Code-Switching to English amongst Arabic-speaking Jordanians in Canada

Abstract

Language contact leads to a number of linguistic phenomena, most noticeably code-switching, which refers to bilinguals’ utilization of two languages in the same conversation and even within a single utterance. This study investigates Arabic-English code-switching among Jordanian immigrants in Manitoba, Canada and presents a qualitative analysis of the socio-pragmatic functions this linguistic behavior serves. The participants were 11 (3 females and 8 males) Jordanian immigrants living in Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba. Two instruments were employed to elicit the data necessary for this study: audio recordings and semi-structured interviews. The code-switching occurrences were categorized into different socio-pragmatic functions based on the analysis of the content of almost 18 hours of recorded conversations. The analysis of the content of the audio-recordings besides the semi-structured interviews showed that Jordanian immigrants resort to code-switching to achieve a number of socio-pragmatic functions: filling lexical needs, integrating into the Canadian culture and lifestyle, qualifying a message, mitigating embarrassment and negative connotations, quoting the exact words of somebody, and creating humorous or ironic effect. Keywords: Code-Switching; Socio-Pragmatic Functions; Canada; Arabic; English.