Morning lectures:
An introduction to code-switching and multilingualism
October 6th
9.00-9.15: Javier Pérez Guerra (LVTC, Universidade de Vigo), M. Carmen Parafita Couto (LVTC, Universidade de Vigo & Leiden University)
Welcome and introduction
9.15-10.00: Margaret Deuchar (University of Cambridge, UK)
Controversies in code-switching research
10.00-10.45: Marianne Gullberg (Lund University, Sweden)
How to study code-switching: a multi-task approach
10.45-11.15: coffee break
11.15-12.00: Ad Backus (Tilburg University, The Netherlands)
Codeswitching and contact-induced change viewed from a usage-based perspective
12.00-12.45: Enoch Aboh (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Universal multilingualism: why we are born to code-mix
October 7th
9.00-9.15: Javier Pérez Guerra (LVTC, Universidade de Vigo), M. Carmen Parafita Couto (LVTC, Universidade de Vigo & Leiden University)
Welcome and introduction
9.15-10.00: Renata Enghels (Ghent University, Belgium)
Socio-pragmatic functions of code-switching in Chicano novels
10.00-10.45: Jeff MacSwan (University of Maryland, USA)
Translanguaging, codeswitching, and bilingual grammar
10.45-11.15: coffee break
11.15-12.00: Kelie Rolstad (University of Maryland, USA)
Translanguagjng in context: struggles and strategies
12.00 -12.15: Eva Rodríguez González (University of New Mexico, USA)
Diversity and inclusion in multilingual assessment design practices
Afternoon (Hybrid)
Forum Discussion on Hot Topics in Code Switching research
October 6th
3.15-6.15 Forum discussion 1: Establishing the object of study: code-switching vs borrowing
Panellists
Margaret Deuchar (University of Cambridge, UK)
Leah Gosselin & Gabrielle Manning (University of Ottawa, Canada)
John Lipski (Penn State University, USA)
Marlieke Shaw (KU Leuven, Belgium)
Moderators
Felix Ameka (Leiden University, The Netherlands)
Kate Bellamy (Leiden University, The Netherlands)
Osmer Balam (College of Wooster, Ohio, USA)
Description Forum Discussion 1: Establishing the object of study: code-switching vs borrowing
When multilinguals speak they use words from the different languages in their repertoire. Borrowing describes a situation in which when speaking language X, a speaker produces a word from language Y which is an established element in language X. For example, English was originally the recipient language of the French word restaurant, but now this word is considered to belong to both French and English, having been borrowed from French into English. If an English speaker uses the word restaurant, few would argue that it is a switch into French, since many speakers of English are monolingual and unable to speak French. Code-switching applies to a situation where a multilingual speaker produces words from multiple languages within the same utterance, s in the example below, uttered by a Papiamento (in bold)-Dutch bilingual speaker:
un elftal mixto
det.INDEF eleven mixed
‘a mixed eleven [football team]’ (Parafita Couto & Gullberg, 2017:5)
While some linguists agree that “code-switching and borrowing are two distinct phenomena” (Poplack, 2017), others contend that “code-switching and borrowing fall on a continuum” (Myers-Scotton, 1993:176). Yet others argue that there is no distinction between the two processes (López, 2018). The reason for disagreements on the relationship between the practices is that researchers have approached the question in a fragmentary way, using different types of data, different theoretical assumptions, and different communities of speakers. For each of these positions, there are many factors that play a role in how the position is justified. It is also worth noting that linguists, anthropologists, psycholinguists and sociolinguists use different units of analysis. For example, psycholinguists focus mostly on words in experimental studies while linguists tend to focus on entire clauses, that is, the way the words from the two languages interact within the clause.
During this forum, panellists will present their position on and discuss the following questions:
- What is your position about the relationship between code-switching and borrowing?
- In your data, how do you identify the language composition of multilingual discourse? In other words, how do you annotate multilingual data?
- What issues do you encounter in the annotation process, if any?
- What advice would you give a beginning researcher of multilingual discourse? i.e. what is the way forward for the field to advance?
October 7th
3.30-6.30 Forum Discussion 2: Theoretical approaches- finding common ground
Panellists
Bryan Koronkiewicz (University of Alabama, USA)
Annie Beatty Martinez (McGill University, Canada)
Terje Lohndal (NTNU, Norway)
Nikolay Hakimov (Bamberg University, Germany)
Almeida Jacqueline Toribio (University of Texas, USA)
Moderators:
Ad Backus (Tilburg University, The Netherlands)
Marianne Gullberg (Lund University, Sweden)
Brechje van Osch (UiT, Norway)
Description Forum Discussion 2: Theoretical approaches-finding common ground
On the basis of different methods and bilingual populations, various theoretical accounts of code-switching have been developed. Yet, while theories proliferate, cross-fertilization between them remains limited. A continued lack of convergence between these varying theoretical approaches has been has lead to a situation where a “culture of example and counterexample” predominates (Toribio, 2017: 228). Hence, the question that guides these discussions is: how can we better understand the nature of mixed interactions, with a view to creating more accurate models of multilingual language competence? Will a multimethod, comparative approach that integrates linguistic, psycholinguistic and social factors help us draw a distinction between which code-switching patterns are uniform across communities and language combinations, and which patterns are variable?
Responses and discussion of the following questions will guide this second topic:
- What theoretical/methodological approach/approaches do you follow?
- How much do you know about other approaches/frameworks? Do you take their findings/predictions into account in your own work? If so/not, why?
- In your work, have you identified any variation in code-switching either across individuals, across communities or across language combinations? What issues do you encounter in trying to account for the variation, if any?
- What advice would you give a beginning researcher of multilingual discourse? i.e. what is the way forward for the field to advance?