Acceso usuarios
Jean-Marc Dewaele, Inga Zeckel
Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The study considers the relationships between multilinguals’ linguistic history, current linguistic practices, personality dimensions and self-reported frequency of code-switching (CS) in interactions with four types of interlocutors. It looks at variation in CS according to interlocutor type and the link with all the independent variables.
Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected through an online questionnaire with closed questions on use of CS with friends, family members, colleagues and strangers.
Data and analysis: A total of 298 adult multilingual participants of various nationalities provided scores on Likert scales. Statistical analyses were carried out to establish relationships between independent variables and CS.
Findings/conclusions: The amount of self-reported CS differs significantly according to the type of interlocutor. A high level of multilingualism and early onset of bilingualism were linked with significantly more CS. High levels of Openmindedness and low levels of Flexibility were linked with significantly more frequent self-reported CS with certain types of interlocutors. Sex, age and education had no – or very little – effect on self-reported frequency of CS.
Originality: The study confirms earlier research that considerable intra-individual variation exists in self-reported CS with various interlocutors. It shows that not just the linguistic but also the psychological profiles of participants determine the amount of self-reported CS.
Significance/implications: Both linguistic and psychological variables need to be taken into account in the study of sociolinguistic phenomena.
Limitations: Reporting frequency of CS with different categories of interlocutors requires a certain degree of metalinguistic awareness and some standard error cannot be excluded in self-reports.
