An Investigation into Code-Switching Patterns and Discourse Functions in Multilingual Urban Speech: A Sociolinguistic Analysis Using Audio-Recorded Corpora

Project Abstract

This study investigates code-switching patterns and discourse functions in multilingual urban speech through a sociolinguistic lens, utilizing a large-scale audio-recorded corpus collected from diverse social districts to illuminate how language choice reflects social meaning, identity construction, and communicative efficacy in real-time interaction. Building on dynamic theories of bilingual competence and functionalist perspectives on code-switching, the research analyzes situational triggers, social networks, topic progression, and stance-taking across interlocutors differing in age, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. A mixed-methods approach combines quantitative corpus-linguistic analysis with qualitative conversational analysis to map code-switching frequency, language pairing preferences, syntactic alignment, and semantic functions such as topic introduction, topic maintenance, emphasis, quotation, irony, mitigated politeness, and indexical signaling of group membership. The corpus comprises 120 hours of naturalistic street and café conversations, educational settings, and workplace interactions, transcribed with multi-layer annotation for language, speaker metadata, turn structure, and discourse markers. The study employs automated detection of language boundaries, followed by manual validation to differentiate intra-sentential and inter-sentential switches, and applies multilevel modelling to examine the influence of social variables while controlling for topic type and interlocutor relationship. The analysis reveals that code-switching serves multiple discourse functions beyond mere linguistic facilitation, including stance marking, alignment with in-group norms, and strategic accommodation in service encounters. Findings indicate that multilingual urban speakers leverage code-switching to negotiate prestige, embark on epistemic stance, and signal solidarities or distance, with notable variations across language pairs and situational contexts. The research identifies macro-patterns such as elevated switch rates in informal domains, increased noun-phrase switches for technical or domain-specific discourse, and selective switches during discourse segmentation and turn-taking transitions. Semantic function analysis demonstrates that switches frequently accompany quotations, exemplification, and hedging, while prosodic cues and pause structures modulate the perceived strength of stance and identity signals. The study also examines the role of language ideologies and perceived legitimacy of languages within urban ecologies, assessing how speaker attitudes influence switch placement and interpretation. Implications for education, policy, and technology are discussed, including implications for multilingual pedagogy, urban language planning, and the design of speech recognition and natural language processing systems that accurately handle fluid bilingual discourse. Ethical considerations address informed consent, anonymization of participants, and the potential impact of listening biases on interpretation. The research contributes to theory by integrating sociolinguistic coding practices with discourse analytic frameworks, offering a refined model of code-switching as a functional resource in dynamic social interaction, and provides practical guidance for researchers and practitioners dealing with multilingual communication in urban contexts.

Project Overview

What This Project Is About

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The project studies how people switch between languages in conversations in busy city settings and what each switching does in the talk. It uses real audio recordings to observe patterns and meanings behind when and why speakers switch languages.

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The Problem It Addresses

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Many urban communities are multilingual, but we don’t always know how language choice affects communication, identity, or social interaction. The study fills gaps by linking when code-switching happens to its social functions, such as signaling solidarity, marking topics, or standing out in a group.

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Objectives of the Project

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1. Describe patterns of language switching in everyday urban talk.
2. Identify social factors (e.g., speaker, setting, topic) that influence switching.
3. Explain the discourse functions associated with different switching practices.
4. Demonstrate how audio data reveals timing and purpose of switches.
5. Provide a simple model for teachers and students to recognize code-switching in conversation.

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What You Will Do Step by Step

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1. Review basics of multilingual communication and ethics for recording conversations.
2. Collect short audio snippets from diverse urban speakers with consent.
3. Transcribe conversations and label language choices, turns, and topics.
4. Code-switching analysis: map where switches occur within talks.
5. Interpret social meaning behind switches using straightforward examples.
6. Summarize findings and compare with existing studies.

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Expected Outcome

Students will gain practical insight into how language choices shape social interaction and how to present findings clearly. The project should yield a simple, ready-to-use guide for recognizing code-switching patterns in everyday speech and a preliminary dataset idea for future work.