Adaptability Of Code-Switching In Movie Scripts

The author attempts to analyze the adaptability of Chinese-English code-switching in the movie scripts of the Singaporean movie series I NOT STUPID based on Yu Guodong's Adaptation Model of Code-switching (2001)under the theoretical framework of Jef Verschueren's Linguistic Adaptation Theory (1999). The thesis aims to explain the adaptability of Chinese-English code-switching in the movie scripts in terms of the passive adaptation to linguistic reality and social conventions as well as the active adaptation to psychological motivations and cinematic style, and reveal the pragmatic functions of code-switching in the process of adaptation.Yu Guodong's Adaptation Model of Code-switching is developed from Jef Verschuren's Linguistic Adaptation Theory, which holds that language users are making language choices in the process of language use, and code-switching is the result of making choices. Yu Guodong's Adaptation Model of Code-switching argues that code-switching is the specific performance of realizing communicators'linguistic adaptation, and categorizes the code-switching as linguistic adaptation in terms of linguistic reality, social conventions and psychological motivations. In the course of adaptation, code-switching thus fulfills various pragmatic functions as a communicative strategy.Under the theoretical framework, the present thesis adopts qualitative and quantitative approaches to analyze the adaptability of Chinese-English code-switching in the Singaporean movie scripts from the perspectives of passive adaptation and active adaptation, and further explores the pragmatic functions of the Chinese-English code-switching that might not be fulfilled by other discourse strategies.The study indicates that the passive adaptation of code-switching is performed because the Chinese-English linguistic reality in the Singaporean environment and its social conventions require it. On the other hand, the active adaptation of code-switching is achieved by catering to communicators'psychological needs and adapting to the cinematic style of the Singaporean bilingual movies. Furthermore, the study presents that code-switching as a communicative strategy fulfills such pragmatic functions as improving precise, filling vocabulary vacancy, keeping convenient, avoiding taboos, drawing close social distance, threatening face, making explanation and emphasis, expressing complaints and showing politeness.The thesis adds to diversified examples for the studies of code-switching in modern movie scripts, and verifies the validity and feasibility of Yu Guodong's Adaptation Model applied to the code-switching studies of movie scripts. Meanwhile, this study facilitates people's understanding of the ever increasing code-switching strategy in contemporary cross-cultural communication so as to eradicate vocabulary vacancy in communication. In addition, the thesis supplements code-switching study in the bilingual or multilingual environment from the linguistic, social and psychological perspectives.