The Use of Code-Switching among Algerian Undergraduate Students.

Abstract

Algeria is a multilingual society where major population is either bilingual or multilingual. Code-Switching is considered as a natural product of bilingualism where speakers switch from one language to another in a single speech turn. This phenomenon of shifting from one language to another is widely spread to be observed in Computer mediated Communication. The current study aims to shed light on the patterns of code switching while chatting on Facebook, and to find out the reasons and motives behind using this phenomenon. The occurrence of code switching in Facebook chats is regular. But the type of code switching varies based on social relation. Undergraduate students from Ibn Khaldoun University were chosen as a sample. Numbers of Facebook chats records were collected and an online questionnaire was designed for this sample. The Results ensure that there are different reasons and motives that stand behind this phenomenon. Moreover, the results also show that types of code-Switching are different depending on the social relation between communicators as well as the topics of chats.