Language choice in multilingual
nations
language & society
Overview
Your linguistic repertoire
Diglossia
Code-switching or code mixing
HOW MANY LANGUAGES
DO YOU SPEAK?
Linguistic repertoire
The number of languages you can speak is
your linguistic repertoire.
 The languages you speak in a multilingual
community are ‘varieties’ or ‘codes’.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR
VARIETY OR CODE IN A
MULTILINGUAL SPEECH
COMMUNITY?
A speech community

"A speech community is a group of
people who do not necessarily
share the same language, but
share a set of norms and rules for
the use of language. The
boundaries between speech
communities are essentially social
rather than linguistic... A speech
community is not necessarily coextensive with a language
community." (Romaine, 1994)
http://www.missiontolearn.com/2009/12/learn-foreign-language-online/
Domains of language use

The underlying concept


different settings characteristically call for the use of different
languages in a multilingual society.
A domain
 Typical interactions between typical participants in
typical settings
 Participants
 Setting
 Topics
 The domain helps determine which language (variety or
code) you would use
Domains of language use

Domain

Typical interactions between typical participants
in typical settings
 Participants
 Setting
 Topics

The linguistic domain helps determine which
language (variety or code) you would use
Domains of language use
(Fishman,
1972)
Domain
Participants
Setting
Topic
Family
Parents
Home
Planning a
family party
Friendship
Friends
Café
Talking
about
weekend
plans
Education
Professors
University
Lecturing
linguistics
Language
Q:
The determinant of using one language variety over another is the
physical setting. Agreed?
A:
THE ‘EVENT’ CONVENTIONALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SETTING
Social factors affecting language choice
Participants
• Who are the speakers?
Setting
• In what context is the language used?
Topic
• What are the speakers talking about?
Social distance
Status
Social roles
Formality
Function/goal of the
interaction
• How well do the speakers know each other?
• The social status
• Teacher-student; doctor-patient; father-son
• Formal vs. informal
• What is the language being used for?
DIGLOSSIA
Diglossia
Two distinct
varieties of the
same language in a
speech community
High (H) variety
Low (L) variety
Diglossia
H=High prestige
• H variety is not used in
daily conversation
L=Low prestige
• H and L are used in
complementary situations.
Example:
Latin
Arabic
German
H=Classic
Latin
H=Classical
Arabic
H=high
German
L=Vulgar
Latin
L=Colloquial
Arabic
L=low
German
Attitudes to H vs. L
H variety
• Norm
• respect
• Prestigious
L variety
• Below average
• Not very
respected
• Non-prestigious
Situation
Literature
Public institution
Gossiping
Election campaign speech
H or L
Polyglossia
Situations where two or more distinct codes
or varieties are used for clearly distinct
purposes.
 A Chinese Singaporean speaks

English
 Chinese

 Mandarin
Chinese
 Cantonese
 Hokkien
CODE-SWITCHING
Code switching

Alternative use between two or more
languages.

Discuss homework in Mandarin Chinese and
English
Why switches codes?
Identity /solidarity/social distance
Status
Formality
Topic
Affective function
Code switching at the lexical level
Lack of vocabulary
 To express a concept not readily available in
the language speakers are using.

Read the following dialogue in Taiwanese and note the code-switched
part. What do you code-switch?
A: 你看你看，這是我跟我男（女）朋友的定情物！
B: 甚麼，你好俗喔，甚麼時代了還定情物。
A: 拜託，你不懂啦！這代表我們之間的愛！不論距離再遠，看到這個，就
好像男（女）朋友就在身邊一樣。
B: 講的好像情竇初開的年輕人一樣，別以為我不知道你的秘密。
A: 甚麼秘密，我沒有啊！
B: 沒有？我之前看到你跟別的男（女）人打情罵俏，還說沒有？
A: 不可能，你甚麼時候看到的？
B: 就之前我看到你們兩個人在喝咖啡，我還想說，厚…你真的是兩個通殺，
明明都有男（女）朋友了。
A: 我真的沒有啦，我知道你在說誰啦，他只是普通朋友，而且他也不是我
的菜啊！我們真的只是普通的喝咖啡啦！
B: 好啦，我知道啦，跟你開玩笑啦！
A: 吼，真的被你嚇死。
Select a short clip of local soap operas.
 Note the code-switched part.
 What kind of vocabulary or expressions are
code-switched?

Questions?