A Sociolinguistic Investigation of Code-Switching on Facebook Messenger among Students of English at the University of Tlemcen

Abstract

This work attempts to examine Arabic, French and English code-switching in Facebook Messenger among undergraduate students of English at Tlemcen University. The research sheds light on different linguistic phenomena related to code-switching, namely bilingualism, code mixing and borrowing as well as computer-mediated communication with a particular focus on Facebook Messenger. The main purpose is to find reasons that make students mix languages and the patterns of code-switching that occur most inthe participants' chats. An online questionnaire and screenshots of students' private messages were used as research tools. The findings revealed several reasons that encourage students to mix Arabic, French and English in their Facebook chats while types of code-switching differ according to the situation and social relationships.