LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 1 January 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

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Gender Difference in Code-Switching and Code-Mixing in
Text Messages of Undergraduate Students

Rida Rabbani, M.A. Student in English Language and Literature
Hammad Mushtaq, M.S. English

Abstract

This study analyzes the gender difference in code switching and code mixing between English and Urdu languages in text messages composed by undergraduate students.

The population included 974 students of Foundation University while the sample consisted of 42 students. The sample was randomly collected. The research used the code switching and code mixing theories as tool of analysis. The data was collected directly from the students of two university colleges, i.e. Foundation University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Foundation University Institute of Management and Engineering Sciences. Twenty-one female and twenty-one male undergraduate students were asked to forward three text messages and the data thus collected was analyzed using SPSS software.

The messages were analyzed by finding differences between the SMS’s sent by the female and male undergraduate students. The frequency of code switching and code mixing in the two genders was also examined. The mean of code switching and code mixing scores of the sample was almost normally distributed which proposed that boys and girls do not differ in code switching and code mixing scores.

The study established that there was no gender difference involved in code switching and code mixing in text messages of the undergraduate students.

Key words: code switching, code mixing, gender differences, text messaging/SMS

Introduction

Code-mixing can be understood as the switching of languages that occurs within sentences, usually at the level of words or idiomatic expressions. Code-mixing is a reality because these days an increasingly large number of people are bilingual, trilingual or multilingual. Chances of code switching and code mixing proliferate when people from different cultures and speaking different languages interact with each other. Code- mixing has become socially and communicatively essential and we just cannot spend a day without indulging in it. It helps us in developing and improving relationships, and also enables us to adapt to any environment we are in. Language is not just a mean of expressing or conveying meaning, it also offers a look into the culture of the speakers; therefore, it presents itself as an interesting topic to scholars.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Rida Rabbani
Student of MA English Language and Literature
Foundation University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
1-New Lalazar, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
rida.rabbani@hotmail.com

Hammad Mushtaq
Assistant Professor
Head, Department of English
Foundation University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
1-New Lalazar, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
hamaadhashmi@gmail.com
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