Code-Switching among Bilingual German-American Adolescents

Titelangaben

Maier, Patricia:
Code-Switching among Bilingual German-American Adolescents.
Bayreuth , 2024
( Bachelorarbeit, 2021 , Universität Bayreuth, Fakultät für Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften, Lehrstuhl Englische Sprachwissenschaft)

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Abstract

The thesis investigated the phenomenon of code-switching among bilingual German-American adolescents living in the surrounding area of the Military Training Area in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The study was carried out in spring 2021 and was based on (1) a questionnaire, (2) the analysis of 70 screenshots from personal WhatsApp chat messages including instances of code-switching provided by the 20 bilingual participants, and (3) personal interviews with six of the participants. Its aim was to gain insights into the following key aspects: sociolinguistic factors influencing language use, distinctions when switching languages, types of code-switching in written WhatsApp messages, reactions and emotions to chat messages including code-switching, and reasons for code-switching. The research project revealed that code-switching is a quite common phenomenon among bilingual German-American adolescents happening in conversations with their bilingual family members and friends. In contrast to that, the adolescents do not consciously mix languages when talking to monolingual interlocutors. Similar rates of intra-sentential and inter-sentential were identified within the text messages, whereas extra-sentential code-switching did not occur in the data set. The confrontation of the adolescents with their personal chat messages including code-switching led to the following reactions: laughter, discomfort, and shock on the one hand, but also self-confidence and determination on the other hand. Possible reasons for code-switching, based on the study, are lexicon, style, society, and identity. The interviews also revealed that most of the adolescents have never questioned their personal language use before and are often unaware of using specific structures.