Investigating AA/Fr Code Switching among Algerians: Case of Biskra and Algiers

Abstract

The purpose of this conducted research is to highlight the code switching phenomenon in the Algerian community. The study aims to: firstly, explore to which extent people from two different and distinct areas use code switching in their daily interaction: secondly, investigate the different factors for its occurrence and the main reasons that lead them to use it: and thirdly, survey people’s attitudes toward this linguistic behaviour and analyse whether they affect the code switching process or not. The language contact in the Algerian society paved the way for the appearance of many different outcomes and various types of code switching such Algerian Arabic- French, French-Berber and Berber-Algerian Arabic … etc. However, in this study we are interested in the alternation between French and Algerian Arabic, the most frequent code switching in Algeria. Therefore, two distinct areas were chosen to examine this situation: Algiers in the north part of Algeria and Biskra in the eastern south part. The results of the study showed that the extension of using code switching differs from the first area to the second. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, data analysis has revealed many factors being responsible for such difference; among which we mention the geographical location for both areas. Furthermore, the study has shown that different social and personal factors lead people to code switch like habitude and prestige, in addition to some other circumstances that can influence the respondent’s language choice for instance, addressee and topic. The analysis has also unveiled that the intensity of code switching in these two areas is highly determined by the respondent’s attitudes (negative or positive) toward this process.