Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 12. Number 2 June 2021 Pp. 109 -124
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no2.8
Functions of Code Switching from Arabic to English among Jordanian Pilots in their Daily
Informal Conversations: A Case Study
Maha S. Yaseen
Department of English, Al-Ahliyya Amman University
Amman, Jordan
Rami A. Sa’di
Department of English, Community College of Al-Kharj
Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University
Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia
Talha A. Sharadgah
Department of English, Community College of Al-Kharj
Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University
Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia
Received: 1/31/2021 Accepted: 5/27/2021 Published: 6/24/2021
Abstract:
This study examines the frequency and the functions of code switching in informal conversations among Jordanian pilots, who have created their own jargon. It also explores the most frequent English expressions that the pilots switch to in their informal Arabic discourse. The conversations of eight Jordanian pilots aged between thirty and fifty-five were tape-recorded in three separate informal natural settings. The data were used for the purpose of finding out what the pragmatic and communicative functions are that the pilots’ code switching serves, and to investigate the most frequent expressions used in their conversations. The results showed that eight main conversational functions can be identified in their code-switching routines, namely: to compensate for the lack of exact equivalents in Arabic, to avoid interruption to the communication when not knowing the Arabic equivalent, to replace long and technical terminology in Arabic with acronyms in English (acronyms are not common in Arabic), to use aviation titles and ranks, to quote/ directly report phrases of speakers, to say the numbers, to refer to names of companies, places, documents, and organizations, and to insert some English formulaic expressions. The findings also showed that the most frequent terms and expressions used in code switching amongst Jordanian pilots are more related to the aviation register than to common-core vocabulary.
Keywords: Arabic-English, code switching, functions, informal daily conversations, Jordanian pilots
Cite as: Yaseen, M. M.S., Sa’di, R. A. , & Sharadgah, T. A. (2021). Functions of Code Switching from Arabic to English among Jordanian
Pilots in their Daily Informal Conversations: A Case Study. Arab World English Journal, 12 (2) 109 -124.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no2.8
References
Abdulhady, S. E., & AL-Darraji, O. O. (2019). Code switching: A close study of translating English linguistic terms into Arabic. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 2(3), 175-187. DOI: 10.32996/ijllt.2019.2.3.20
Alenezi, M., & Kebble, P. (2018). Investigating Saudi medical students’ attitudes towards English-Arabic code-switching in classroom instruction. The Asian ESP Journal, 14(1), 142-160.
Alkhatib, M., & Sabbah, E. H. (2008). Language Choice in Mobile Text Messages among Jordanian University Students. SKY Journal of Linguistics, 21, 37–65.
Auer, P. (1998). Introduction: Bilingual conversation revisited. In P. Auer, (ed.), Code-switching in conversation: Language, interaction and identity (pp. 1-24). London and New York: Routledge.
Biber, D., & Finegan, E. (1994). Sociolinguistic perspectives on register. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bokamba, E. G. (1989). Are there syntactic constraints on code‐mixing? World Englishes, 8(3), 277-292. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.1989.tb00669.x
Cannon, G. (1989). Abbreviations and Acronyms in English Word-Formation. American Speech, 64(2), 99-127. https://doi:10.2307/455038
Gumperz, J. (1982). Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hamed, I., Elmahdy, M., & Abdennadher, S. (2017). Building a first language model for code-switch Arabic-English. Procedia Computer Science, 117, 208-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2017.10.111
Haugen, E. (1956). Bilingualism in the Americas: A bibliography and research guide. Publication of the American Dialect Society, No. 26. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press.
Hleihil, H. (2001). Arabic-English Code-Switching among American Fastfood Restaurants’ Employees and Customers in Jordan: Motivations and Attitudes, (Unpublished Master’s thesis) Yarmouk University, Jordan.
Hudson, R. (1980). Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hussein, R. (1999). Code-alteration among Arab college students. World Englishes, 18(2), 281-289.
Monaghan, P., & Roberts, S. G. (2019). Cognitive influences in language evolution: Psycholinguistic predictors of loan word borrowing. Cognition, 186, 147-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2019.02.007
Muysken, P., & Muysken, P. C. (2000). Bilingual speech: A typology of code-mixing. Cambridge University Press.
Myers-Scotton, C. (2006). Multiple Voices: An introduction to bilingualism. Malden: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Rabab’ah, G., & Al-Yasin, N. (2017). English-Arabic code switching in Jordanian EFL teachers’ discourse. Dirasat, Human and Social Sciences, 43(2), 313- 329. https://doi.org/10.35516/0103-044-004-019
Romaine, S. (1995). Bilingualism (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
Sampson, A. (2011). Learner code-switching versus English only. ELT Journal, 66(3), 293–303.
https://doi:10.1093/elt/ccr067
Wardhaugh, R. (2006). An introduction to sociolinguistics (5th ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
Zainil, Y., & Arsyad, S. (2021). Teachers’ perception of their code-switching practices in English as a foreign language classes: The results of stimulated recall interview and conversation analysis. SAGE Open, 11(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211013802