Individual variation in attitudes towards Chinese-English code-switching

Abstract

Abstract This paper aims to improve our understanding of the social psychology of code-switching by investigating societal attitudes towards two types of Chinese-English code-switching, insertions of English words in Chinese sentences and switching to English at clausal boundaries in Chinese. It examines how subjects’ evaluation of code-switching is influenced by their general language attitudes and language use associated with network exposure. The subjects were recruited from four different cities in mainland China. They participated in an online perception experiment and completed a socio-biographical questionnaire. Quantitative analyses show that clausal switching was rated as the least likable CS mode, but at the same time was considered as having high status as an indication of high English proficiency. Their evaluation was mainly influenced by their general attitudes towards English language and culture. Network exposure also played a marginal role, affecting their judgement of the speaker’s English proficiency.