Code-Switching Bias

Code-switching bias is an issue affecting many adolescents in the twenty-first century. It not only creates others’ opinions of them, but it also shapes them as a person.

Growing up in a partially international environment I have become accustomed to code-switching between the two languages I speak fluently (Bulgarian and English) whenever conversing with anyone. However code-switching is often regarded as wrong and uneducated amongst elders. What they don’t understand is that it’s inevitable and everyone does it nowadays. It’s a form of lingual globalisation. In fact, I find it similar to food chains globalisation. The way McDonald’s has spread worldwide, so have many words which are now international. Words like ‘upgrade’ and ‘pizza’ have slithered into our daily speech regardless of our location, and made themselves universal. The problem becomes when people (chiefly nationalists and those aged 50 and above) claim that it’s disrespectful to our nation. Furthermore, it’s hypocritical, as often times they do it themselves without realising. Using foreign words, or like we say in Bulgarian чуждици is completely fine with them and is claimed to be a natural part of evolution. What they can’t accept is translating phrases. For speakers such as myself, who speak 50% in one language and 50% in another on a daily basis it’s easy making mistakes if your mindset is stuck in English, but you are speaking Bulgarian. For example, in english we say “I’ll take the stairs”. However to express yourself correctly in Bulgarian you need to say ще се кача по стълбите (I’ll go up the stairs). If you say ще взема стълбите (I’ll take the stairs) it means you will physically grab hold of the stairs and take them with you. Such translations are outrageous to a lot of people and are immediate signs of vacancy.

Languages can also create stereotypes. If you google the definition of stereotype, the result you will get is:

“a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing”.

The first example that comes to mind is the word for stepmother in different languages. In french you say belle-mère which translates to beautiful mother and it gives a positive connotation. In english its step-mother. While it doesn’t describe her, it’s neutral and recognises the woman as a parent. However in Bulgarian, we say мащеха. It’s one word, and there is no ‘mom’ or ‘mother’ anywhere in it. In fact it carries a negative implication with it. You can see how growing up with one language, be it French or Bulgarian can form two completely different perceptions of a stepmother.

At the end of the day, code-switching enhances speaking for me and many others. There are words which can’t be translated from one language to another and being able to express myself using twice as many words eases my speech. While I do agree, that in formal scenarios, code-switching is unprofessional and unacceptable, in everyday speech it is natural and helps people communicate faster. In addition it promotes learning languages to the young. I have three sisters. Growing up, two of us went to an American School and the other one went to a French school. Eventually she moved to our school as well, and by the time she got there she was fluent in English, not because she took lessons, but because at home she was surrounded by constant code-switching from both my sister and I and my parents.