Pattern, form and function of code-switching in a Dutch-English online community

Abstract

Much is still unknown about code-switching, particularly about written code-switching online. This thesis investigates the English-Dutch bilingual online community at r/theNetherlands, a subforum of the online discussion forum Reddit, which had not yet been investigated. The focus is on the pattern, form and functions of code-switching. English-Dutch bilingual code-switching patterns had yet to be investigated; this thesis found that Dutch-English is the most dominant pattern of code-switching for this community, though motivations for this choice are still to be studied. There had been very few studies comparing intersentential and intrasentential code-switching, though it has been found that intersentential code-switching appears to be the dominant form of code-switching of written discourse online. This study found no conclusive evidence for preference of either form of code-switching, possibly indicating that online written code-switching is a combination of written and oral discourse. Code-switching can be used to fulfil several functions within the discourse. This thesis found that code-switching was most frequently used to quote, to fulfil a lexical need and to add emphasis. A logistic regression analysis was applied to the data in order to investigate interactions between pattern, form and function. The results showed that there was a significant association between pattern and form, and pattern and function, though there was no significant association between form and function. This indicates that there are more factors associated with code-switching pattern, for which further investigation is necessary.