Abstract
AbstractThe study revisits the concept of code-switching (CS) by focusing on a phenomenon in which bilinguals reverse switch from their L1 to L2 while speaking in their mother tongue. In the opening sections, the basic question of why CS occurs is addressed by reviewing relevant research and by looking beyond the formal interests to the social and cultural functions of CS in bilingual interactions. Then in the last two chapters, the study introduces and highlights a version of CS called reverse code-switching which is, to a large extent and despite its frequency of occurrence in outer circle societies, ignored in language studies. Attempt has been made to survey possible psycholinguistic and sociocultural explanations that may account for and common perceptions which are held towards the latter phenomenon in the light of the former.