A Study Of The Chinese-English Code-switching In Radio Programs Based On Adaptation Theory

Code-switching is a very complicated phenomenon in language contact, which has become more and more common nowadays. Since1970s, this phenomenon has drawn broad attention among western linguists. Compared with foreign countries, China has a late start in the research on code-switching. So far the domestic scholars have conducted their researches on code-switching occurring in many fields, such as classroom teaching, literary works, TV series, pop shows, films, advertisements, news report, chatting room online, BBS (Bulletin Board System) and daily conversations. A lot of achievements have been made. However, the research on code-switching in bilingual radio programs is rare.The author of this thesis picks out the scripts of the program Business Etiquette broadca ed from June,2008to March,2011, which is one of the bilingual radio programs of VOA (Voice of America). There are150volumes in all and each volume lasts for about3minutes. All the instances of Chinese-English Code-switching in the scripts are collected, serving as the language materials of the present study. Based on Jef Verschueren’s Linguistic Adaptation Theory and Yu Guodong’s Adaptation Model of Code-switching, this study aims to explore the linguistic features and the main functions of the Chinese-English code-switching arising in Business Etiquette through conducting the manual calculation and utilizing the statistical software SPSS13.0.The research results show that the Chinese-English code-switching in the program Business Etiquette can be put into three structural types, i.e. intra-sentential code-switching, inter-sentential code-switching and repetitive code-switching. The total number of intra-sentential code-switching is the highest. Besides, the code-switching appears in seven types of linguistic units, namely, letters, letter clusters, words, phrases, URLs (Uniform Resource Locator), sentences and discourses. Among these linguistic units, words account for the largest proportion; the sentences, phrases and letters come next; discourses, letters clusters and URLs take place with a relatively small number. The functions of the Chinese-English code-switching in this program can be divided into three facets, i.e. adaptation to linguistic reality, social conventions and psychological motivations. The first two adaptations belong to passive adaptation and the last one active adaptation. To be exact, code-switching can be used to observe linguistic convention, fill conceptual gap, avoid embarrassment, avoid social taboos, soften tone, seek precision, seek convenience, establish identity, seek exotic atmosphere, provide explanation, offer translation, emphasize and set off quotation. The statistics also show that the total number of passive adaptation overpasses that of active adaptation.This study will not only add more life-like language materials to the research on code-switching, but also provide reference for business persons to achieve a more successful and happier communication.