Sociolinguistics: Code mixing and Code switching

Abstract

Code-switching and code-mixing which are linguistic phenomena in bilingual societies are inevitable consequences of language contacts. These linguistic features which are also referred to as style shift are in some quarters considered as pointers to linguistic incompetence in bilinguals. This paper distinguishes between the two linguistic concepts and addresses the question: Whether or not they are index of linguistic non-proficiency in Nigerian bilinguals based on English and the three major endogenous languages (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba). Chomskyian Generative Grammar and the Systemic Functional Linguistics serve as the template for this study with data gathered from English and Nigerian endogenous languages’ bilinguals. Among other things, the study found out that code-switching requires a mastery of more than one code while code-mixing, to a greater degree, can conceal incompetence. However, this is not in all cases.