of Code-Switching

No

Utterances

Function

Purpose

1.

Pak Agus: It must
drink regularly.

Personalization

-To help them, she

creates
solidarity
atmosphere with the
hearers.
-To
maintain
her
familiarity with the
hearers.

Personalization

-To respect Pak Agus
in front of many
Indonesian people.
-To
show
her
appreciation for his
kindness for giving her

a plant.
-To get closer to Agus.
Besides, she wants to
create
an
intimate
atmosphere with Agus.

Reiteration

To make sure that I
understand her idea.

Personalization and

-To create an intimate
atmosphere
and
sympathy with the girl.
-To be polite in

Indonesia saying the
phrase and to adapt

Katy: Oh, but if this
habis, kumaha?

2.

Katy: What’s your
name?
Pak Agus: Agus.
Katy: Ok, Pak Agus.

3.

4.

Laila: Do you ever
switch to or mix with
Indonesian?

Mary: Yeah, I mix
campur with
Indonesian.
A girl (Indonesian):
Chris, I will go home
now.

Untranslatability

Chris: OK. Hati-hati
di jalan

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Indonesian culture.

5.

6.


7.

8.

Carolin (Indonesian):
What
Indonesian’s
foods do you like?
Mary: I like sate
kambing,
nasi
kuning, I like balabala and bakmi
ayam. I like that too
ehm…pepes ayam.
Pak Agus: Is Georgia
near Atlanta?
Leslie: Georgia is a
state, negara bagian,
Atlanta is that capital
city, the ibu kota, of

that state.
Chris: If you have a
contract, you used
you’re
managing
nothing stop for
music more. So you
have to responsible
but if you have free
page when the time
runs out habis and
you cannot use more.
Razi: I am Razi.

Untranslatability

Laila: What are your
favorite Indonesian
foods?


the
of

Reiteration

To make sure that it is
clear, so she says it
both in English and in
Indonesian and to make
sure that she is fully
understood.

Reiteration

-To get his point.
-To make sure that the
hearers
understand
what he says in
English.


Emphasis

She wants to emphasize
her point in the words
“I’m not laki-laki” and
to emphasize the fact,
from the words “lakilaki” she wants the
hearers to know that
her students are often
wrong in calling her
name.
-To
help
people
understand.
-To make it more
recognizable for the
hearers and to make it
clear to use the
Indonesian words.

Mrs. Denise: I’m
Denise. I’m not lakilaki.

9.

To
maintain
originality
Indonesian foods.

Personalization and
Untranslatability

Chris: I like soto tapi
bukan soto Bandung
ehm…Javanese from

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East Java.
Man
(Indonesian):
Soto sulung.
Chris: It is soto
sulung. I like gepuk,
I
like
many
Indonesian
foods
jagung bakar pedas.
I like nasi merah. I
like the most of the
kind of the rice.
10. Diana: Tell me about
your family?

Reiteration

To make sure that
Indonesians understand
her point in the
Indonesian context.

Reiteration

To make sure that I
understand her point.

Emphasis

To emphasize his point
in the words “sama
saja” and to emphasize
the issue about the
Jewish people in the
eye of the people in the
world.

Jobeth: I have two
brothers and one
sister and my parents
have been married for
more than 30 years
and I have a nephew
and I have a twin, I
am an identical twin
kembar yah my
sister
is
also
pregnant.
11. Laila: What is your
husband’s
educational
background?
Jobeth:
His
background
is
business.
Business
Administration.
Bisnis Administrasi,
itu yah di Bahasa
Indonesia.
12. Laila: What is their
character?
Chris: Good. Sama
saja, we think of
Jewish people in
America is being hard
working. They are

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very hard workers,
their skill is business.
They
are
good
business people.
13. Bret:
In
Alaska
banyak oil.

14. Chris Dylan: They
are good in Bahasa
Indonesia
atau
masih jelek?
Martha: Yeah some
of them are good and
some are bad because
they are lazy.
15. Leslie: Her last name
marga in the movie,
her last name is
Greek and the Greek
word of her last name
means orange, so
when
she
gets
married to a man who
is not Greek. Her
father is not happy
about it…
16. Leslie: The movie I
watched
yesterday
with some children
that I was watching
when their parents
out of the town, so I
am staying at their
house
menjaga
rumah,
menjaga
anak-anak.
17. A girl (Indonesian):
Hi, Chris.

Personalization

Personalization

Reiteration

To make it easier for
Indonesian to speak
Indonesian, as the most
of the population at
“The Center”.
To make it easier for
the hearers and to adapt
with Indonesian where
they also mix their
languages
between
Indonesian
and
English, so it is easier
for him to take both
languages.
To make it clear, to
make sure everyone
understands.

Personalization

To make it easier and
understand for the
hearers.

Personalization

To create intimate with
the girl, to make
familiarity with her,
and to be nice.

Chris: Hi, sudah
lama tidak bertemu.
How are you doing?

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study
Language is used as a means of communication. Language can also build and
maintain a relationship with other people (Trudgill 105). Today, many people can
speak more than one language and we can call them bilinguals or multilinguals. In
daily activities, they switch over from one language to another language when they
are speaking. It happens because of their ability to speak two languages or more.
There are many reasons that make someone a bilingual or multilingual. First,
when that person goes to another country, we can call him or her as immigrant if they
decide to reside there. Here, we can see that they have to interact with people in that
area using a new language. Second, at school, they learn a foreign language. Third,
that person lives in a country with different linguistic groups. In the US, there are
many

immigrants,

so

they

use

their

own

languages

besides

English

(http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2007/08/11/most-people-are-multilin gual/).

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In bilingual environments, code switching often occurs. Code switching is the
act of a person who switches between two codes (languages) or more in a discourse
(Koziol 5). Code switching also happens when a speaker faces some social situations.
According to Holmes (41), “People sometimes switch code within a domain or social
situation, when there is some obvious change in the situation,…” and a bilingual
switches his/her language when he/she is speaking with a particular participant or
addressee; for instance, his/her friends or family. A participant or addressee can
influence someone to choose a particular code depending on the speaker’s purpose to
achieve what he or she wants. When a bilingual meets a person who shares the same
ethnic group, he or she spontaneously switches his or her language to create a more
intimate atmosphere (Koziol 30). Most of the early studies want to prove that code
switching serves a purpose (Koziol 16).
As the subject of my study I have chosen some Americans at ‘The Center’, an
English language tuition centre located in Jalan Setiabudi. They can speak Indonesian
because some of them have been living in Bandung for a few years and they use
Indonesian to communicate with Indonesian people. This is the reason why they are
able to speak Indonesian. So now, Indonesian has become their second language. In
that place, I find that they often use two languages, English and Indonesian in their
daily activities as teachers.
At The Center, the conversations take place between American and Indonesian
people. Here, I see that there is cross-cultural communication because they have
different cultural and linguistic background. Although they do not come from the
same community, they know and understand the two languages. So, they can switch
their languages anytime without any difficult.

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I take this topic because I see that code switching occurs in our daily
interactions, but people do not realize it because some of them are unfamiliar with the
term of code-switching. So, I want to give information about bilinguals switching
their languages in their speech. I expect that the readers will know the functions of
code switching, and be aware of various situations in which code switching occurs. I
also hope that this thesis will be beneficial for students who will take the same topic.
In this thesis, I will analyze code switching in American people’s speech when
they are hanging out with Indonesian at ‘The Center’ by using a sociolinguistic
approach. Sociolinguistics deals with the connections between language and society,
and the way bilinguals use it in different social situations. I am going to use the
fourteen functions of code switching by Jessica Marie Koziol as the theory for my
analysis. Koziol’s theory helps me recognize various functions of code switching.
Sociolinguistics helps me to find out the purpose of the speakers when using those
functions of code switching as Sociolinguistics is related to the social situation that
the speakers are facing.
The reason for me to choose an observation is that as far as the data are
concerned, I take the data from actual conversation. Doing an observation is easier for
me to get the data for my topic rather than reading a book or watching a film.

Statement of the Problem
In this thesis I would like to discuss the following problems:
1. Which utterances show code switching?
2. What type of functions of code switching does the speaker make in his/her
utterances?
3. What is (are) the purpose (s) of the speaker to switch code?

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Purpose of the Study
In this thesis I would like to show:
1. The utterances which show code switching.
2. The type of functions of code switching in the speaker’s utterances.
3. The purpose of the speaker to switch code.

Method of Research
In searching for the data, I do the following steps. First, I look for a place that
is often visited by English native speakers. After finding it, I observe whether they
switch codes or not when they communicate with each other. Second, I record and
write down the data that I have collected. Then, I interview them to find their purpose
of code switching. Third, I select the data and categorize hem according to the
function of code switching. Fourth, I apply the theory when analyzing the data.
Finally, I draw a conclusion based on the analysis and findings of the data.

Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One is Introduction, which
consists of Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study,
Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two provides the
Theoretical Framework, which is concerned with the linguistic theory and the
approach used in analyzing the data. Chapter Three contains the discussion on code
switching done by those American teachers. Chapter Four is the Conclusion, which
contains my comments on the findings about code switching. This thesis ends with the
Bibliography and the Appendix.

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I would like to conclude what I have found after analyzing the
data. In the first chapter, I have stated three main problems for my thesis. I have
chosen the Americans at “The Center” o be my data source. These data are used to
find out the utterances show code switching, the functions of code switching and their
purpose of switching the code.
After analyzing the data, I find that the function of code switching, such as
personalization, reiteration, emphasis, and untranslatability are the functions that often
occur in the cross-cultural communication. The Americans see who is being invited to
talk and also the place or the circumstance the conversation takes place. They talk
with Indonesians that come to learn and practice their English. Those are the social
reasons that influence the Americans to switch their codes.
Personalization is the function of code switching that I find a lot. I find eight
data for that function. We can see the function in data 1, 2, 4, 9, 13, 14, 16, and 17.
Personalization often occurs because Americans see the people and the place that they
talk about. They know that that the Indonesians are not fluent in speaking English.
They understand it; therefore, they want to make it easier for the hearers. Moreover,

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the Americans want to enhance solidarity with the hearers, create a comfortable
atmosphere, and intimate atmosphere and sympathy. The Americans want to be close
with the Indonesians, they want to be intimate with them and they want to make
friends.
Reiteration is the function of code switching that I find quite a lot after
personalization. I find six data for that function out of the whole data. We can see that
function in data 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 15. The Americans often use this function because
they think that many Indonesians do not know and understand English, so they switch
to Indonesian by repeating the word with the same meaning. The purpose of the
Americans to switch their code is to make sure that the hearers understand what they
say. Since, the hearers are Indonesians; the Americans want to be fully understood by
the Indonesians. By switching their code and repeating it in Indonesian, they want the
hearers to share their ideas. They want the Indonesians get their points.
I find three data for untranslatability. We can see that function in data 4, 5, and
9. The American switches to Indonesian when mentioning Indonesian food. It is more
suitable for them to say those names of food in Indonesian as the original words.
According to them, Indonesian words are used for Indonesian foods. They switch to
Indonesian because in America they do not have those kinds of food. But actually,
some of Indonesian food names can be translated. However, if the Americans
translate them into English, they will refer to different items so they just keep them in
Indonesian. It is more proper to say the Indonesian food in Indonesian.
From my analysis, I find two data for emphasis. We can see that function in
data 8 and 12. The Americans purpose of switching the code is to emphasize one part
of their utterances. In addition, they want the hearers to know about the fact or the
issue that they are talking about; as a result, they emphasize their points.

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It is the reason why the Americans switch their codes during the speech.
They switch to Indonesian because they have their own reasons and purposes; for
instance, when they feel that the Indonesians do not understand what they are talking
about, they repeats the word or phrase in Indonesian in order that their meaning can
be caught by the hearers. The Americans see for the sake of Indonesians. They want
the Indonesians to understand and to make the word or phrase clear and easy. They
want to adapt the Indonesian’s customs. Since, they want to emphasize their idea, they
switch to Indonesian. They feel easier to speak Indonesian because of the language
suddenly out from their mind. It is also because I talk with the people who understand
the language.
Another reason for the Americans to switch their code is because they want to
know more about Indonesian. The Americans will switch from one language to
another language because they know that the hearers know the languages. Here, the
hearers are Indonesian so they understand Indonesian. They admit that Indonesian
people at “The Center” know and understand English, but still they think that it is
easier for them to speak Indonesian with Indonesian people. I also find some of them
switching their codes to make a little fun for the hearers besides making the
conversation interesting. They also speak Indonesian because of their habit.
Sometimes, they feel strange or weird when they speak English with the Indonesians.
Therefore, they speak Indonesian when they are speaking with the Indonesians. I see
that many their reasons and purposes are concerned with social, which they see the
circumstance around them.
I also find that some of them switch their languages because Indonesian is
already in their mind for a few years. It is because many Americans have lived in
Indonesia for a few years. We can call them immigrants because they have left

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America to move and live in Indonesia. Therefore, they have to learn and practice
Indonesian in order that they can interact with the Indonesians. As a result, they can
switch to or mix with another language.
They switch their languages when the situation is informal and the atmosphere
is relaxed. The Americans and the Indonesians hang out together, so the atmosphere is
informal. Otherwise, in informal situation, code switching is not appropriate because
the speaker switches from one language to another in conversations. It is better for the
speaker uses one language. The Americans do not use English all the time because
they have reasons and purposes.
I notice that code switching can occur in conversations with people from
different cultural language backgrounds or from the same cultural language
backgrounds. In my analysis, code switching occurs in a community having different
cultural language backgrounds; for instance, English and Indonesian.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

References:
Holmes, Janet. An Introduction toSociolinguistics. Essex: Longman Group UK
Limited, 1992.
Kridalaksana, Harimurti. Kamus Linguistik. Jakarta: PT. Gramedia Pustaka
Utama, 2001.
Richards, Jack C, and Richard Schmidt. Dictionary of Language Teaching and
Applied Linguistics. London: Pearson Education Limited, 2002.
Trudgill, Peter. Sociolinguistics. London: Penguin Books, 2000.

Electronic Publication:
Heredia, Roberto R and Brown, Jeffrey M. Code-Switching. Texas A & M
International University.

Koziol, Marie Jessica. Code Switching between Spanish and English in
Contemporary American Society. St. Marry’s College of Maryland, May
2000.


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Most People Are Multilingual. Ed. Stephanie. 2007. 8 November 2007.


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