Hiện tượng trộn mã việt anh trong các bài viết blogs về làm đẹp của một số blogger trẻ tại việt nam

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ KIM CHI

VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH CODE-SWITCHING IN BLOGS
BY YOUNG BEAUTY BLOGGERS IN VIETNAM
Hiện Tượng Trộn Mã Việt-Anh Trong Các Bài Viết Blogs Về
Làm Đẹp Của Một Số Blogger Trẻ
Tại Việt Nam

MA THESIS
Major Thesis

Major: English Linguistics
Major code: 8220201.01

HÀ NỘI – 2019



VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ KIM CHI

VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH CODE-SWITCHING IN BLOGS
BY YOUNG BEAUTY BLOGGERS IN VIETNAM
Hiện Tượng Trộn Mã Việt-Anh Trong Các Bài Viết Blogs Về

Làm Đẹp Của Một Số Blogger Trẻ
Tại Việt Nam

MA THESIS
Major Thesis

Major: English Linguistics
Major code: 8220201.01

Supervisor: TS. Nguyễn Thị Thu Thuỷ

HÀ NỘI – 2019


Declaration
I, hereby declare that this written thesis is all my own work except where I indicate
otherwise by proper use of quotes and references and has never been submitted to
any other institution. This thesis has been submitted for examination with approval
from the candidate’s supervisor.
Signature
________________________
Nguyễn Thị Kim Chi

4


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge my most sincere gratitude towards my supervisor, Dr.
Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, without whose kind support and invaluable guidance, this
thesis will be in complete failure. Her unfaltering encouragement and genuine

motivation have planted great inspiration in me in fulfilling this research.
I am also forever indebted my most profound appreciation and gratitude to my
family, who has not for one moment resigned faith on me. I was so blessed with
constant moral support to eventually reach the end of the thesis.
Finally, I would like to express my deepest thanks to the Faculty of Graduate
Studies, without whose support and assistance, I would not have been able to
complete my whole journey of MA study as well as this MA thesis.

5


ABSTRACT
This research attempts to investigate the language behavior of Vietnamese-English
code-switching behavior presented in blogs, a typical mode of computer-mediated
communication belonging to young beauty bloggers in Vietnam. Although there
have been exhaustive numbers of definition regarding the issue in question, the
definition of code-switching in the study was adopted from Myers-Scotton’s stating
that code-switching is a term to refer to the alternations of linguistic varieties
within the same conversation. In this research it is displayed through the genre of
written text. The first goal of this study is to describe the presentation in which the
linguistic patterns of Vietnamese-English code-switching are exhibited in journal
entries written by five blog owners. The second purpose aims at evaluating the
social functions that are positioned in such switches. As a result of this study, it is
discovered that Vietnamese-English code-switched language in blogs is in fact an
extension of language in spoken interaction, and there are some distinctive features
in the distribution of major parts of speech regarding noun, verb and adjective
insertion in the language contact. Switches for idiomatic expressions are also
evident. In addition, examples on the social functions of clarification, quotation,
interjection, and repetition under unmarked choices of code-switching are identified
and explained with in-depth illustrations.

6


TABLE OF CONTENTS

7


List of Abbreviations
CS: Code-switching
MLF model: Matrix Language Frame model
ML: Matrix language
EL: Embedded language
RO: Rights-and-Obligations
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
Ex.: example

8


List of Figures and Tables
List of figures

List of tables

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale of the thesis
The study of code-switching has been ubiquitous for over several decades and has
still received a significant amount of attention from researchers universally now.
Among major scholars working both intensively and extensively on the topic,
Gumperz (1977; 1982), Poplack (1978; 1980; 1987), Myers-Scotton (1992; 1993;
1995; 2002) and Muysken (2000) Milroy & Muysken (2012) are most
acknowledged and prolific authors to provide insights to the subject matter of codeswitching from both structural and sociolinguistic approach. Even though each
author has their different theories in defining and clarifying code-switching from
their ground approach, one universal truth is made clear: code-switching is a
popular linguistic behavior occurring at either utterance level or at discourse level,
towards which code-switching is familiarized with the term intra-sentential (when
the switch is made within sentences) and inter-sentential level (when the switch is
across sentences).
On the one hand, there is the majority of studies on code-switching situations from
sociolinguistics (or ethnographic) descriptions. On the other hand is the volume of
research conducted on grammatical analyses of code-switching to underlie
universal rules, models and explanations of the patterns in the switch. A more
recent branch emerging in studying code-switching is the pragmatic and
conversation analytic approach in which most of the researchers attempt to identify
the meanings of this language alternation in conversations (Gardner-Chloros, p.10).
Scholars from the first approach, typically Gumperz (1977), believes that the
outcome of language contact situations is determined by social and economic
variables, either due to the relative prestige of one variety as opposed to another or
its association with a more powerful group (Gardner-Chloros & Gardner-Chloros,
2010, p.42). Advocates of the second approach also encounter various challenges in
explaining the phenomenon from a universally acute explanation. Problems with

10

grammar are placed centrally in the universalness of grammar itself. The third
approach sees the rise in the accountability for the social circumstances that affect
the form of the language alternation. Affluent work by Muysken (2002) as well as
other projects under this branch have looked at code-switching from further
sociolinguistic

determinants,

specifically

from

1-conversational/pragmatic

motivations; 2- social psychological influences; and 3- gender preferences (2010,
p.65). Each approach would step further in providing more practical evidence
proving that their theoretical frameworks work, and with that different streams of
research would emerge.
However different each author may follow in their approaches, one similarity
remains unchanged, that is to highlight the importance of studying code-switching
as a linguistic behavior and a social phenomenon. In addressing the significance of
this increasingly controversial issue (Gardner-Chloros & Gardner-Chloros, 2010),
each researcher apparently has their major claims and proposals. While the
prominent author of the 1970s - Gumperz (1977) asserts that understanding codeswitching helps providing insights to understand the functioning of human signs in
communication, the social symbols in verbal interaction and the role of speech
variation in human groups (Gumperz, 1977, p.31), pioneer in grammatical approach
Poplack suggests that “code-switching, rather than representing a debasement of
linguistic skill, is actually a sensitive indicator of bilingual ability” (1980, p.581).
Others even do further research in order to acknowledge the ideological values of
this bilingual behavior (Salzmann & Auer, 2000). Thus, Muysken (1995) strongly

advocates that there are significant effects related to the characteristics of the
contributing varieties and the combination of more or less closely related languages
– different pairings provide different opportunities and difficulties at a linguistic,
and in particular at a syntactic level.
Similarly, the study of webblogs, or blogging, or blogs, has welcomed various
opportunities for novice researchers and experienced scholars alike. Webblog
(blogs), a social media network, is the online platform and technology that people
use to build social networks by communicating with others via sharing experiences,

11


opinions, insights and perceptions. Blogging as an online activity has been
increasing exponential since mid-1999 and fueled by reports from the mainstream
media of the grassroots power of blogs as alternative news sources (Huffaker &
Calvert, 2006). Thus, blogs are well suited to serve as on-line personal journals.
Pinkman (2005) [cited in (San, 2009, p.30)] indicates that blogging becomes
communicative and interactive when participants assume multiple roles in the
writing process, as writers who write and post, as readers/reviewers who respond to
other writers’ posts, and as writer-readers who, returning to their own posts, react to
criticism of their own posts. Although blogs can be placed in secured environments,
readers in turn can comment on what they read. The act of self-publishing in blogs
encourages ownership and responsibility of the writers, who may be more
thoughtful (in content and structure) if they know they are writing for a real
audience. It is considered ideal to create blog as a means of studying, sharing or
self-expressing. Alternatively, following others’ personal pages would also be more
intriguing than creating one’s own. Such cases are often in evidence when blogging
is by no means a new method of communicating among young people but a shared
community where people of certain expertise write about topic-related issues.
Beauty bloggers, in this sense, have emerged in a follow suit.

Given the fact that the majority of blog entries by beauty bloggers are in
Vietnamese, English can be often seen at various points. Blogs’ owners are often in
their mid-20s and early 30s, which associates with the fact that they were relatively
around 1980s and 1990s-born – the time when English has already been introduced
to Vietnam as a mandatory subject, and students are required to study English from
early ages. Apparently, throughout their blog entries, the phenomenon of language
contacting between English and Vietnamese does frequently occur. This is the
reason why the research aims at investigating the behavior of code-switching in the
context of webblogs among Vietnamese beauty bloggers community.

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1.2. Aims and objectives
As within the small scale of a minor thesis in applied linguistics, the research is
obviously incapable of covering a large scale of every single blog and blog entry in
the beauty community in Vietnam. This study, however, focuses more on generally
well-received blogs generated by widely accepted beauty writers aged 25-35 (the
quality of well-received is defined by the number of followers in each page –
averagely 10,000 and above). Additionally, for the collecting data of the study to be
conducted thoroughly, entries with the occurrence of code-switch rather than
randomly chronological posts are chosen as the primary material for valid and
reliable linguistic analysis.
This minor study aims to discover Vietnamese-English switching
performances available in blogs created by popular and well-followed beauty
bloggers in Vietnam. In other words, typical patterns of structurally-engaged and
socially-motivated code-switching will be investigated. Therefore, the study is to
answer the following question:
How is Vietnamese-English code-switching in blogs written by selected
beauty bloggers presented?

In particular, two sub-questions derived from the research question are going
to be answered and explained:
(1) What linguistic patterns do the switches present?
(2) What functions do the switches serve?

1.3. Scope of the thesis
First, beauty bloggers community is a huge network consisting of mostly people
aged between 25 and 35 with determined passion and enthusiasm in creating
confident and fashionable look. This community is millions worldwide, making it a
large society influencing both locally and internationally. According to roughly
made statistics, the number of bloggers worldwide have reached around 500
million, among which beauty bloggers should account for a large portion. A beauty

13


blogger would often have their own channels on several different platforms, namely
Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, or Twitter, where they update brief updates, realtime status and images to followers and a personal blog page where written forms
are done more thoroughly and intensively. Within the scope of this study, only
written entries on personal webpage are employed for research and analysis. Any
vlogs (or video blogs, another form of doing blogging through Youtube channel) or
status updates (another form of written entries carried out primarily on Facebook
and Instagram) would not be considered proper for the study, which might open
doors to various other studies.
Secondly, in Vietnam, beauty bloggers, sometimes are referred to as social
influencers or beauty gurus, are many in number. This quantity may reach as high
as hundred people. In order to secure the validity and reliability that the researcher
can commit, a total number of five popular candidates is considered to be feasible
and more compatible.
All in all, the main subject of this study is written journals/ entries on blog pages

completed by bloggers in beauty industry with 10,000 followers or more. A
collection of posts in which the alternation between Vietnamese and English occurs
will be examined accordingly.

1.4. Method of the thesis
The study intends to follow the approach of qualitative orientation with discussions
and explanations being the most significant part, centering around the purpose of
providing insights into the issue. Quantitative analysis, however, also plays an
indispensable role in implementing such intention.
To start with, due to the small scale of the research, the subjects are five beauty
bloggers (criteria for selecting these five would be thoroughly considered and
illustrated in chapter 3). These beauty workers are from 20 to 35 years of age,
having worked intensively in the field of writing and promoting beauty products for
a certain time period; and having a large number of followers on their fan page
(mainly on their Facebook page, a popular social platform as mentioned

14


previously). Their written (not videos or Vlog) reviews on their pages will be the
key subject of the study. These five beauty bloggers, first, would have agreed in
advance as to whether they are willing to allow their entries to be collected as data
for the research; and second, would be renamed for the ethical purpose of doing
research.
As bloggers are as productive as they could in producing at least one entry per
week, the number of posts and entries would have reached hundreds, rendering it a
great amount of data for the feasibility of the study. Thus, a collection of ten written
texts involving code-switching from each author will be retrieved regardless of
their chronological order and length. Topical theme for each entry is as diversified
as the blogger could go, which means providing that there exists language

alternation in the entry, that entry would qualify for the data analysis. This would
open more room for data collection and result discussion.
All of the entries collected for the study were originally produced in the form of
personal journals, so another important step is to code the entries accordingly with
the authors. This is to secure confidentiality for the blog owners. This stage would
be followed by the analyzing process by using tokenization and pos-tagging tool to
categorize switches into major parts of speech, namely nouns, verbs, adjectives,
and others. Tabulated data will then be converted into charts for visual illustrations
and elaboration.
Results will be presented with supplementary charts and illustrations, followed by
in-depth analysis and discussion.

1.5. Design and structure
This thesis is organized into the following chapters:
Chapter 1 introduces the background, the aims and scope, the research method and
structure of the study.
Chapter 2 focuses on the literature review of different approaches to codeswitching and its closely related term code-mixing and borrowing in the context of

15


bilingual and multilingual community. In this chapter, the researcher also provides
a broad picture of what has been researched regarding the topic of code-switching
and blogging in the academic setting.
Chapter 3 presents the methodology issues including the subjects of the study and
the subject selection criteria, data collection procedures, and the data analysis
process.
Chapter 4 describes and discusses major findings involving the presentation of
Vietnamese-English code-switching in journal blogs for the purpose of promoting
and reviewing beauty products and beauty tips. Underlying social functions for the

employment of such language alternation method would also be presented and
explained accordingly.
Chapter 5 delivers the conclusion for the thesis including summary of major
findings, the study’s significance, followed by implications and suggestions for
further research studies in the same area.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter discusses in detail a review of the literature on the topic of codeswitching. The first section of the chapter is assigned to clarify several key
definitions regarding language varieties, bilingualism, and the central term of codeswitching in companion with its frequently-confused counterpart, borrowing. The
second part, which is also the emphasis of the chapter, is dedicated to describing
and explaining major theoretical frameworks about code-switching from both
structural and sociolinguistic approaches, followed by the researcher’s comment
and summary on which framework is applied for the study. Last section of the
chapter provides a more dimensional view on the picture of researching about CS
from various contexts and purposes. A concluding segment is then drawn upon
previous frameworks and studies to close the chapter.

2.1. Definitions of Key Terms
As with any aspect of language contact phenomena, research on code-switching is
flooded by the thorny issue of terminological confusion. Apparently, not all
researchers use the same terms in the very same way as their approach varies, nor
do they agree on the scope covered by terms such as code-switching, code-mixing,
borrowing, or lexical borrowing. In particular, there has been the perceived
distinction between the terms code-switching and borrowing on the one hand and
code-switching and code-mixing on the other. Several criteria have been proposed
to distinguish between these two pairs of concepts which will be illustrated in the
later part of this chapter. Thus, before looking at them more closely in the next

section, a consideration of the definitions of some basic terms in language contact
would be of immediate necessity.
2.1.1. Code as Language Variety
The term varieties, as Wei Li (2013) puts it is a catch-all term which covers
different languages, dialects, accents, registers and styles speech (Wei, p.156). The

17


author of the book Applied Linguistics also stated that language varieties can be
grouped into written or spoken categories, standard or non-standard ones, or can be
varieties used for communication between people who do not share a mother
tongue or varieties that develop between people who have no common language at
all. For this research, the term of language varieties is exactly what has stated
above.
It is certain that the study of language alternation, or in this case is code-switching,
has been resourceful over the past several decades. In one single search-click on
academic works related to the subject, there appear over 86,000 search results in
the database of <scholar.google.com>. As (Nilep, 2006, p.2) has put it in his
overview “the term code-switching has been based on a strict identification
between the notions of code and linguistics variety, be that a language, dialect,
style, or prosodic register.” This view was also agreed upon by other authors when
the term code is described as a relatively neutral conceptualization of a linguistic
variety.
In short, the term code used in this research generally refers to a specific language
variety, which in this case are Vietnamese and English language.
2.1.2. Code-switching
Many attempts have been made in settling a most agreed-upon definition for the
term of code-switching. To name a few are Sridhar & Sridhar (1980), Poplack
(1980), Gumperz (1982), Myers-Scotton (1993), Milroy and Muysken (2000),

Gardner-Chloros (2010), and Bell, A. (2014). The most general definition of codeswitching is “the alternate use of two languages or linguistic varieties within the
same utterance or during the same conversation” (Hoffmann, 1991, p. 110). In
sociolinguistic branch, each dialect can be seen as a language code. In this
perspective, code-switching is identified by Gardner-Chloros (2010) as “the use of
several language dialects in the same conversation or sentence by bilingual people”
(p. 4). Similarly, code-switching is used to refer to the phenomenon in which
“speakers switch backwards and forwards between distinct codes in their

18


repertoire” (Bell, 2014, p. 111). This author also considered code-switching to be a
complex and skillful type of language choice, which involves the accomplished
handling of two or more languages simultaneously – structurally, psychologically
and socially. By means of juxtaposition, i.e., elements of different languages put
next to each other, Gumperz (1982) defines conversational code-switching as “the
juxtaposition within the same speech exchange of passages of speech belonging to
two different systems or subsystems” (Gumperz, 1982, p. 59). Muysken (2000)
prefers using other terms, “insertion” and “alternation” to refer to the process of
mixing elements from different languages (p. 1), whereas refers to code-switching
as “the rapid succession of several languages in a single speech event”. MyersScotton (1993) believes that insertion is one form of borrowing, in which the
difference, if any, between mixing and borrowing is the size and type of the
element inserted. Meanwhile, Poplack (1980) views alternation as the switching of
codes between turns or utterances.
This research adopted Poplack’s 2001 revisited definition of CS in her review on
the linguistic study of code-switching included in the International Encyclopedia of
the Social and Behavioral Sciences as follow:
“the alternation, by bilinguals (or multilinguals), of two or more languages
in discourse, often with no change of interlocutor or topic. And that such
alternation may take place at any level of linguistic structure, but its

occurrence within the confines of a single sentence, constituent or even
word.”
(Poplack, 2001, p.2062)
2.1.3. Code-switching and Code-mixing
Code-switching (CS) and code-mixing (CM) are most important features and wellstudied speech processes in multilingual communities. A frequently made
distinction between code-switching and code-mixing has been conducted over and
over through decades, though the line has been drawn in different ways. Definitions

19


may vary, but both adopt the term “code” which was accepted by linguists from the
field of communication technology, referring to “a mechanism for the unambiguous
transduction of signals between systems”, similar to what switching of language
signifies a system used by bilingual speaker-hearer in everyday communication.
Therefore, term “code” is frequently used nowadays by the linguists as an
“umbrella term for languages, dialects, styles etc”. (Gardner-Chloros, 2010, p.11).
In addressing these two terms, two popular schools of distinction have been
developed. The first one viewed CS and CM from the involvement of linguistic
features. Specifically, some reserved code-switching for cases where the two codes
maintain their monolingual characteristics and used code-mixing for those where
there is some convergence between the two (Gardner-Chloros & Gardner-Chloros,
2010, pp. 12–13). In other words, code-switch exists when there are no changes in
the linguistic units of any language varieties in the speech event. Code-mix,
however, requires the cases where lexical items and grammatical features from two
languages appear in one sentence. The second view was proposed by Sridhar and
Sridhar (1980) and Bokamba (1989) when they used code-mixing for alternation
within the sentence and code-switching for alternations going beyond the sentence
borders.
Indicator for distinction

Example
In terms of linguistic features preservation
Codemaintains monolingual Tớ thấy vô cùng confused với hướng
switching
Code-

characteristics
dẫn sử dụng mới của sản phẩm.
contains convergence of Hướng dẫn sử dụng sản phẩm mới

mixing
Inter-

linguistic units
thật quá hoang mang-ing.
In terms of sentential boundary features
exits across the border of So far so good. Routine của tớ cho

sentential
Intra-

sentences
đến nay vẫn khá ổn.
exits within the border of Các bloggers chủ yếu tham gia

sentential

sentences

campaigns do các brands tổ chức.

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Table 1 Distinction between code-switching and code-mixing
Since more recent work has not focused on differences between these two terms,
this research will refer to the all the switching between languages (i.e., whether it
be within topics, paragraphs, sentences, etc.) as code-switching. In other words, the
term code-switching (with a hyphen in between) will be used as an umbrella term in
the remainder of this paper to cover the phenomena of alternating between two
languages or dialects of the same language within the same conversation.
2.1.4. Code-switching and Borrowing
On the one end of the spectrum is Poplack (1980) with her argument that lone
other-language items are fundamentally different from longer stretches of switches.
They proposed morphosyntactic and phonological integration of foreign words into
the recipient language as criteria for establishing the status of such single words.
On the other end, other researchers (Bentahila & Davies, 1983; Myers-Scotton,
1995), on the other hand, have chosen to deal with the problem by claiming that the
perceived distinction between the two processes is not really critical to analyses of
bilingual speech ((Boztepe, 2002). Moreover, unlike the former, they acknowledged
single-word (i.e., insertions) and multiple-word (i.e., alternations) occurrences as
two forms of CS, rather than as distinct processes to be distinguished from each
other.
Table 2: Poplack’s (1980) Identification of Code-switching Based on the Type of
Integration into the Base Language
Type
1
2
3
4

Levels of Integration into Base Language
Phonological

Morphological

Syntactic

√
x
√
x

√
x
x
x

√
√
x
x

Codeswitching
?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes

According to Poplack and her supporters, borrowing and CS are in fact based on
different mechanisms. Using participant observation performance data of CS from
the bilingual Puerto Rican community in New York City (Poplack et al., 1988), she

21


proposed three types of criteria to determine the status of non-native material in
bilingual utterances. These include whether or not single lexical items from a donor
language in code-switched utterances were (1) phonologically, (2) morphologically,
and (3) syntactically integrated into what she called the base language. She
identified four possible combinations of integration as shown in Table 1, which is
often referred to as the table for identification of code-switching. In this table, the
term code-switching is as the language alternation between two language varieties,
or two codes.
At the other end of the continuum are those who claim that assimilation may not
always be the defining criterion to distinguish borrowing from CS. Myers-Scotton
(1992, 1995) rejects morphosyntactic integration as a basis for distinguishing
between CS and borrowing because she sees them as universally related processes
such that both concepts are part of a single continuum. She therefore argues that a
categorical distinction between CS and borrowing need not be made, yet she
proposes frequency as the single best criterion to link borrowed forms more closely
with the recipient language mental lexicon. She also disagrees that one of the major
characteristics of borrowed items is to fill lexical gaps in the recipient language.
Instead, she argues that not all established borrowings actually occur due to the
perceived absence of an equivalent term in the recipient language culture.

Figure 1: The Continuum for Levels of Borrowing in Code-switching Utterances
(Poplack et al., 1987)
The important point in Myers-Scotton’s argument is that, unlike Poplack, she does

not see CS and borrowing as two distinct processes, nor does she see such a
distinction to be critical. Indeed, there seems to be very little reason to distinguish

22


borrowing from code-switching for purposes of formulating grammatical
constraints on the surface syntactic level. After all, there are more similarities than
differences between the two concepts. This does not of course mean that
morphological and syntactic integration are not reliable criteria to distinguish the
two processes. However, it may be impossible to systematically categorize
instances of foreign elements as either CS or borrowing.
All in all, this study is bound to follow the trend stating that efforts to distinguish
codeswitching, codemixing and borrowing are unnecessary, and that it is crucial
that we free ourselves of the need to categorize any instance of seemingly nonnative material in language as a borrowing or a switch if we want to understand the
social and cultural processes involved in CS.

2.2. Literature on Code-Switching
Over the past decades, the study of code-switching, henceforth CS, or the alternate
use of two or more languages in conversation has developed in two distinct but
related directions: Structural and Sociolinguistic. While the structural approach to
CS is primarily concerned with its grammatical aspects (Poplack, 1980; Sankoff,
Poplack, & Linguistic Research, 1981; Bentahila & Myers-Scotton, 1995;
MacSwan, 2005), the sociolinguistic approach constructs their theories on attempts
to explain why bilingual speakers produce their utterances the way they do (Blom
& Gumperz, 1972; Nishimura, 1995; Salzmann & Auer, 2000). It should be noted
at the outset, however, that these approaches are not in contradiction, but
complementary to each other (Nilep, 2006, p.2). The structural approach tries to
identify the structural features of morphosyntactic patterns underlying the grammar
of CS, whereas the sociolinguistic approach looks beyond formal interests, to the

social and cultural functions and meanings of language use.
Others, most prominently (Milroy and Muysken, 1995; Muyksen, 2000) seeks to
explain the phenomenon from a more pragmatic point of view. In the scope of this
study, some of the major theories will be chronologically discussed with their
framework on how CS is built and developed.

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2.2.1. Literature on Structural Approach
Myers-Scotton: Code-switching and the Matrix Language Model
2.2.2.1. Key terms
Matrix language
The second thing needing clarifying in Myers-Scotton theory is matrix language
and embedded language definition. In identifying the matrix language (ML),
Myers-Scotton proposed that ML is the language that projects the morphosyntactic
frame for the utterance in question (1993, p.486). However, this is more operational
in terms of the ML Hypothesis and the Blocking Hypothesis, which will be
discussed later in this section. In this sense, ML might be recognized as the first
language of the speaker or the language in which the morphemes or words are more
frequently produced in speech. Matrix language is also considered to be the
language that determines the syntax of a code-switching instance and its presence is
obligatory in the instance. In another summarizing report, the ML was originally
determined by a quantitative criterion. It was said to contribute the greater number
of morphemes in a discourse sample consisting of more than one sentence
(Gardner-Chloros & Gardner-Chloros, 2010, p. 101). After certain criticism and
revision, the ML is identified under the morpheme-type criterion in which the ML
was said to provide the function words, except within EL “islands”.
Embedded language (EL)
The embedded language in the alternation of code-switching, on the other hand, can

be either one language variety or more. This is identified as the code of a lesser
degree of contribution in the CS instance. According to Myers-Scotton, EL helps to
fulfill the code-switching instance in the formula of the MLF framework.
2.2.1.2. The MLF model
Prior to Myers-Scotton, many researchers had tried to determine whether there
were structural constraints on the point in a sentence to which a switch might occur.

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The scholar herself and colleagues also developed a grammatical theory to state the
structural constraints for CS, which is called the Matrix Language Frame (MLF)
model. The following section is dedicated to explaining the major concepts
constructed in this theory.
The three constituents’ classification
To start with, in assigning the participating languages as the MLF status, MyersScotton categorized intra-sentential code switching into the three different kinds of
constituents:
(a) the Matrix Language island, which consists of only the ML; they show
internal structural dependency while meeting ML well-formedness
conditions.
(b) the Embedded Language island, which consists of only the EL; and must
meet EL well-formedness conditions.
(c) the mixed ML+ EL constituent, which consists of items from ML and EL,
categorizing into two patterns: (1) a singly occurring lexeme from the EL
embedded in any number of ML lexemes, or (2) an EL island (typically a
noun + modifier) within a larger ML frame.
(Myers-Scotton, 1993, p. 486)
It should be noted that the first two are called “islands” because the codes are
strictly from one language while the third constituent is called “constituent” rather
than “island” because the morphemes from two languages are mixed in one

segment.
Myers-Scotton’s (1995) technical definition of CS captures the very aspect of
asymmetry: “CS is the selection by bilinguals or multilinguals of forms from an
embedded language (or languages) in utterances of a matrix language during the
same conversation” (p.4). The central assumption behind Myers-Scotton’s model is
that code-switched utterances have an identifiable matrix language, and that there is
always an asymmetrical relationship between the ML and EL.

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