Perceptions of Spanish-English Code-Switching in Juarez, Mexico

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and interpret Mexicans' evaluations of Spanish-English code-switching by Mexican-Americans. Code-switching is here defined as alternating, continuous, and systematic stretches of Spanish and English in the same discourse. But researchers distinguish between intersentential and intrasentential switching: intersentential switching consists of switching languages at sentence boundaries, whereas "intrasentential switching involves the shift from language L1 to language L2 in the middle of a sentence, often with no interruptions, hesitations, pauses, or the other indiations of a major categorical shift....This type of language shifting, which is characterized by a smooth flow between English and Spanish, is common in most United States Hispanic communities..." (Lipski 1986, 2-3).