WP2 — Annotated Bibliography
In this project, I conducted four interviews among USC students to research more about code-switching among undergraduate students. To ensure my research was objective and precise, I asked each participant the same questions written to understand why undergraduate students engage in code-switching.
I began by asking each interviewee to define “spaces” and name three primary spaces where they spend most of their time. Then, I ask them to describe their experiences within these spaces. Finally, I asked them to define code-switching and reflect if they code-switch between these spaces.
In my interview citation, the interviewees shared sensitive information with me, and to respect their privacy, I only used their first names.
Rayah. Interview. Conducted by Clarice Akunwafo. 25 September 2023.
Rayah is a junior from South Central Los Angeles, California. She identifies as a Black African-American gay woman. When asked about her likes and dislikes of growing up in South Central, she appreciates her close-knit family and how South Central prepared her for adversity and challenges later in life. However, she expresses an extended list of negative feelings towards her neighborhood due to its being rough and dangerous, where many people conform to the stereotypes placed on the neighborhood, such as being seen as ‘ghetto,’ going to jail, or being gang-affiliated. Rayah primarily spends her time in three main spaces: academic, athletic groups, and with her family.
One key takeaway from this interview is an insight into, why students code-switch in different spaces, specifically in voluntary vs. involuntary spaces. Rayah’s experiences show that, in involuntary spaces, like academics, the need to code-switch arises from wanting to fit in and challenge stereotypes. In the academic space, Rayah adjusts her tone of voice to be monotone. She uses more advanced vocabulary, rather than slang to avoid the label of the ‘stereotypical Black student woman.’ She does this to go against the stereotypes and preconceptions placed on her due to her background and to feel more understood and be taken seriously by others. In an involuntary space, where she cannot just leave, she code-switches to establish relationships, create cross-cultural understanding, and prevent discrimination from her peers and faculty.
Conversely, in voluntary spaces like with her family, she does not feel she needs to alter herself due to her family accepting her as she is. Due to willing participation in voluntary spaces, students who feel pressured to change who they are, often choose to leave the space and find a new one where they can be themselves.
Tierra. Interview. Conducted by Clarice Akunwafo. 25 September 2023.
Tierra is a senior at USC. She identifies as a black, bisexual, queer woman. She initially grew up in a multicultural city in New Jersey but later moved to a predominately white, suburban city for better resources and opportunities academically. While she acknowledges the better education resources, she feels the move came with the sacrifice of leaving a diverse community for a racist and non-open-minded one. She expressed this move as doing more harm than good when speaking about establishing her identity as a black, queer woman. Tierra experienced traumatic racism, which led to a constant worry about her race and how people perceived her when she showed up in spaces. Reflecting on her current nonexistent relationship with any of her friends from her hometown, she expresses how she was in constant survival mode in high school and left that behind when she entered college. Tierra spends her time at USC in these three spaces: academics and two student organizations, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Lava Lab.
One key takeaway from this interview is the impact of code-switching on a student’s college experience and success. Tierra shares her psychological burden experiences of feeling anxious, stressed, and fearful when showing up in different spaces. She strives to counter the stereotypes and misconceptions about women of color in predominantly white spaces like academics and the LAVA Lab club, but in doing so is left feeling emotionally drained. She often represses her black cultural identity, not because they will not accept her, but due to the fear of being perceived as a caricature. When asked how she knew this would occur, she said she witnessed other black students who expressed their black identity being exposed and ridiculed.
Also, there is an impact on her academic performance as well. She is one of the few black women in her Viterbi classes, and she senses different treatment from her professors and teacher assistants compared to her peers. She goes through this daily psychological warfare of questioning whether she is overthinking or truly being treated differently due to her race. When asked to give examples of times when she felt this way, she visually got frustrated because she felt her examples were not concrete or explicit instances of blatant racism but interpretations. An example she offers is when she asked a question of her TA during office hours and was told to figure it out herself. However, a moment later, a white student asked the same question and received step-by-step assistance from the teaching assistant. The other students around noticed the discrepancies but remained silent, making the situation more emotionally frustrating and mentally draining. Tierra expresses how she tries not to let her academic performance be negatively affected by these challenges, but acknowledges that it does. Sometimes, she intentionally avoids engaging with teacher assistants and professors to prevent feelings of academic inferiority to her white counterparts.
Kelly. Interview. Conducted by Clarice Akunwafo. 2 October 2023.
Kelly is a rising senior. She identifies as a biracial, black, and white gay woman. She was adopted into a white family with one older brother and a younger sister. She grew up in Wallingford, Connecticut, and lived on a boarding school campus called Choate Rosemary Hall, where her father was the athletic director. She described the campus community to be diverse and lively, in contrast with spaces outside of campus, she often found herself as one of the few black individuals at restaurants and parties, which led to feelings of not fitting in. However, she always felt tremendously loved by her parents and belonged within her family. Kelly is active in these three spaces: academic, sports, and family life.
One key insight from this interview is that students who naturally express the accepted white cultural norms are less likely to feel pressure to engage in code-switching due to their behaviors aligning with society’s expectations. This observation depends on factors such as an individual upbringing, experiences, and cultural dynamics. Kelly exemplifies this concept from her unawareness of the term “code-switching” and not relating to the definition. Kelly said she has never felt the need to code-switch in different spaces, and I believe this is due to her upbringing in a predominantly white family since she was a baby. Kelly described her family teaching her to take pride in speaking grammatically correct English and never being exposed to African-American vernacular, which means she does not feel the pressure to linguistically code-switch.
Kelly was not necessarily taught black cultural traits and never felt the need to learn them. However, due to not learning black cultural traits, she feels more at ease in predominantly white spaces compared to predominantly black ones. In the black setting, she notices she becomes more reserved but ensures she does not alter her language or behavior to conform. Her ability to remain comfortable in most settings without code-switching shows her approach to space, which is influenced by white cultural norms, is the universal approach to social interaction that is acceptable.
Kelly recounted a time a black girl questioned her behaviors by asking her why she was not acting black. Kelly asserted her individuality and self-confidence by telling the girl that she does not act a color, but she acts like herself. Kelly continued and said if she had a problem with the way she acted, she could leave. Encounters like the example above are common for people of color who do not act like the stereotypically black traits. Unlike Kelly, many people of color are led to code-switch to fit in the perceived cultural expectation of the particular space. One may act white in the predominantly white space, in contrast, act black in a black space. However, people of color who code-switch between these two extreme stereotypical behaviors to blend in, at times lose their authentic selves in the process.
Erika. Interview. Conducted by Clarice Akunwafo. 25 September 2023
Erika is a junior. She identifies as a Lebanese, Arab, pansexual woman. She grew up in a suburb in Cleveland, Ohio. At USC, she spends most of her time with her Indian boyfriend and his Indian friends, a student organization called Women in Youth Supporting Each-Other (WIYSE), and a rehab friend group. Her roles in each group are drastically different. In the Indian friend group, she is seen as the girlfriend. While in WIYSE she is simply a member and often feels to be faded in the background. Finally, in her friend group, she is one of the girls that they love to have fun with.
Erika’s interview highlights her awareness of the diverse customs, values, and norms in these different spaces, leading her to code-switch to establish relationships, understanding, and respect from others. Code-switching is seen to expand beyond verbal communication in Erika’s experience. It is seen in clothing choices and suppression of normal behavioral habits in each particular space.
For instance, when Erika is with her Indian boyfriend and his friends, she adapts to the conservative Hindu values by dressing modestly, speaking softly, and refraining from certain behaviors, such as drug and alcohol use. Also, Erika holds her tongue on topics like feminism, which she feels passionate about since her views are not the majority views, and fears she will receive backlash. She does this to be accepted into the space and positively represent her boyfriend in front of his friends.
In contrast, in her friend group, she describes the normative behavior as like the “Catch me outside” girl behavior, loud and erratic. They do not care about labels or societal expectations. She is more liberated and finds herself matching their fun-loving behavior. She describes this to be more of her authentic behavior.
When asked whether she has ever intersected the two spaces of her boyfriend’s Indian friends and her friend group, she expresses reluctance due to the significant cultural differences. Also, she feels it will put her in an uncomfortable position of not knowing how to act, which is a downside of code-switching in different spaces one is involved in.
