Sociolinguistic Nature of Code—switching— Social Communication

【Abstract】： Code-switching is a common phenomenon in interpersonal communication of modern society and it is a kind of effective social communicative strategy. I think the sociolinguistic nature of code-witching is social communication.The correct understanding and application of code-switching can play an important and effective role in our interpersonal communication and social communication.

【Keywords】： Code-switching； Sociolinguistic nature； Social communication；

1 Introduction

In the process of language communication，people don’t always follow a particular language variant or dialect，or a language.According to the communicative context， people often exchange from one language into another language，or from a formal style into another informal style.This social linguistic behavior is called code-switching.From the social function of language， code-switching is not only a kind of speech skill but essentially a special kind of nonverbal behavior and it can transmit language information and social significance.

2 Code-switching

In the field of sociolinguistics， code is broadly defined as a linguistic symbol that can be used to refer to any language system.The code can refer to a formal or informal style， and can also refer to a dialect or language. For example， Chinese is a kind of code， Cantonese is a kind of code， English is a kind of code.Code refers to the specific form of language in actual use and it can be a kind of language or forms of language variant.Code-switching refers that the speaker converts a language or dialect into another language or dialect in the dialogue or conversation.

3 Types of code-switching

From the interrelated social factors， Blom and Gumperz （1971） distinguish the two types of code switching： situational code-switching and metaphorical code-switching.

Social linguist Hudson （1996：52） holds that situational code-switching is controlled by social rules，which members of the community learn from their experiences ，so these rules are part of their total linguistic knowledge. In short， each language has a social function which no other language could fulfill.But code-switching can help various language varieties fulfill their social functions.Metaphorical code-switching refers that if language choice varies with the situation and clearly the situation decides the language，not the other way around. But in some cases the situation is less clear，either because it is ambiguous or because the speaker decides to ignore the observable external situation and instead focus on less observable characteristics of people concerned.

4 The social communicative function of code-switching

Code-switching is a part or a form of speech communication and naturally is a kind of social behavior. Code-switching can occur that at the beginning the speakers speak language， according to the situations，halfway convert into another language，or alternately use different languages in a sentence，but will not change the topic.

4.1 Code-switching can reflect the social identity of the speaker

Social identity refers to the speaker's social status，origin，nationality，religion， education，occupation，age，gender etc.Code-switching can reflect the social identity of the speaker.In July 2001 when China applied the Olympic bid， the officials in English stated about the Olympic bid to the International Olympic Committee which is a powerful example.The choice of the widely used English variety in the world， rather than the official language of China-Mandarin，has largely enhanced the persuasiveness of the Olympic bid.This is not only because English is easier to communicate than Chinese but English improves the status and influence of China in the international community which marks China has begun to enter one of the world economic power---\"international identity\".

4.2 Code-switching can be used to narrow the distance between people

Code-switching can be used to greet someone and language communicators often use the code-switching in a certain social context， such as a newcomer often uses code -switching to close to the distance between him and the communicator. Such as when Obama visited Shanghai for the students of Fudan University to make a speech， he firstly said in Putonghua \"你好\" and then began his speech.

4.3 Code-switching can avoid embarrassment in social occasions

In social communication，the artful application of code-switching can avoid embarrassed situations in certain occasions.For example：once a little girl and her mother had such a conversation（ A：媽媽，這兩個小狗在做什么呢B：making a baby dog）.In this occasion，in order to avoid awkward occasion，the application of code- switching makes B cleverly avoid the embarrassment.Due to the influence of Chinese traditional culture， in public such topics should be taboo， people often do not directly express the meaning，but with a euphemistic way.

5 Conclusion

Along with the social communication more and more closely，the phenomenon of code-switching is becoming more common in people's daily communication.The correct understanding of language phenomenon plays a positive and effective role in our social communication.

References

[1]R.A. Hudson.（1996）.Sociolinguistics （2nd Edition）[M]. Cambridge University Press.

[2]J.Holmes.（1992）.An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Long-man.

[3]陳松岑，（1985）.社會語言學導論[M].北京：北京大學出版社.

[4]于國棟，（2000）.語碼轉換的語用學研究[J].外國語（第6期）.

作者簡介：李莎莎，1992年3月23日出生，女，漢族，陜西省乾縣人，現就讀于西安外國語大學 英文學院 2016級翻譯學專業。主要研究方向：翻譯理論與實踐。