Language acquistion - code mixing & code switching

Language Acquisition - Code Mixing & Code Switching [Author`s Name] [Name and Section no of Course] [Instructor`s Name] [Date] Code Mixing and Code Switching Code Mixing Code mixing is a concept that can be defined as the mixing of two or more languages in the dialogue. It involves using different foreign words in the mother tongue. Spolsky (1998) defined ‘code mixing` as a phenomenon in which speakers use some new words taken from the other language in their own language instead of old ones. According to Hudson (1996), code mixing is actually a kind of code switching because the language is changed without bringing any change in the situation. Code Switching The term ‘code switching` can be defined as the alternate use of switching between two or more languages in the same conversation (Grosjean, 1982). It can be in the form of a single word, couple of words or a sentence. According to Spolskey (1998), code switching is the phenomenon that takes place when the bilinguals switch between two common languages during their conversation. This switch can be between the sentences, in the form of phrases, words or only the parts of the words. Problems for Arabic Speaking Children Code switching and code mixing is very common among the Arabic Children when speaking English in foreign language classrooms. It is used by the Arabic students as a learning strategy to learn and understand the new English words. Several problems are faced by the Arabic children when using code switching and code mixing phenomena which prevents them from learning and speaking English Language frequently. One main problem is the response of teachers who do not encourage them to speak English in their class. When students try to communicate their requests to Arabic teachers, they usually reply to their questions with "ayash" which means "what" in Arabic. As a result, students get discouraged and are forced to communicate in Arabic. This is not only limited to the schools but similar situation is faced by these children at homes. Arabic parents do not teach their children or share with them even the basic words of English. Moreover, children are not given attentive response at home when they try to share the English words they have learned in school. Parents do not encourage them and reply them in Arabic language which forces the child to continue his conversation in English and not even use the basic English words like School, pen, copy etc. Another problem faced by the Arabic students is their confusion in grammatically using the code mixing and code switching phenomena. They mix the English and Arabic grammatical features; for instance they add the English past tense "ed" to the Arabic ...