On The Chinese-English Codeswitching In The Taiwan TV Program Kang And Xi Come

As a social-cultural phenomenon,codeswitching(CS hereafter)is the result of language contacts between different languages.By reviewing the researching achievements of CS,we find that researchers have probed into this particular linguistic phenomenon from different perspectives and approaches such as sociolinguistic approach, grammatical approach,psycholinguistic approach,pragmatic approach,etc..Gumperz (1982)makes it clear that CS is a social phenomenon as early as in 1982;the central point of the grammatical approach is:seen from the linguistic structure,the CS between the two languages is "controlled by rules"(Azuma,1998);a few scholars such as Verschueren (1999)has investigated CS in pragmatic perspective.Linguists in China such as He Ziran has done much work in introducing western achievements in the field of CS,but few of them set Chinese-English(C-E hereafter)CS as the object,let alone the study of the first-hand data collected from the hot TV program which has great influence on people's daily life(Zhang Liping,2004).By collecting the data and doing quantitative analysis of the C-E CS in Taiwan TV talk show program Kang and Xi Come,the present study attempts to present a comprehensive investigation into the morphosyntactic features of C-E CS and the rationality of the speakers in C-E CS process with the first-hand data collected.This study is based on Myers-Scotton's Matrix Language Frame Model(MLF Model hereafter)and the core component of the revised Markedness Model—the rationality(Myeres-Scootton & Bolonyai,2001,Myers-Scotton,2002).The study reveals that:(1)Intra-sentential C-E CS occurs more often than inter-sentential C-E CS;(2)C-E intra-sentential CS follows certain grammatical rules rather than randomly happens and the Matrix Language(ML hereafter)Chinese plays a dominant role in C-E CS which determines the morphosyntactic features of the intra-sententially switched sentences;(3)People are rational actors in the sense that they perceive selecting one way of speaking over another as a means to optimize their outcomes and minimize costs.They codeswitch with specific purposes such as avoiding embarrassment or showing humor,etc..The study also proves that codeswitchers are not imperfect bilinguals but with rationality and the codeswitching behavior is not bound to deforming the switchers' native language as it is governed by structural rules.We should take codeswitching as a normal linguistic and social phenomenon,and no bias should be held towards the existence and use of it(Yu Guodong,2001).The research is not only of theoretical significance as the linguistic theory is successfully applied to the fist-hand data analysis but also can promote the communication between different cultures and help the people of inland China and Taiwan know more about each other.