Sociolinguistics - Codeswitching and code choice in Brussels, Belgium

本博士论文旨在探讨布鲁塞尔语码转换的社会语言学现象。我所说的语码转换是指说话者在对话中切换语言，由于比利时拥有三种官方语言（荷兰语、法语和德语），人们可以预期比利时人是狂热的语码转换者。然而，在比利时的联邦国家，布鲁塞尔首都地区是该国唯一的官方双语地区，荷兰语和法语处于平等地位。更重要的是，布鲁塞尔的双语人数从1947年的50%下降到20%（Janssens 2013）。这表明布鲁塞尔人越来越拒绝双语，选择用他们选择的语言生活--这种选择是由社区依恋感推动的，而长期以来导致这两个社区分裂的语言冲突似乎加剧了这种选择。比利时。上一次关于布鲁塞尔语码转换的研究可以追溯到90年代初（Treffers-Daller 1992），我认为在首都语码转换的做法可能消失之前进行新的和最新的研究是至关重要的。我建议进行面对面的采访，约100人，从不同的年龄组和城市的地区，并具有不同的语言背景，从而收集定性数据，从两个社区对荷兰-法国双语的态度，他们的社会关系和自我报告的代码转换的做法。然后，我将补充这样的定性数据与更多的定量研究结果，通过民族志实地调查收集在真正的双语情况下，代码转换自然发生（例如双语学校和工作场所），以比较线人实际做什么，他们报告做什么。除了提供有关布鲁塞尔目前语言状况的新数据外，该项目还将为语码转换背后的社会动机提供重要的见解，或者明显拒绝这样做。

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.