Code-Switching in Multilingual Communities: Sociolinguistic Patterns and Identity Construction
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Abstract
This qualitative sociolinguistic study examined how bilingual and multilingual adults used French and Spanish as secondary linguistic resources within an English-primary environment to manage interaction, social relationships, and situated identity across university and community domains. The aim was to clarify how code-switching episodes can be interpreted as discourse functions, identity claims, or accommodation practices when participants' interpretations and social context shape linguistic form. Drawing on 64 semi-structured interviews, the analysis used about 62 hours of audio and about 285 coded switching episodes, classified as interview-occurring, reconstructed, or reported. Original-language transcription, selective translation, language-background profiles, field notes, and an episode matrix supported the analysis. Reflexive Thematic Analysis was integrated with interactional sociolinguistic episode coding to examine language use across family, friendship, university, workplace, and public-service settings. We identified five themes: domain-sensitive repertoire management, discourse management and lexical precision, relational accommodation, identity positioning, and ideological ambivalence toward mixed speech. Findings show that English served as the dominant academic, administrative, and professional resource, while participants strategically mobilized French and Spanish to express cultural memory, interpersonal solidarity, emotional nuance, community affiliation, topic-specific precision, and transnational belonging. The study contributes a theoretically grounded evidence hierarchy linking switch form, participant interpretation, identity relevance, and accommodation patterns. By distinguishing local discourse work from identity-relevant interpretation, the study strengthens qualitative code-switching research and clarifies how multilingual speakers negotiate belonging, competence, institutional expectations, and social positioning through situated language choice.
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