On Chinese-English Code-switching From Newspapers Of Mainland China, Hong Kong And Taiwan

Code-switching (CS) refers to a linguistic phenomenon in which the language user alternates between two or more languages or language varieties in the context of a single conversation. This thesis is a research on the code-switching phenomenon based on the data collected from popular newspapers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are roughly eight types of Chinese-English CS (C-E CS) according to certain principles of classification. The common features and regional differences of C-E CS in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are vividly described. We also explore the grammatical restrictions of C-E CS and the social and psychological causes of this linguistic phenomenon, and further analyze the development trend of C-E CS. The final part is a questionnaire-based survey on the cognitive attitude of university students towards C-E CS.This thesis consists of six chapters.The introductory chapter describes our research subject, objective as well as the sources of data and the criteria for selecting them.In the second chapter, we present earlier researches on CS at home and abroad, especially C-E CS researches in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and show their defects that need to be repaired and relevant areas needing further exploration.Chapter Three is a description of the types of C-E CS in newspapers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. We give our definition of C-E CS and exemplify each of the eight categories, and conduct a quantitative research on the distribution of each type of C-E CS.Chapter Four deals with the grammatical restrictions on code-switching and the causes inducing this phenomenon. We explore the restrictions on Intra-sentential CS and Intra-word CS, and outline the mental motivation based on Professor Myers-Scotton’s Markedness Model and Rational Choice Models further developed. And one development trend of C-E CS is also discussed based on the data.Chapter Five is a survey on the cognitive understanding of C-E CS of university students. We show their attitudes towards C-E CS and the standardization of Modern Chinese by diagrams designed on the basis of the data gathered through questionnairing.Finally, we conclude the research findings of this thesis.