Bahasa Indonesia-English Code Switching in Indonesian Personal Blogs

Ashika Prajnya Paramita

07/254559/SA/13958

Submitted for the partial fulfillment of

The Linguistic Seminar Class
Yogyakarta, January 2010
11
1. Introduction
This paper aims at describing code switching found in Indonesian personal blogs run by several
Indonesian bloggers. It will also analyze the types of code switching occurred and the reasons
of the language switch done by the writers. This study is expected to give constructive
contributions to the Sociolinguistics theory, particularly in the field of code switching. The
findings of this study are expected to give useful insights to English Department students in
order to understand the use of code switching done by Indonesian bloggers. This paper consists
of four main parts, which are the introduction, data and methods, results, and conclusion.
A bilingual person, as defined by Spolsky, is A person who has some functional ability in
second language[1]. Multilingual is another terminology for the ability to speak more than one
language. Wikipedia defines a multilingual person, in a broad definition, as a person who can
communicate in more than one language, be it actively (through speaking, writing, or signing)
or passively (through listening, reading, or perceiving)[2]. Although this ability may be
different from one bilingual to another, they can change their choice of language to suit the
situation, condition, or even the mood in order to communicate effectively. To put it shortly,
bilinguals can choose what language they are going to use. Frequently, bilinguals even feel
more comfortable discussing a particular subject in one language rather than another. Spolsky
(1998) agrees, by saying that bilinguals like to shift their language for convenience. This might
be the fundamental reason of why people code switch.
According to Hoffman, the most general description of code switching is that it involves the
alternate use of two languages or linguistic varieties within the same utterance or during the
same conversation[3]. Code switching is also defined as the alternating use of two languages in
the same stretch of discourse by a bilingual speaker[4] and the ability on the part of bilinguals
to alternate effortlessly between their two languages[5]. In simpler words, code switching is
the ability to switch language quickly.
Code switching is a dominant topic in the study of bilingualism and a phenomenon that
generates a great deal of pointed discussion in the public domain[6]. Code switching
significantly portrays bilinguals behavior, since it is exclusive to bilinguals. However, code
switching is not an indicator of the bilinguals ability to separate their languages or a lack of
competence in their languages. Code switching is more like an extra resource for
communication available to bilinguals.
It is difficult to definitively characterize code switching. First, its linguistic manifestation may
extend from the insertion of single words to the alternation of languages for larger segments of
discourse. Second, it is produced by bilinguals of differing degrees of proficiency who reside in
various types of language contact settings, and as a consequence their CS patterns may not be
uniform. Finally, it may be deployed for various of reasons[7].
The basic disctinction of code switching, according to Wikipedia.org are:
Inter-sentential switching (outside the sentence or the clause level)
Intra-sentential switching (within a sentence or a clause)
Tag-switching (the switching of either a tag phrase or word, or both, from one
language to another)
Intra-word switching (within a word itself, such as at a morpheme boundary)
Hoffman adds up another type of code switching, namely emblematic switching (it is tags or
exclamation as an emblem of the bilingual character, establishing continuity with the previous
speaker, involving a change of pronunciation; the switching occurs at the phonological level,
involving a word within a sentence this form of code switching is uttered within a sentence
involving nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.)[8].
Also according to Hoffman (1991: 116), there are seven reasons for bilinguals to switch their
languages. The seven reasons are as follows:
(1) Talking about a particular topic
(2) Quoting somebody else
(3) Being emphatic about something
(4) Interjection
(5) Repetition used for clarification
(6) Intention of clarifying the speech content for the interlocutor
(7) Expressing group identity.
Other than the reasons proposed Hoffman, other reasons are also suggested by Saville-Troike
(1986: 69). They are:
(1) Softening and strengthening request or command
(2) Because of real lexical need, either if the speaker knows the desired expression in
one language cannot be satisfactorily translated into second
(3) To exclude other people when a comment is intended for only a limited audience.
Even though the study of digital code switching on the internet may well inform us about
linguistic aspects on contemporary societies, digital code switching has not been studied
extensively. One of the potential fields through which code switching can be studied through
the internet is weblog.
Around the world, including Indonesia, blog is a new trend. These days, more and more people
use blog for many different purposes. Primarily, a blog is a lot cheaper, easier to make, and
easier to manage than a website. Among various kinds of blogs, is personal blog. Personal blogs
contains peoples stories and thoughts, through which they communicate with their readers. The
language used in personal blogs is unique because it demonstrates features of both oral and
written speech it is informal, and it contains a lot of features that are usually associated with
spoken language. As a result of its informal nature, code switching can be found almost
everywhere on weblogs.

2. Data and Methods

A. Data
This is a descriptive study aiming to describe code switching found in Indonesian
personal blogs written by Indonesian bloggers. The reasons for using internet data,
specifically weblog, are:
Weblogs are easily accessible
The background of the authors can be retrieved
The texts consist of a very diverse nature
The language used in personal blogs are very close to spoken language and
highly similar to natural conversation.
The data used in the paper are 15 written blog posts from various Indonesian bloggers.
The data were collected by browsing the internet for Indonesian personal blogs that
contain Bahasa Indonesia-English code switching. The data were then saved to be
analyzed.
B. Methods
The main instrument in this research was the researcher herself as the key-human
instrument. The data were collected by browsing the internet for blogs owned by
Indonesian bloggers, selecting blog posts consisting Indonesian-English code switching
and coding the selected code switching by grouping them to help make easier analysis.
The blog posts were typed in three kinds of forms: regular for Indonesian language,
bold-italic for the English or Indonesian-English code switching that was analyzed, and
italic for English code switching that was not analyzed. The data were analyzed by
classifying any forms of code switching based on the types and finding out the reasons
of the use of the code switching based on the data.
The first step of the research methodology was converting the samples format into
texts. Taking personal blogs as research samples naturally would bring about several
problems like irregular text formatting and typography. Therefore, the next thing to do
after converting was fixing the text format. The typography was not changed in order to
keep the text itself original. The third step was to code the text consisting code switching
by italicizing every code switching and later make the text that were not going to be
analyzed bold. The code switching data were then grouped according to the five types of
code switching mention in the previous chapter to be analyzed.

3. Results
The collected and analyzed data are presented in two tables. Table 4.1 below shows that the
type of Bahasa Indonesia English code switching occurred the most in Indonesian personal
blogs is the intra-sentential switching (43.26%). Code switching of the inter-sentential
switching are in the second position (28.37%), and tag switching in the fourth position
 (16.74%). The last type of code switching that is used the least by Indonesian bloggers are
emblematic switching (6.51%).

Table 3.1 The frequency of the occurrences of the types of code switching in Indonesia personal
blogs
No Types Frequency Presentages
1 Inter-sentential Switching 61 28.37
2 Intra-sentential Switching 93 43.26
3 Intra-word Switching 11 5.12
4 Tag Switching 36 16.74
5 Emblematic Switching 14 6.51
TOTAL 215 100

Table 3.2 The frequency of the occurrences of the reasons of code switching in Indonesian
personal blogs done by Indonesian bloggers
No Reasons Frequency Percentages
Talking about a particular
1 topic 22 9.17

Love (11) (4.58)

Emotions (11) (4.58)

2 Quoting somebody else 4 1.67

Being emphatic about
3 something 8 3.33

4 Interjection 15 6.25
Repetition used for
5 clarification - -
Intention of clarifying the
speech content for the
6 interlocutor - -

7 Expressing group identity 5 2.08

Softening and strengthening
meanings, requests, and
8 commands 13 5.41

9 Inserting a lexical need 55 22.92

Inserting sentence fillers or
10 sentence connectors 25 10.42
Particular discursive aims
11 (style of writing) 93 38.75

TOTAL 240 100.00

As can be seen in table 4.2, reason number 1, talking about a particular topic, have 22 data
(9.17%). Reason number 1 is divided fairly between two topics: love (4.58%) and emotions
(4.58%). The topic of love occurs in the samples are all written by female bloggers. The other
topic, emotion, covers every emotion explicitly expressed in the blog posts.
Quoting somebody else, the second reason of code switching, has only 4 data available (1.67%).
This is the least number among other code switching reasons discussed in this paper. The small
amount of times the second reason in used, is maybe caused by the type of blogs being
analyzed. Since the samples are taken from personal blogs, which usually express the bloggers
thought, there is a very little need to quote somebody else, unless, of course, there are dialogues
written in the posts, which is the case found in the samples taken.
Being emphatic about something, which is the third reason for code switching in Indonesia
personal blogs, occurs 8 times (3.33%). Interjection (or exclamation), which is reason number 4
for code switching in Indonesian personal blogs, has 15 data (6.25%). Reason number 5 and 6,
repetition used for clarification and intention for clarifying the speech content for the
interlocutor, do not occur at all in the samples taken. Expressing group identity, which is
reason number 7, has 5 data (2.08%). The eighth reason, softening and strengthening meanings,
request, and commands, has 13 data (5.41%).
Reason number 9, inserting a lexical need, occurs 55 times (22.92%) and is the most used code
switching after reason number 11. The amount of times this type of code switching occurs is
most likely caused by the nature of certain expressions that cannot satisfactorily be presented in
one language, especially for people who are able to communicate using more than one
language. The other reason is perhaps because expressions for one thing cannot be found in one
language but is available in another language, or probably Indonesian bloggers cannot translate
several expressions into Bahasa Indonesia, which is why they use English expressions instead.
The next reason is inserting sentence fillers or sentence connectors, which has 25 data
(10.42%).
There is another reason for code switching in Indonesian personal blogs outside from the
existing theory. It is reason number 11, particular discursive aims (style of writing).
Presumably, Indonesian bloggers code-switch the language they use in their blogs from Bahasa
Indonesia into English only for the sake of their style, and/or attract readers, especially
teenagers, who see English as the new thing and more attractive.

4. Conclusion
Code switching occurs in Indonesian personal blogs run by Indonesian bloggers mostly belong
to the type of intra-sentential switching. Intra-sentential switching seems more preferable for
some Indonesian bloggers because it is easier to code-switch only a phrase or word within a
sentence, since they will not have to be concerned about the grammatical structure of an English
sentence. According to an observation of the samples taken, most of the code switching under
the label of inter-sentential switching is not grammatically well structured. Intra-word switching
appears the least in this study because Indonesian bloggers tend to code-switch either a word or
a phrase instead of a morpheme within a word.
From the five types of code switching discussed earlier in the paper, every type has its data,
because even though this study is not the study of code switching in spoken language, the type
of language used in personal blogs is part spoken and written language, which is why the
language is highly similar with that of the spoken language.
Among eleven reasons for code switching in Indonesian personal blogs used to analyze the
data, only nine reasons are found in the study, the most eminent being the reason number 11,
particular discursive aims (style of writing). Presumably, Indonesian bloggers code-switch the
language they use in their blogs from Bahasa Indonesia into English only for the sake of their
 style, and/or attract readers, especially teenagers, who see English as the new thing and more
attractive.
Repetition used for clarification and intention of clarifying the speech content for the
interlocutor, are not found at all. The former reason is not found, perhaps, because Indonesian
bloggers assume all of their readers to be able to understand the code switching they use, while
the latter reason is not found in the data because it belongs in the study of spoken language and
cannot be forced to occur in the hybrid of written and spoken language.
The findings lead to a conclusion that Indonesian bloggers do code switching for the sake of
their style of writing. This is done, as mentioned above, to attract readers, especially teenagers,
who see English as the new thing and more attractive. Another reason is probably that
Indonesian bloggers want to show their audience that they are able to use both Bahasa
Indonesia and English and switch between the two languages effortlessly. Not many code
switching under the category of quoting somebody else occur in Indonesian personal blogs
because there is hardly any need to quote somebody else, for personal blogs are mostly
narration about the writers thoughts. However, this kind of code switching does appear in one
of the samples because the author is expressing a direct sentence said by another person.
It is hoped that the results of this study contribute to the knowledge of Sociolinguistics student
in particular and English Department students in general on the types of code switching used by
Indonesian bloggers in Indonesian personal blogs and the reason of the occurrence of the
Bahasa Indonesia-English code switching. Since this study does not involve all aspects of code
switching and there are more to reveal about the subject, expectantly the future researchers can
discuss more aspects of code switching.

5. References
Bullock, Barbara E. and Almeida Jacqueline Toribio. 2009. The Cambridge Handbook of
Linguistic Code-Switching. Cambride: Cambridge University Press.

Gardner-Chloros, P. 2009. Code-Switching. Cambride: Cambridge University Press.

Hoffman, C. 1991. An Introduction to Bilingualism. New York: Longman.

M.O., Ayeomoni. 2006. Code Switching and Code Mixing: Style of Language Use in
Childhood in Yoruba Speech Community. Nordic Journal of African Studies 15 (1). 90-
99. Ife-ife, Nigeria: Obafemi Awolowo University.

Nadar, F.X. 1998. Indonesian Learners Requests in English: A Speech Act-Based

Study. Humaniora. 9. Yogyakarta: Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada
University.

Savile-Troike, M. 1986. The Ethnography of Communication: An Introduction. Oxford:

Basil Blackwell.

Spolsky, B. 1998. Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wikipedia. 2009. Internet, (online), (htpp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilingualism.

Internet. Html, accessed on January 2 , 2010)
nd

[1] B. Spolsky. Sociolinguistics. Oxford University Press. Oxford: 1998. Page 45.
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutilingualism
[3] C. Hoffman. An Introduction to Bilingualism. Longman. New York: 1991. Page 111.
[4] Barbara E. Bullock and Almeida Jacqueline Toribio. The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Code-Switching. First
Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambride, 2009.
[5] Barbara E. Bullock and Almeida Jacqueline Toribio, op.cit., page 1.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Barbara E. Bullock and Almeida Jacqueline Toribio, op.cit., page 2.
[8] C. Hoffman, loc. cit., page 112.