An Analysis On Chinese-English Code-switching In Online Discourse From The Perspective Of Linguistic Adaptation Theory

In modern times, it is a very common phenomenon for Chinesepeople to make code-switching between Chinese and English in dailylife. Along with the development of computer and internet technology,the Chinese netizens often switch codes between Chinese and Englishin the communication on the internet. In the thesis, the phenomenon ofcode switching between Chinese and English in online discourse isanalyzed from a relatively new perspective of pragmatic adaptationtheory. Verschueren’s Linguistic Adaptation Theory and Yu Guodong’sAdaptation Model are used as the theoretical basis to explore thephenomenon of code-switching in online discourse.Based on Yu’s Adaptation Model, the writer studies the threemotivations of switching codes between Chinese and English in onlinediscourse, including the adaptation to the linguistic reality; theadaptation to the social conventions; the adaptation to thepsychological motivations. Moreover, the author finds out the linguisticfeatures of Chinese-English code-switching in online discourse throughcollating and summarizing the data collected, such as the insertion ofsome English words at the beginning or end of the dialogue, alternationof words or phrases between Chinese and English and so on. Finally,thorough analyzing all the data of the Chinese-English code-switchingin online discourse, the writer finds that it is valid and feasible to adoptYu Guodong’s Adaptation Model as the theoretical foundation.In addition, this study can make people know a lot of networkcatchwords of Chinese-English code-switching and help themunderstand more about the phenomenon of code-switching in networklanguage. Meanwhile, the study also shows that code-switchingbetween Chinese and English, as a communicative strategy, can helppeople realize their communicative purposes better.