What really is code-switching? was the question roaming my head for quite a while. Is it just the change in speaking tone, accent, or dialect or is there more to it? I chose to research this topic for various reasons including those in the questions, but the main reason was because of my own self. I am a code-switcher and I’ve caught myself doing it various times. After conducting some research, the points that stood out to me the most, was the various definitions there are for code switching, the reasons as to why people use code switch and the changes in personality some people may have when involved in code-switching. I could see that Code-switching was not only a change in accent, or speech manner but to me it is now also seen as a defense mechanism.
To me code-switching was always the way we acted in certain environments, and how we changed the way we spoke, and our mannerisms depending on who we were with or the setting we were in. I was not completely wrong but there’s more to code-switching. To code-switch a second language, dialect, or speech pattern must always be involved. In the research article titled ‘Code-Switching in Highly Proficient Spanish/English Bilingual Adults’ two different definitions for the term are introduced: “Bilingual speakers often switch between their first language(L1) and their second language(L2) during daily life conversation with other bilinguals; this has been referred to as code-switching.” (Baker, 1947; Cooper, 2013) and “Code-switching occurs when bilingual speakers switch languages within sentences, phrases, or between words” (van Hell & Witteman, 2009).
A lot of the times code-switching is done unconsciously. Depending on which setting you are in you may consciously or unconsciously chose which language to use, or which dialect to use. On her article for the Washington Post title “What’s up with that white voice?” Sonia Rao speaks on various people that have switched up their regular accents in order to be able to fit in a specific setting, “Code-switching or altering the way you speak based on the audience, is a widespread phenomenon among those whose accents and dialects stray from the national standard, long considered in the United States to be the language patterns of the Midwest. A Southerner working as a news anchor in the North might avoid using elongated vowels. A Latina might ditch the Spanglish slang she uses with friends while interacting with white co-workers. After a scolding, an African American child might refrain from speaking in vernacular English at school.” (Rao, 2018).
Code-switching has been used continuously to fit into certain settings but to me based on this research it has also come down to some sort of defensive mechanism and Rao also mentions this “Unconsciously or not, people code-switch to present what they believe (or are told) is a more favorable version of themselves — an instinct often heightened when interactions are conducted over the phone, as is the case in the new movie “Sorry to Bother You.” …a black telemarketer in Oakland, Calif., who discovers that the secret to professional success is talking to potential customers in his “white voice” (Rao, 2018). People have continuously found themselves sounding whiter in order to fit in and be taken seriously. I am guilty of that myself as I change my tone of voice when at work, or when I have to be in a “professional” setting. Based on the standards that society has set itself too, minorities are often forced into code-switching in order to be seen a qualifiable for certain roles.
Lastly, I want to touch base on the changes in personality involved when code-switching. I will again use my own self as an example as I myself have noticed that when I’m speaking English I’m more reserved and have a harder time getting my point across, especially when it comes to speaking. In writing I can get my point across more clearly when it comes to the English language. Everyone that knows me can agree with this and say that when speaking in Spanish they can see more confidence in me and I can even raise my voice higher, since my English speaking peers usually say that I have a soft tone of voice. On her study titled “What has personality and emotional intelligence to do with ‘feeling different’ while using a foreign language?” Katarzyna Ożańska-Ponikwia mentions the following which also agrees with my own situation “Some people change their body language, facial expressions or intonation while switching languages. In some cases, they become loud or energetic; in other instances, they become more reserved and distanced after a language switch. No matter what direction this transformation leads to, there is no doubt a noticeable change in behavior accompanies such a language switch” (Ponikwia, 2012).
In conclusion, code-switching is defined as bilinguals, or multilinguals alternating between their known languages but there’s more hidden behind it that I believe should be studied and the reasons for code-switching can attend to that. People code-switching for defensive/coping methods, for comfortability, and to fit in are only three of the many reasons behind code-switching. Following my research and my results the new questions I have related to this topic are: are there any benefits to code switching, positive or negative? And are there any psychological reasons behind code-switching?