Language Choice in

Multilingual
Communities
 Language Choice in
Multilingual Communities

Choosing Your Variety or code

Diglossia

Code-switching or code-mixing
1. Choosing Your Variety or Code

In what language would you use to speak with

 your friends?
 your grandmother?
 your lecturers?
 Your third language
lecturers?
 A child?
 What does this term means?..pg 22

A domain involves typical interactions

between typical participants in typical
settings.

A domain depends on several

social factors including
participants, setting and topic.

Domain Addressee Setting Topic Language

Family Parents Home Planning a Malay

holiday
Education Lecturer University Consultations English
 What do these terms mean?

Variety Code
Languages that come from the same A code is very loosely defined.
root. Eg: Varieties of Bahasa Melayu It involves the following:
• Malaysia • Participants
• Brunei • Purpose
• Indonesia • Formality
Can be viewed in the • Setting
context of country or
even state. • Intonation
• Slang and word choice
 Other social factors affecting
code choice…pg 25

Language Addressee / Setting/Purpose

Cantonese Family at home

Singapore English Read Example
Friends at5the school
Hokkien Shop retailers
Singapore English Department stores
Mandarin Leisure, entertainment
Singapore English Formal education
 Other social factors affecting
code choice…pg 25

2. Relationship status
1. Social Distance
How well do they know
each other?
Are they strangers, friends,
siblings?
3. Formality
Depends on the setting
during the talk.
Social role is an important
factor.
Examples of role
relationships?
The same person may
speak in different codes
depending on their roles.
4. Function
What is the language being
used for?
 2. Diglossia

Diglossia refers to the pattern

Features: of code or variety choice

1. Two distinct varieties of the same language are used

in the community, with one regarded as a high (H)
variety and the other a low (L) variety.
H – Baku
2. Each variety is used for quite distinct functions; H
L – Pasar
and L complement each other.
3. No one uses the H variety in everyday conversation.
 Functions

H L
Sermon X
Instruction to X
servants
Gossiping X

University lecture X
Conversation with X
friends
Newspaper editorial X

Discussion in class X
 Prestige

The speakers regard H as superior to

L in a number of respects.
E.g. H is considered more educated,
more beautiful, more logical, better
able to express important thoughts,
Aquisition
etc.
Adults use L in speaking to children
and children use L in speaking to
one another.
The actual learning of H is chiefly
accomplished by the means of
formal education.
 Attitudes to H vs L in a
Diglossia Situation..pg 29

People admire the H variety even when they can’t

understand it.
Attitudes to it are usually very respectful.
It has prestige in the sense of high status.
The prestige is reinforced by the fact that the H
variety is the one described and standardized in
grammar books and dictionaries.
 Attitudes to H vs L in a
Diglossia Situation..pg 29

L variety is highly valued by some speakers. People

generally admire the H variety even when they can’t
understand it.
They may regard the L variety as the best way of
expressing their real feelings. It has prestige in the
sense of high status.
The prestige is reinforced by the fact that the H variety
is the one described and standardised in grammar
books and dictionaries.
 Diglossia with and
without bilingualism..pg 30

Diglossia + Diglossia -

Bilingualism + 1. Both diglossia and 2. Bilingualism without

bilingualism (E.g. Malays in diglossia (E.g. Malays in
Malaysia) America)

Bilingualism - 3. Diglossia without 4. Neither diglossia nor

bilingualism (E.g. English in bilingualism (E.g. isolated
England) communities in Iceland,
PNG)
 Diglossia..cont

The term ‘diglossia’ may also be used to refer to a situation

where two languages are used for different functions in a
speech community, especially where one language is used for
H functions and the other for L functions.

2L = H + L
Two different languages could also be the H varieties. (E.g.
formal Maori for meetings and English for official affairs with
other non-Maori New Zealanders).

2L = H + H
 Polyglossia

A situation where more than two distinct codes

or varieties are used for distinct purposes or
distinguishable situations.
H Mandarin S’pore English
formal variety

L Cantonese S’pore English

Hokkien informal variety
 Changes in a Diglossia
Situation..pg 32

It is possible for two varieties to continue to exist side by

side for centuries.
Alternatively one variety may gradually displace the other.

French (H)
England was diglossic
English (L)
 Changes in a Diglossia
Situation..pg 32

English French English

ox beouf beef
sheep mouton mutton
calf veau veal
pig porc pork
 Code-switching / Code-mixing

Among the reasons for switching:

1. Greeting – an expression of solidarity
2. The acknowledge the presence of a new
participant in a conversation
3. To signal group membership and shared
ethnicity with an addressee
4. To exclude a speaker from those you are
talking to
 Code-switching / Code-mixing

5. To signal sophistication and identification with

modernity
6. To signal status relations between people or the
formality of their interaction
7. To change the topic of discussion
8. To signal a change in the relationship between
individuals (Refer example 10, pg 37)
 Code-switching / Code-mixing

9. To change the topic of discussion

10. To quote a person – the exact words the speaker
used
11. To quote a proverb or a well-known saying in
another language (Refer example 12 pg 39)
12. To express affective rather than referential meaning
13. To joke with others / make fun of others
 Code-switching / Code-mixing

14.To express your anger / show disapproval –

sometimes the switch can be in styles of the same
code (Refer e.g. 16 pg 41)
15. To facilitate communication due to lack of
vocabulary in a language / absence of the
equivalent words
 Attitudes to code-switching

People are often unaware of the fact that they

code-switch (Holmes, 2008).

Should code-switching be condoned?

Should code-switching be permitted in a

language class?