Introduction

In Chapter 2, we saw that CS is often manifest within the process of language change, which can lead to the creation of new varieties such as pidgins or mixed languages. In other cases, it may be a temporary phenomenon, leading only to some limited borrowing. The outcome of language contact situations is determined by social and economic variables: the relative prestige of one variety as opposed to another, or its association with a more powerful or up-and-coming group. In this chapter, we will look at social factors in CS – factors which, as we saw in Chapter 2, are as important as, if not more important than, the linguistic characteristics of the varieties in determining the linguistic outcome. Whether used in a deliberate way, as above, or not, CS provides a variety of clues as to the social identity of the speaker – the groups which, to paraphrase Le Page, she or he wishes to resemble. In Chapter 4, we will see that bilingual speakers often use CS as “conversational scaffolding” while at the same time using it to convey aspects of their identity. The motivation to code-switch relies on factors independent of the varieties as such, including the speakers' relative competence and that of their interlocutors, the identities they can express through each language, the acceptability of CS in their network and in particular contexts, and a variety of further factors.