Sociolinguistics - Codeswitching and code choice in Brussels, Belgium

本博士课程的目的是探索布鲁塞尔语码转换的社会语言学现象。通过代码转换，我指的是说话者在对话中切换语言的情况，由于比利时拥有三种官方语言（荷兰语、法语和德语），可以预期比利时人是狂热的代码转换者。然而，在比利时联邦国家，首都布鲁塞尔地区是该国唯一的官方双语地区，荷兰语和法语在这里地位平等。更重要的是，布鲁塞尔的双语人数从1947年的50%下降到20%左右（Janssens 2013）。这表明布鲁塞尔人越来越多地拒绝双语，选择用自己选择的语言生活——这种选择是由社区归属感推动的，而长期以来将比利时这两个社区分开的语言冲突又加剧了这种选择。关于布鲁塞尔代码转换的最后一项研究可以追溯到90年代初（treffer - daller 1992），我认为在首都的代码转换实践可能消失之前进行新的和最新的研究是至关重要的。我建议对大约100名来自不同年龄组、不同地区、不同语言背景的人进行面对面访谈，从而从两个社区收集定性数据，了解他们对荷法双语的态度、他们的社会关系和自我报告的代码转换行为。然后，我将用更多的定量调查结果来补充这些定性数据，这些调查结果是通过在真正双语的情况下（例如双语学校和双语工作场所）进行的，在这种情况下，代码转换是自然发生的，以比较告密者实际做了什么和他们报告做了什么。除了提供关于布鲁塞尔目前语言状况的新数据外，该项目还将提供关于代码转换或明显拒绝代码转换背后的社会动机的重要见解。

The purpose of this DPhil will be to explore the sociolinguistic phenomenon of codeswitching in Brussels. By codeswitching, I refer to when a speaker switches between languages within a conversation, and since Belgium boasts three official languages (Dutch, French and German), one could expect Belgians to be avid codeswitchers. However, in the federal state of Belgium, the Region of Brussels Capital is the only officially bilingual area of the country, where both Dutch and French are on equal footing. What is more, the number of bilinguals in Brussels has sunk from about 50% in 1947 to about 20% (Janssens 2013). This suggests that Brusselers are increasingly rejecting bilingualism, taking the option of conducting life in the language of their choice - a choice fuelled by feelings of community attachment, which in their turn appear heightened by the language conflict which has long divided these two communities in Belgium. The last study on codeswitching in Brussels dates back to the early 90s (Treffers-Daller 1992), and I believe that it is crucial to conduct new and up-to-date research before codeswitching practices in the capital potentially disappear. I propose to conduct face-to-face interviews with around 100 individuals, from different age groups and areas of the city, and with different linguistic backgrounds, thus collecting qualitative data from both communities on their attitudes towards Dutch-French bilingualism, their social ties and self-reported codeswitching practices. I will then complement such qualitative data with more quantitative findings gathered through ethnographic fieldwork in truly bilingual situations where codeswitching occurs naturally (e.g. bilingual schools and workplaces) to compare what informants actually do with what they report doing. As well as offering new data on the present linguistic situation in Brussels, this project will also provide important insights into the social motivations behind codeswitching, or the obvious refusal to do so.