Mixing mother tongue and English: Exploring the reasons and functions of code mixing

India is a multilingual country where code mixing is a strategy used by speakers of different indigenous languages. Mixing of the mother tongue and English is a common speech behaviour that occurs in the discourse of educated bilinguals. There are various factors that influence the use of English in...

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Main Author: Kanthimathi, K.
Format: Book Section
Language:English
Published: Faculty of Communication and Modern Languages, Universiti Utara Malaysia 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/3258/1/K2.pdf
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author Kanthimathi, K.
author_facet Kanthimathi, K.
author_sort Kanthimathi, K.
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description India is a multilingual country where code mixing is a strategy used by speakers of different indigenous languages. Mixing of the mother tongue and English is a common speech behaviour that occurs in the discourse of educated bilinguals. There are various factors that influence the use of English in a mother tongue discourse. This paper explores the various reasons for code mixing, and the domains where a mixed code is preferred by Tamil speakers. The research design combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. The data for this study was collected by means of a questionnaire. The participants were students from different colleges in Tamil Nadu. The students were required to self-report their awareness of the frequency and purposes of using code mixing in different situations in their daily lives. This study was conducted on college students among whom code mixing is a practice. The results showed that the degree of code mixing depends on various factors such as amount of exposure to English, the medium of instruction in school and the frequency of language used in different domains, contexts and topics of discussion. This paper throws light on the fact that mixing the mother tongue and English facilitates communication and is performed for certain practical reasons.
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spelling uum-32582011-05-30T01:44:29Z https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/3258/ Mixing mother tongue and English: Exploring the reasons and functions of code mixing Kanthimathi, K. PE English India is a multilingual country where code mixing is a strategy used by speakers of different indigenous languages. Mixing of the mother tongue and English is a common speech behaviour that occurs in the discourse of educated bilinguals. There are various factors that influence the use of English in a mother tongue discourse. This paper explores the various reasons for code mixing, and the domains where a mixed code is preferred by Tamil speakers. The research design combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. The data for this study was collected by means of a questionnaire. The participants were students from different colleges in Tamil Nadu. The students were required to self-report their awareness of the frequency and purposes of using code mixing in different situations in their daily lives. This study was conducted on college students among whom code mixing is a practice. The results showed that the degree of code mixing depends on various factors such as amount of exposure to English, the medium of instruction in school and the frequency of language used in different domains, contexts and topics of discussion. This paper throws light on the fact that mixing the mother tongue and English facilitates communication and is performed for certain practical reasons. Faculty of Communication and Modern Languages, Universiti Utara Malaysia 2007 Book Section PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/3258/1/K2.pdf Kanthimathi, K. (2007) Mixing mother tongue and English: Exploring the reasons and functions of code mixing. In: The Second Biennial International Conference on Teaching and Learning of English in Asia : Exploring New Frontiers (TELiA2), 14-16 June 2007, Holiday Villa Beach & Spa Resort, Langkawi. Faculty of Communication and Modern Languages, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, pp. 1-12. ISBN 978-983-42061-2-3 http://staf.uum.edu.my/tleia2/
spellingShingle PE English
Kanthimathi, K.
Mixing mother tongue and English: Exploring the reasons and functions of code mixing
title Mixing mother tongue and English: Exploring the reasons and functions of code mixing
title_full Mixing mother tongue and English: Exploring the reasons and functions of code mixing
title_fullStr Mixing mother tongue and English: Exploring the reasons and functions of code mixing
title_full_unstemmed Mixing mother tongue and English: Exploring the reasons and functions of code mixing
title_short Mixing mother tongue and English: Exploring the reasons and functions of code mixing
title_sort mixing mother tongue and english exploring the reasons and functions of code mixing
topic PE English
url https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/3258/1/K2.pdf
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