Sociolinguistic Dimensions of Code switching

298 Pages·2017·4.22 MB·English

by  Black Pearl

People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
Ministry of Higher Educatio n and Scientific Research
Aboubekr Belkaid Uni versity – TLEMCEN
Faculty of Letters and Languages
Department of English

Sociolinguistic Dimensions of Code switching:

the Role of Social Factors in its Occurrence

in an Algerian Context, Tlemcen Speech Community

Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English
in Candidacy for the Degree of “Doctorate” in Sociolinguistics.

Presented by Supervised by
Mrs. Amina BENGUEDDA-KESRAOUI Prof. Zoubir DENDANE

Board of examiners:
Dr. Nassim Negadi (President) MC (A) Tlemcen University
Prof. Zoubir Dendane (Supervisor) Prof Tlemcen University
Prof. Samira Abid (External examiner) Prof Sidi Belabbès University
Dr. Hind Mostari (External examiner) MC (A) Sidi Belabbès University
Dr. Ghania Ouahmiche (External examiner) MC (A) Oran University
Dr. Omar Azzoug (Internal examiner) MC (A) Tlemcen University

Academic year: 2016-2017
DECLARATION

I declare that this thesis represents my own work, except where due
acknowledgement is made, and that it has not been previously included in a thesis,
dissertation or report submitted to this university or to any other institution for a
degree, diploma or other qualifications.

Amina BENGUEDDA

I
Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to express the most gratitude and praise to God for
his help, affection and generosity in completing this work. Then, peace and blessing
upon our beloved prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and all his followers.
Although only my name appears on the cover of this thesis, many people
have contributed to its production. I am truly grateful to my supervisor Prof.
Dendane Zoubir, whose valuable insights and guidance have made the completion
of this project possible. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have had the
opportunity to work with him. Without his guidance, criticism, and encouragement,
a far inferior product would have resulted.
To the jury members, Dr. Negadi Nassim as president, Prof. Abid Samira,
Dr. Mostari Hind, Dr. Ouahmiche Ghania, Dr. Azzoug Omar for their time devoted
to evaluate this work, valuable comments and precious remarks,
I am incredibly grateful to my defunct teacher, Mr Benziane, God bless him
for his valuable insights and encouragement.
Last but not least, I would like to extend my gratitude to my dear teachers
and colleagues Serir Ilhem, Senoussi Faiza, Mouro Wassila, Mrabet Razzia, Adder
Fatima, Abdat Yasmina, Hakem Hadia, Kherbache Fatima, Benmostefa Nawel and
to all those I have forgotten to mention.
I must also acknowledge all what my teachers and colleagues have offered
me.

II
Dedications

The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the assistance
of several people:

First and foremost, I would like to say my sincere gratitude to my beloved parents
for their encouragements and prayers,

Very special thanks go out to my dear lovely son ‘Islem’ and my husband for their
motivation and encouragement, kindness, understanding, love and care.

I am grateful for the never-ending support and prayers from my parents-in-law,
brothers, grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, all my dear family and family-in-law
members.

A special thank is addressed to Tabet Aouel Asma, Mouro Fadia, and Allal Sanaa
and all who gave me their consistent, reliable, and long support without whom I could
not have made it.

At last, I dedicate this humble work to all my students and to all people I know
and whom I have forgotten to mention.

Amina

III
Abstract

The present study tries to investigate code switching behaviour of Tlemcen
bilinguals, mainly from the micro-sociolinguistic perspective. The basic assumption
being to consider it as a strategic tool that bilinguals possess to create social
conventions, and effective conversational functions emphasising the messages
conveyed. This sociolinguistic perspective, the core of this work, relies on the
sociolinguistic and pragmatic approach of code switching as speakers select their
codes according to the context. This work aims at discerning the main
sociolinguistic and pragmatic factors that affect the use of code switching in
Tlemcen speech community. In other words, the study investigates the occurrences
of code switching between Algerian Arabic and French in daily conversations,
attempting to study the circumstances and the factors that may have an impact on
the future of the French language in Algeria. The survey incorporates both
quantitative and qualitative methods using recordings, notes taking, questionnaire,
and interviews. This dissertation is based on three models: that of Gumperz (1982)
which relies on conversation analysis and contextualisation cues; that of Myers-
Scotton (1993) which will guide our analysis of code switching in conversations in
terms of marked or unmarked code; and that of Holmes (2013) for a functional
analysis of code switching. The results of the study revealed that there are
circumstances which can influence the respondents to codeswitch, in particular, the
interlocutors, the setting, the psychological state of the speaker and change of
topics.

IV
Table of Contents

Declaration……………………………………………………….……… I
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………….. II
Dedications ………….……………………………………………….…… III
Abstract…………………………………………………………….……. IV
Table of Contents……………………………………………………....... V
List of Figures …………….……..……………………………………… X
List of Tables …………….………………………………………………. XI
Acronyms ……………………………..…………………………………. XII
Symbols and abbreviations……………………….…………………….. XIII

General Introduction 1

Chapter One: Theoretical Considerations of the Study
1.1. Introduction 9
1.2. Various Perspectives on Code Switching 11
1.2.1. Sociolinguistic aspects of Code Switching 18
1.2.1.1. Discourse Analysis and Code Switching 18
1.2.1.2. Reasons of Code Switching 24
1.2.1.3. Sociolinguistic factors affecting Code Switching 29
i. Attitude towards Code Switching 30
ii. Factors Motivating Code Switching 30
iii. Diglossic Code Switching 35
1.2.2. Pragmatic and Functional Aspects of Code Switching 38
V
1.2.3. Psycholinguistic Aspects of Code Switching 40
1.2.4. Linguistic Aspects of Code Switching 42
1.2.4.1 Code Switching Theories 42
i. The free-morpheme constraint and the equivalence 43
constraint
ii. The Functional Head Constraint 44
iii. The Markedness Model 47
1.3. Types of Code Switching 51
1.4. Code Switching and Other Linguistic Phenomena 55
1.4.1. Code Switching vs. Code mixing 55
1.4.1.1. Against Maintaining Distinction 56
1.4.1.2. Pro Maintaining Distinction 56
1.4.2. Code Switching vs. Borrowing 58
1.5. Conclusion 67

Chapter Two: The occurrence of Code Switching in Algeria: case of Tlemcen
2.1. Introduction 72
2.2. Historical background and Arabisation 73
2.2.1. Historical background of Algeria 73
2.2.2. Reasons for the Arabisation Policy 74
2.3. Linguistic Profile in Algeria 76
2.3.1. Arabic 78
2.3.1.1. Classical Arabic (CA) 78
2.3.1.2. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) 79
2.3.1.3. Dialectal Arabic 80
2.3.2. Berber 80
VI
2.3.3. French 81
2.4. Languages in Contact in Algeria 83
2.4.1. Diglossia 83
2.4.2. Bilingualism 85
2.4.3. Borrowings 89
2.4.4. Various Functions of Code Switching in Tlemcen Speech 90
Community
2.4.5. Types of Code Switching in Tlemcen Speech Community 94
2.5. French Functional and Lexical Elements in AA 98
2.5.1. Determiners 98
2.5.1.1. French Articles and Quantifiers 98
2.5.1.2. French Possessive Adjectives 100
2.5.1.3. French Demonstratives 101
2.5.1.4. French Indefinite 102
2.5.2. Nouns 102
2.5.3. Verbs 103
2.5.4. Adjectives 103
2.6. Sociolinguistic F unctions of Code Switching 104
2.6.1. Pragmatic Functions of Code Switching Among Algerian 109
Speakers
2.6.2. Algerians’ Attitudes Towards French and Code Switching 112
2.7. Conclusion 115

VII
Chapter Three: Research Design and Methodology
3.1. Introduction 119
3.2. Description of the Studied Area 120
3.2.1. Geographical Overview of Tlemcen 120
3.2.2. Tlemcen Speech Community 121
3.3. Methodology and Data collection 123
3.3.1. Sample Population 124
3.3.1.1. Random Sampling 125
3.3.1.2. Stratified Random Sampling 125
3.3.2. Informants 126
3.3.3. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches 128
3.3.3.1. Qualitative Approach 129
3.3.3.2. Quantitative Approach 130
3.3.4. Survey Instruments 130
3.3.4.1. Interview 132
3.3.4.2. Note taking 136
3.3.4.3. Questionnaire 141
3.3.4.4. Recording 143
3.4. Models to Analyze Code Switching 145
3.5. Socio-pragmatic Functions for Code Switching 149
3.6. Tlemcen Speakers’ Attitudes Towards AA/French Code 158
Switching
3.7. Conclusion 161

Chapter Four: Exploration of the Data Collected
VIII
4.1. Introduction 165
4.2. Qualitative Analysis of Recordings and Note taking 166
4.3. Reasons for Attitudes Towards Code Switching 180
4.3.1. Positive Attitudes 180
4.3.2. Negative Attitudes 181
4.3.3. Neutral Attitudes 182
4.4. Analysis of the Questionnaire 182
4.5. Analysis of the Interview 209
4.6. Findings and Results of the Study 221
4.7. Conclusion 224
General Conclusion 226
Bibliography 233
Appendices
I. Questionnaire 257
II. Note taking 262
III. Recordings 274
IV. Interviews 278
V. SPSS 280

IX