Faculty of Letters & Human Science

Department of English Studies

Agadir
Code Switching and Code Mixing among
Moroccan People

By: Supervised by:

Samira Ben Hmedouali Prof. Saad Eddine Akhajam
Yousra Ben Meloui
Meryem Biya
Academic year:
2020-2021
 Abstract
Code-switching (CS) and code-mixing (CM) is a phenomenon that is widespread in
bilingual and multilingual communities. It is a term that is used mostly in sociolinguistics and
other fields Morphology, phonology etc...

The main objective of this research project is to investigate in this phenomenon and figure out
the reasons which make Moroccan people use it. As we all know Morocco is well known as a
multilingual country due to co-exist of Arabic, Tamazight, French, Spanish and English.

Our research divided into two part, theoretical and practical part. Theoretical part which also
divided into two part in which we introduce, define the phenomena of code-switching and code-
Mixing, Multilingualism, types of code-switching and code-mixing based on past researchers. In
the second part of the review of literature, we give an overview about the reasons of code-
switching and code-mixing, in addition to that, we differentiate between Code-switching and
Borrowing and finally we mentioned some errors that Multilingual make while they switch from
one language to others.

In the practical part is about the data collection and data analysis and the discussion of the
finding. In order to collect this data Quantitative research design is adopted for the present study.
A questionnaire made of 14 questions was designed to obtain data and the participants were 143
people from different ages, social class and regions. The study revealed that most of people use
code switching and mixing to 'avoid misunderstanding', 'easier to speak in own language', 'no
matching words', 'sense of identity', 'to express solidarity', 'to exclude others', 'to have privacy'.

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 Acknowledgment

"No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others.
The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude". Alfred North
Whitehead

We would like to show our appreciation and a special thanks to our supervisor
Professor. Saad Eddine Akhajam for the assistance he provided us to accomplish
this research as well as this golden opportunity to work on this project and related
assignments which helped us to have a close vision to organize our chosen topic
for this research topic.

Last but not least, we would also like to show our sincere appreciation to those
who could not be mentioned here but played a role to motivate and inspire us
behind the curtain.

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 Table of content:
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………....1
ACKNOWLEDGMENT..…………………………………………..….2
GENERAL INTRODUCTION..……………………………………….4
PART 1: REVIEW OF LITERATURE………………………………..6
1-INTRODUCTION.…………………………………………….…..6
1.2-MULTILINGUALISM……….………….………….…………...7
1.3-TYPES OF CODE SWITCHING………………………………..7
1.4-TYPES OF CODE MIXING…….……………………………….9
1.5-REASONS OF CODE SWITCHING AND MIXING………….. 9
1.6-CODE SWITCHING VS BORROWING……………..………..11
1.7-ERRORS THAT MULTILINGUAL MAKE WHEN THY CODE
SWITCH…………………….…………………………………………12
PART 2: DATA COLLECTION AND DATA ANALYS……...…..…14
1-METHODOLOGE………….………………………………….…....14
1.2-PARTICIPANTS …………………………………………....…14
1.3-SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE.…………………………….......14
1.4-RESEARCH DESIGN…...……………………………………..14
2- DATA ANALYSIS…………………………………………………15
SECTION ONE……………………………………………….…….…15
SECTION TWO……………………………………………….………17
3-DISCUSSION …………...…………………………………….……22
4-CONCLUSION….…………………………………………….…….24
5-REFERENCES …………………………………….………….……25
6-APPENDIX ……………………………………………………..….26

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1. Problem Statement:
Code switching & code mixing are one of the major concepts in sociolinguistic. They become a
phenomenon of every day communication in multilingual societies like Morocco where people
speak more than one language. In order to interact with someone, people communicate in a
variety of ways based on who they are talking with and the situation, they usually use code
switching & mixing to convey and transmit ideas, thoughts and express feelings. Moreover,
people use it when communicating with their families and friends to make the conversation more
effective and meaningful as well as to avoid misunderstanding. For our research, we aim to
investigate the reasons behind using code-switching and mixing among Moroccan people.

2. Purpose & Objectives:

The objectives of our research are numerous, firstly aims to identify the reasons which make
Moroccan people use Code-Switching and Code-Mixing in their conversation .Secondly, to
figure out whether code-switching and Mixing occur consciously or unconsciously
3. Definition of key terms:
Code: The term code in most cases used to refer to languages, varieties or even styles. Code can
also used to refer to the types of systems that people used during communication. Therefore, any
languages in code switching and code mixing can be considered to be as code. Code refers to a
general name for languages, dialects, registers, and other varieties of a language (Gardner-
Chloros, 2009).
Code-switching: is a linguistic term, whereby the speaker uses two or more languages, dialects in
one conversation in order to communicate effectively.
Code-mixing: is the ability to mix between morphemes, phrases and clauses of different
languages and dialects in the same utterance.
These two processes happen only between bilingual or multilingual speakers.
Bi-Multilingualism: is a linguistic term that can be interprets in terms of two definitions firstly,
if individuals are able to speak more than one language fluently, it can be said that they are
bilingual or multilingual. Bilingual is usually used to refer to the person who has the ability to
speak in more than one language. While the second term Multilingual used to refer to the whole
community, region and country in which several languages are spoken by the population in their
everyday life.

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4. Research Questions/ hypothesis:
4.1- Questions:
-What are the reasons and the types of code-switching and mixing?
4.2- hypothesis:
In my point of view, Moroccan people use code-switching and code-mixing simply because it
facilitate communication, while others use it to show off their background.
5. Methodology:
5.1Research Design:
The objective of this study is to investigate the reasons of code switching and mixing among the
Moroccan community. The research method, which adopted to collect data, is quantitative
approach. It is a type of research that using varieties of numerical data delaminated through the
use of statistics (Creswell, 1994).
5.2Instruments:
In order to gather information we will use questionnaire that will be answered by the Moroccan
community.
5.3Data analysis:
The strategy adopted in this research will be a questionnaire as quantitative approach to collect
the necessary information in order to study the phenomenon of code-switching and mixing in
Morocco. Therefore, this method will contain a set of questions to ask different age groups and
various social classes in Moroccan society.

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 Review of literature
Theoretical Part:

1. Introduction:

Code-switching (CS) & Code-mixing (CM) is a terms that are commonly used in
linguistics, especially in sociolinguistics and a variety of related fields. CS & CM is the
process by which the speaker alternates and mix between two or more languages in one
conversation, to satisfy communicative purposes. Based on past researchers; Hoffman (1991),
defines code-switching as the situation in which two languages are used in the same utterance.
While Nababan (1994:32), claim that Code-Mixing is the situation where the speakers mix the
language or kind of language in a speech acts without a situation or condition that need a
mixing of language. CS and CM is a phenomenon that is well-known in bilingual and
multilingual communities because of their ability to change and mix codes between two or
more languages, dialects in the same conversation, substituting words , clauses and sentences
from different languages to accommodate communicative needs and make the conversation
meaningful. Brice (2009) Claim that code-switching is a natural act made by bilingual and
multilingual, it is considered to be a universal phenomenon. Moreover, Essien (2000) Figure
out that Code-switching among bilingual and multilingual communities as a normal linguistic
phenomenon among the people where varieties of languages and dialects are spoken.
Morocco is one of these communities, which are known as multilingual and multicultural
society due to the coexisting of Arabic, Tamazight, French, and Spanish and recently English,
this diversity of languages is a result of many reasons, such as colonization, intercultural
marriage, culture interaction and education etc… People switch from Arabic to Tamazight in
order to demonstrate their pride in their identity and their membership in the community,
while other people switch from Arabic to French Because the French language has a rich and
privileged standing and is considered the second language after classical Arabic. It is playing
a major role in the socio-economic, scientific, and technological spheres (El Haddad,2012).
Some Moroccans switch or mix between Arabic and French using some phrases, or adverbs
that very common in French language. Sayahi (2011b) presents that there are certain phrases
and constructions, such as fillers, idiomatic expressions that are widely used in French. in an

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 otherwise Arabic utterance _ Arabic tend to be nearly exclusively the base language. He also
writes that talking about matters related to higher education and work allows more code-
switching, as speakers may be more used to refer to a certain topic in French, and Arabic
slang being less readily for a certain concept. Sayahi claim(2011b, p. 124) A large number of
French adverbs, both derived ones, such as 'vraiment', really, 'exactement', exactly, '
normalement ', normally, as well as underived ones like 'déjà', already, 'enfin', finally and
'surtout', especially. In addition to that Arabic, French and Tamazight, there are also Spanish
that is a language which common especially in some Moroccan cities such as Tangier,
Tetouan, and Nador in northern Morocco. Moreover, nowadays Moroccan people used to
switch and mix also between Arabic and English due to globalization and other factors. Code-
switching from Arabic to English is very common among student of English studies.

1.2- Multilingualism:
Multilingualism is a linguistic term that that can be interprets in term of two definitions
firstly, if individuals are able to speak more than one language fluently, it can be said that they
are bilingual or multilingual. Bilingual is the ability to speak in more than one language. While
the second term Multilingual refer to the whole community, region and country when two or
more language used by the population in their daily life. Based on past research by Cenoz
(2016), mention that multilingualism as someone who can communicate in more than one
language be it through speaking, writing, listening and reading. Arronin (2019) argue that
multilingualism is used to indicate the usage of three languages and more, it is distinguished
from bilingualism, which is the usage of two languages. Flynn (2016) gives numerous definitions
of Multilingualism based on researchers backgrounds and ideologies

1.3- Types of code switching:

The linguists Bloom & Gumperz (2000) define two types of Code-switching: Situational
Code-switching and Metaphorical Code-switching. Situational code-switching, in a multilingual
community, people speak in a variety of languages depending on the situation. The language
spoken at home differs from that spoken at school or on the street; the speaker frequently speaks
in a language that the other person understands. For example, in Morocco the person my speak
Tamazight at home, standard Arabic ( Darija) in the street, French or English at school. The

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choice of language is controlled by rules, which members of community learn from their
experience, so these rules are part of their total linguistic knowledge (Hudson,1980.69). In
situational code-switching, the situation decide what language should be used. On the other hand,
in metaphorical code-switching the language determine the situation, it appears when a person
switch from one language to another depending on the topic of the conversation. For example,
when the two speakers discuss a social issue the language that used is standard Arabic, but when
they switch to another topic as work or school the language immediately changed to French or
English.While Hoffmann (1991, 112), demonstrate three different types of code-switching
depending on the place where they occurs, Inter-sentential, Intra-sentential, Tag switching. First
kind is Inter-sentential: this kind usually occurs between sentences. In this case, the speaker
starts the entire sentence or clause in a language then continues in another language. This type
mostly popular among fluent bilingual speakers and usually happen unconsciously. As an
example, when the speaker switches from French to standard Arabic (darija):

J'ai fais quatre kilomètres pour faire du shopping hitach ta haja mazwina f sok li hna.
I do four kilometers to do my shopping because nothing is beautiful in this market.
Switch from Standard Arabic (Darija) to French:
Gal liya Hicham ghayji lundi mais je ne sais pas a quelle heure.
Hicham told me he will come in Monday, but I do not know the exact time.
Second type is Intra-sentential: this type is occur within a clause or a sentence. Unlike the
previous type, the speaker may switch parts of a clause or lexical items. For example, the speaker
switches from standard Arabic (darija) to French:

Mchit lyoma la fac hit kan khasni njib chi document.

Today I went to university because I have to bring some documents.
Lyoum kan wahd l concert sift lik message bach thdri mais dommage knti deconnecte.
Today was a concert I sent you a message to present, but you were not online.
Last type is Tag switching: this type sometimes called emblematic switching in this type the
speaker switched either a single word or a tag phrase (or both) from one language to another. For
example, inserting a word from English in French speech:

J'aime l'Aid you know l'ambiance, tu vois toute la famille you know.
I like l'Aid you know the atmosphere you see the whole family you know.

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1.4-Types of code mixing:

Based on Muysken studies (2000:1) code mixing divided into three main types: First type is
Insertion: (word phrase), it is define as inserting of words from one language into structure from
the other language. Second type is Alternation: is defined as the switching between structures
from separate languages. Last kind is congruent lexicalization: is the third type of code-mixing;
which is characterized as the combination of items from different lexical inventories into a
shared grammatical structure.

1.5- Reasons of code switching and mixing:

The reasons that make people use Code-switching and Code-Mixing are numerous and may
differ from one person to another. Firstly, the speaker alternates and changes codes from one
language to another to avoid misunderstanding, and make the conversation clear, also to
facilitate communication and to govern the lack of some lexical words or expressions in a
language. While others uses codes switching as a way to exclude others from a conversation, or
when having no matching words. Code switch also can be used to attract attention, or to persuade
others, also to discuss some personal issues, switching codes take place also when there is no
similar words. In addition to that people switch codes to show their identity and belonging to the
community. For example, use Arabic and Tamazight language in a conversation in order to
emphasize their belonging to certain group, this case is more common for the Moroccan people
who live or study abroad they mix between Arabic, French, English, or other languages in order
to emphasize a sense of belonging to community.
Trudgill (2000:105) claim that speakers switch to manipulate, influence, or define the situation
as they wish and to convey nuance of meaning and personal intention.
For example, some topics are usually discussed in a particular language, and thus, their
introduction may provoke a switch (Ennaji 142). For example, when two Moroccan engineers
switch from Moroccan Arabic to French in order to discuss a technical topic.
In addition to those reasons, there are also a huge number of reasons that make people use this
phenomenon of code-Switching and Code-Mixing from one language to others according to
Hoffman (1991) there are seven reasons which make bilinguals to switch their languages. The
seven reasons are as follows:

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1-Talking about a particular topic
Many people switch codes from one language to another depending on the situation and
the type of the topic they are discussing, in order to express their thoughts and emotions
freely. For example in Morocco the speaker may use French language to discuss trade or
business matter, and Moroccan Arabic as everyday language, and Tamazight language
used to show their identity and social belonging .
2-Quoting somebody else
Speaker switches from one language to other by using some famous quote, or proverb, or
well1known expression. The switch includes only the items that the speaker argues the
quoted person said.
3-Being Emphatic About Something (Express Solidarity)
When someone is speaking a second language and he suddenly become emphatic about
something he will switch to his first language to express solidarity. This could happen
consciously or unconsciously because the speaker feels that he can express his feelings
and emotions better using his mother tongue.
4- Interjection (inserting sentence fillers or sentence connectors)
The speaker use also interjection, which added to a sentence or a clause in order to
express an abrupt emphatic exclamation emotion, surprising, or strong feelings or attract
attention of people. Interjection is a short exclamation like: Oh! OMG! Ops! really!. It
has no grammatical function and used speaking rather than writing, it may occur
consciously or unconsciously. For example, Moroccan Arabic (Darija) to English:
2- Ops! L' phone dyali thrs lya.
5-Repetition Used for Clarification
In order to make the conversation or the message clear, the speaker uses repetition, he
may explain something using one language and in order to clarify and avoiding
misunderstanding he may repeat the message use another code.
6-Intention of Clarifying the Speech Content for Interlocutor
This case occur when the speaker is a multilingual and talking to another person who is
also a multilingual person. CS and CM take place in order to make the discussion or the
message clear and understood by the listener. In other words, message from one code is
repeated in a slightly different form in the other code.

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 7-Expressing group identity
Code switching and code mixing can also be used to express group identity, or as a way
to express and emphasize one's sense of identity and belonging to the community by
using for example Moroccan Arabic or Tamazight
1.6- Code-switching VS Borrowing:
Many people use code-switching and Borrowing interchangeably, but there is a big difference
between them. While code-switching can be defined as the act and the process by which the
speaker alternates and change between two or more languages in one conversation. Borrowing
can be defined as the process of combining or incorporating words from another language and
use them as a part of the mother tongue. Borrowing is usually taking place when the speaker is
multilingual or hi lives in bilingual or multilingual community; it is usually adopted
morphologically or phonologically. The causes, which lead to Borrowing are various, and one of
this causes are modernization of language, lexical gap add to that Taboo meaning etc... Borrowed
words are incorporated and integrated into the native language phonology than switched words.
Hudson (1980, 72) claim that:

“Borrowing involves mixing the systems themselves, because an item is 'borrowed' from one
language to become part of the other language. Everyday examples abound - words for foods,
plants, institutions, music and so on, which most people can recognize as borrowings (or LOAN-
WORDS), and for which they can even name the source language. For most English speakers the
following would probably be included: karaoke (Japanese), paella (Spanish), schnapps
(German), eisteddfod (Welsh), sputnik (Russian) and fait accompli (French)”.

Moreover, Haugen defined borrowing as. "The attempted reproduction in one language of
patterns previously found in another" (1950, 212). Later on Haugen (1956) distinguishes
between three kinds of borrowing. The first one called “loan words “which are morphologically
and phonologically adopted. Loan words usually pronounced and used grammatically as if they
were part of the native language. In Moroccan standard Arabic, for example, “la table” we
pronounce it “table” and “hospital” which pronounced as “sbitar” are considered as ordinary
Moroccan standard words . The second one called “loan blendes” which consist of two
compound words one is in Arabic and the other in other language .The last type called “loan

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shift” it refers to the act of picking an item from the first language and lengthening its meaning
into the other language.

1.7- What are the errors that Multilingual make when they use code
switching?

Code-switching and code-mixing are two methods used by multilingual and bilingual speakers
to communicate effectively. They code-switch for a variety of reasons, including the use of two
languages on a daily basis and when they are influenced by factors such as their backgrounds,
social status, context, or situation. Which makes them make a bunch of mistakes almost every
time they code-switch between languages. In the lexical context, people who speak more than
one language, tend to make mistakes by selecting verbs, article or pronouns that are not suitable
for the context that leads most of the time to confusion or misunderstanding situations. For
example, Moroccans as a non-native English speakers especially beginners, almost every time
forget to add ''the'' to sentences. As in the following two phrases:

1. I spent my holiday in UK
2. I spent my holiday in Morocco
Only the second phrase is correct. As “UK” is short for United Kingdom, it needs a ‘the’ in front
of it because there is only one United Kingdom. Another example is when a non-native Arabic
mix between the feminine and masculine pronouns: instead of saying ) ‫ ( انتي جميلة‬which means
you are beautiful he said (‫ )أنت جميلة‬which goes to masculine. When it comes to the grammatical
class, most of multilingual people do not respect using correct grammar rules in the target
language. The most common type of error made by students is Verb tense and form. Most of
people forget to add the "-s" in the third person singular when using the present simple. Like in
these examples, 'he play baseball'. 'She use computer to write her research'. 'He collect
information using questionnaire'. The correct answers are "plays", "uses" and "collects". Another
difficulty faced non-native was the use of the correct form of the past. Some used the present
perfect instead of the simple past like in this example: I have been spent my own holidays in
Korea with my friend. The speaker is trying to express an event that took place in the past with
an emphasis on the fact and not the duration, in this case, the simple past was more adequate so

12
the sentence should be like this: I spent my own holidays in Korea with my friend. While others
used the simple present instead of the past tense. Like in these examples:

1. Last holidays, I visit my cousin in Italy; I eat a lot of Italian food. It was very good.
2. I have been travelled from Morocco to Korea on the 22nd of Jun and I reach there early.
Immediately I run to see my best friend. While the correct answers are "visited", "ate",
"travelled", "reached" and "ran".

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 Methodology:
Practical Part:
1. Methodology:
The objective of our investigation is to figure out the reasons of code switching and mixing
among Moroccan people.
The participant of this study are some Moroccan population from different regions. The number
of the participants is 143 person. And to gather and collect data we use quantitative method
through the form of questionnaire which include 14 questions.

The questionnaire created in Google forms and then shared the link in some Facebook and
WhatsApp groups which contain large number of people from different cities and which use
different languages.

1.2-Participants:
The participants of this research are 143 people, all of them are from Morocco, from different
regions, ages and different backgrounds; 62% are female and 37% are male. The majority of
participants speak many languages including Arabic, French, Spanish, and English in addition to
other languages such as Korean and Japanese, German, Turkish and Italian.

1.3-Survey questionnaire:

The data was collected by using a questionnaire which include 14 questions responded by
different people to figure out the reasons that make Moroccan people use code switching and
mixing in their conversation. The questionnaire was divided in two section, the first section
include the personal information while the second part include their information about code
switching and mixing.

1.4-Research design:

This study used a quantitative method as a research design. In order to gather data about the
reasons that influence Moroccan people to use code switching and mixing in their daily life.

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 Data analysis
Section one:

1-Are you male or Female?

2-Age:

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3- Are you studying or working?

4- How many languages do you speak?

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 5- What are these languages?

Section two:

6- To what language do you switch when you are communicating with your
friends and family?

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7-Do you use code switching and code mixing?

8- Why do you use code switching and mixing?

TO HAVE PRIVACY 18

EASIER TO SPEAK IN OWN LANGUAGE 66

SENSE OF IDENTITY 24

NO MATCHING WORDS 46

AVIOD MISUNDERTANDING 51

TO EXPRESS SOLIDARITY 21

TO EXCLUDE OTHERS 19

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Series1

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 9- How often you change your language from one to another during
the day?

10- When you switch between languages, is usually for ?

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11- What is your opinion about people who change their language while
speaking with other Moroccan?

12- What is your opinion about changing languages in a conversation?

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13-Why do you use words from Arabic while speaking French or English?

14- Do you respect grammatical rules when moving from one language to
another?

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 3- Discussion:
Based on the response of the participants, 62% of them are female and 37% are male. The age
of the participants differ; between 18-24 are 59, 4%. The age 25-34 are 32, 2% while the last
category their age between 35-44 is 6, 3%. We notice that the dominate category is the one
between 18-24. 59, 4% of the participants are still studying while 37, 1% are working. Moroccan
people speak many languages, it has been found that 29, 4% speak 4 languages, 43, 4% speak at
least 3 languages, and 21, 7% speak two languages, while others speak more than four
languages. The study has been found that majority of Moroccan people switch between many
languages: Arabic, French, Tamazight, English, Spanish, in addition to other languages such as
German, Korean, Japanese, Italian and Turkish language. Add to that, 58% is the percentage of
the people who switch from Arabic to French in order to communicate effectively with their
families and friends. And 51% switch to English while 48,3% switch to Tamazight language to
communicate with their friends and family to emphasize sense of pride to their identity and 3,5%
switch between Arabic and Spanish. In addition to other languages (German, Turkish, Korean &
Japanese) 0,7%. This result confirm that most of Moroccans use other languages besides their
mother tongue in everyday life. Furthermore, the majority of people tend to use code-switching
and code-mixing consciously and unconsciously 45,5%. And 22,4% use it consciously while
32,2% use code switching unconsciously.

Based on the finding, the reasons that make people use code switching and mixing are
numerous. As shown in the questionnaire; it appears that 46,2% use code switching because it is
easier to use their own language. While 35,7% use it to avoid misunderstanding, and 32,2% use
because it there is no matching words. 14,7% use code switching to express solidarity, while
13,3% prefer to use code switching in order to exclude others. 16,8% of the participants use it to
express sense of identity, the last category use code switching to have privacy and they are
12,6%. It has been found also that 58% of people change their language from one to another few
sometimes during the day, and 25,2% change their code always, while 15,4% rarely change their
language to other ones. This happen because the majority speak different languages thus, it is
neutral to people to change codes many times during the day. Additionally, from the data we
have got 66,4% of people when they switch languages is it usually for just a few words. 11, 9%

22
switch for a whole sentence, while 14% usually switch for a complete phrase and 7,7% switch
for a clause.

According to findings, 31,5% of people have a positive attitude toward people who change their
language when speaking to another Moroccan. And 18,2% have a negative opinion, while 50,3%
are neutral. The study shows that 41,3% of the people have a negative attitude toward changing
between languages in a conversation; and 11,9% say that it a negative point, while 46,9% have a
neutral opinion about that. It has been found also that there are many reasons behind using words
from Arabic while speaking French or English. 31,5% of people who use words from Arabic feel
that it is easier to use their own language. And 26,6% use Arabic words because there is no
similar words in French or in English, while 21,7% use words from Arabic to avoid
misunderstanding and make the conversation clear, and 16,1% because they do not know the
French and English words, others use it to remind their Arabic Identity. Moreover, most of
people pay attention to grammatical rules while they move from language to another, a
percentage of 33% of participants confirm that. While 10% of people do not respect grammatical
rules when they code switch. In the other hand, 55% of people are not sure whether they respect
rules or not.

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 4- Conclusion:

The main objective of this study is to investigate the factors that influence Moroccan people to
use code switching and mixing during the conversation. For that purpose, the data was collected
by using a questionnaire that was answered by some Moroccan people.

The phenomena of changing codes have become popular and widespread among Moroccans.
Since Morocco is a multilingual country, most of Moroccans have a positive attitude toward
code switching and mixing. The majority of people speak four languages: Arabic, French,
English and Tamazight. The study shows that changing between languages in a conversation is
neutral to Moroccans, and this happen for many reasons, mainly 'easier to speak in own
language' which have chosen by 46% of people. 'Avoid misunderstanding', 'express solidarity',
'no matching words', sense of identity', 'to have privacy' and 'to exclude others'. Most of
Moroccans code switch when they are talking with their friends or family, 58% switch to French
language when there are with their family or friends, while 48% switch to Tamazight language.
51% switch to English. Additionally, the majority are aware about their code switching 22% are
use it consciously.

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Appendix:
The instrument that we use to collect data is the questionnaire; this questionnaire is designed for
Moroccan population.

The purpose of this Questionnaire is to figure out the reasons of code switching and code mixing.

Section one:

These are the questions we have asked the participants:

1- Are you male or female?

Female ùm Male

2- Age

18-24 25-34 55-44 m more

3- Are you studying or working?

Studying working
4- How many languages do you speak?
5- What are these languages

Section two:

6- To what language do you switch when you are communicating with your family and
friends?

French English Tamazight Spanish Others

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 7- Do you use code switching consciously or unconsciously?

Consciously unconsciously Both

8- Why do you use code-switching and code-Mixing?

To exclude others To express solidarity Avoid misunderstanding

No matching word Sense of identity Easier to speak in own language

To have privacy

9- How often you change your language from one to another during the day?
Always Sometimes Rarely Never
10- You switch between languages, is it usually for?

A whole sentence A clause A complete phrase Just few words

11- What is your opinion about people who change their languages while speaking with other
Moroccan?

Positive Negative Neutral

12- What is your opinion about changing between languages in a conversation?

Positive Negative Neutral
13- Why do you use words from Arabic while speaking French or English?

No similar words in English/French Easier to use my own language

Do not know the French/English words To avoid misunderstanding

I usually do not To reminde my Arabic identity

14- Do you respect the grammatical rules when moving from one language to another?

Yes No I’m not sure

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