Question

• What are some of the reasons why people might find themselves code-switching? Be specific, providing a particular example from the article in order to help you reinforce your claim.
• What are the benefits of adopting a variety of languages and/or voices for different scenarios? How might this help someone to better navigate the world and/or various social situations?
• Are there any drawbacks to the phenomenon of code-switching? In other words, could people experience prejudice and/or other obstacles by displaying this adaptation?
• Lastly, describe a scenario that required (or still requires) you to code-switch. Why do you find it necessary to code-switch for this particular scenario? Have you ever experienced any problems and/or difficulties because of this?

Answer 1

Some points of consideration:

Code switch, in linguistics, means changing or alternating between two or more languages. Code switch is generally something that is used profusely by those who are bilingual/multilingual as they are trained and experienced in two or more languages.

Code switching is extremely useful in varying social contexts and situations as it helps immerse in cultural context and better communicate the sentiment or pieces of information. This also enables an individual connect to varied audience.

However, code switch can be a bit troubling for those who aren't experienced in either of the two languages and there does exist the probability of prejudiced opinion being formed against those who do utilize this phenomenon. But this contingent upon the person in question. Most people do not mind a code switch as long as the person attempts to explain their point holistically. But there is a probability that one might view the person lesser so due to their inability to communicate uniformly in one language. Although that isn't the case and some people are used to communicating in that manner. One common example can be of Hinglish, in India, where people are used to, on a daily basis, communicating in a mix of English and Hindi.