Doctoral Dissertation Research: Language Choice, Code-Switching and Social Identity in Guadeloupe

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In Guadeloupe, as elsewhere, individuals have several linguistic resources - styles, dialects, registers, varieties, languages - from which to choose. Speakers may opt for one or may mix or alternate different ones. The complexity of Guadeloupean society and its ambiguous political status make it a compelling site in which to study the relationship between code choice, linguistic variation, language ideologies and the enactment of social identity. Guadeloupeans are French citizens and almost all are bilingual in French and Guadeloupean Creole. This project will investigate social patterns of code choice, as well as explore code-switching as one speech practice from which speakers may choose.This is a propitious time for such a study, as the island is experiencing a transformation in social attitudes related to the social division of codes. The present study uses ethnographic research on language use to examine how salient social divisions are marked and produced by patterns of code choice and code-switching. The research integrates two main sociological foci: the role of language in displaying identity, and the ideological components of language variation. The analytic framework combines qualitative methods of participant observation and discourse analysis (for studying patterns of code choice and code-mixing) with quantitative methods (for measuring language attitudes and linguistic variation). This study will contribute to our understanding of Creole languages, the role of language ideologies in language choice and language variation, the cultural meanings of code-switching, and the role of speech in constructing social identity and the role of language in defining boundaries.