The dual language model to explain code-switching: A cognitive-pragmatic approach.

Kecskes, Istvan

The present paper seeks to explain code-switching produced by Spanish- English bilingual speakers from the community of Gibraltar from a cognitive-pragmatic perspective new perspective based on the dual language system developed by Kecskes (1998) and Kecskes and Papp (2000) to account for bi- and multilingual language development and language use. The reasons for code-switching in Gibraltar are provided in Moyer (1992, 1998) in terms of social and culture specific information, conversation and context creating devices used in discourse, and structural or syntactic constraints on the way the two languages are combined in a sentence. The advantage of the dual language model (DLM) is that it integrates linguistic, conceptual, and socio-cultural information into a single model, provides a theoretical framework—from a psycholinguistic perspective—to explain the way speakers from a bilingual community such as Gibraltar combine two languages as a productive and regular communicative practice, and postulates that the primary cause for code-switching is conceptual-pragmatic rather than syntactic. The DLM is a bilingual production model that integrates the dual language system (DLS), the language production model of Levelt (1989; 1995), and the bilingual language mode theory of Grosjean (1998, 2001). The focus of the model is on conceptualization and the manner in which conceptual knowledge is lexicalized or mapped onto linguistic forms (i.e., words, phrases, sentences, utterances) and grammatically formulated. The main contribution of the DLM is the way it enables conceptual knowledge acquired along with each language in the case of members of a bilingual community to interact by means of the dual language system consisting of the common underlying conceptual base (CUCB) and two distinct language channels. Switching is made possible by the CUCB that is responsible for the operation of both language channels (Kecskes 1998; Kecskes & Papp 2000). In this first attempt to adapt the DLM to code-switching, the primary goal is to present an alternative model to the existing ones and demonstrate its explanatory potential on data collected by ethnographic fieldwork (Moyer 1992; 1998). Special emphasis is placed on the interplay of conceptual, social, and linguistic factors in the selection of the codeswitching patterns of insertion, alternation, and congruent lexicalization proposed by Muysken (2000). The paper begins with the presentation of the DLM model and its key theoretical assumptions. The adaptations of Levelt's model and Grosjean's language mode theory are also discussed in the first section. The next part gives a brief introduction to the language community of Gibraltar, which is followed by the presentation of data relevant to the subject matter of the paper. The main code-switching patterns in Gibraltar are introduced in terms of Muysken's three-way classification of code-switching (i.e., insertion, alternation, and congruent lexicalization). In the following section, instances from the database are used to demonstrate how the DLM accounts for code-switching in the community of Gibraltar as well as the dynamics of meaning creation in bilingual language use. Finally, the conclusions highlight the main advantages of the model and suggest some lines for further research.

GIBRALTAR; CODE switching (Linguistics); BILINGUALISM; SPANISH language; ENGLISH language; MULTILINGUAL persons; CONVERSATION analysis; DISCOURSE markers

Intercultural Pragmatics, 2006, Vol 3, Issue 3, p257

1612-295X

Academic Journal

10.1515/IP.2006.017