Investigating Code Switching between Arabic/English Bilingual Speakers

Abstract

This study investigates code switching in Arabic/English bilingual speech. The data analysed in this paper is an interview between two female Arabic participants in the context of hair and skin care. It took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where Arabic is the official language and English is used as a second language. The paper studies the occurrences of code switching from Arabic to English in the conversation from a sociolinguistic perspective. A conversational analysis is carried out in an attempt to understand functions of code switching based on the participants' turns. The findings show that switching from Arabic to English is overwhelmingly utilized in the interview. It is argued that code switching occurs mostly in elaboration. Additional functions of code switching by speakers include grabbing the audience attention, emphasizing points, and showing knowledge of topic-related terminologies.