Analyzing Codeswitching in The Joy Luck Club.doc

Analyzing Code-switching in The Joy Luck Club A ThesisSubmitted toXingtan CollegeQufu Normal UniversityIn Partial Fulfillment of the RequirementsFor the Degree of Bachelor of Arts ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSOn the fulfillment of the thesis，I would like to express my sincere thanks to all who have given me great support and help in writing this thesisMy pure-hearted gratitude goes first to my supervisor Liu Ping, who has guided me and assisted me a lot with utmost patience and understanding. Her extensive knowledge and constructive criticism have contributed a lot to the completion of this thesis. It is beyond imagination that this thesis could reach its present form without her patient guidance.Secondly, I am also indebted to my writing teacher Tang Jianping and other teachers in my college, who have given me valuable lectures during my college study which help improve my English level and broaden my view of linguistics. Meanwhile, I feel very grateful for my roommates who have offered generous help and useful suggestions during my writing. They are very friendly and warm-hearted. Last but not least, I would like to thank all the writers whose works have been referred to in this thesis, and I benefit a lot from these works. 摘 要 语码转换在人们的言语交际中的使用极为普遍,它是指说话人在某一时刻交替使用两种或两种以上语码的语言现象。随着传播技术的普及和现代交际方式的发展，语码转换现象越来越引起学术界特别是语言学界的广泛关注。在最近三十多年来，国内外研究者们从各个领域探讨语码转换的问题也逐渐增多。近期，国内也出现不少关于文学作品中的语码转换的研究，但大部分是从语码转换的功能、顺应论等角度入手的，较少有从影响语码转换的因素及动因分析的。在华裔女作家谭恩美的畅销小说喜福会中，存在许多语码转换现象。因此本文以喜福会为文本分析中西文化碰撞而产生的语码转换现象，以期能更形象地理解语码转换这一术语及其用法，更加深入地了解此作品中语码转换的动机及其文化背景，更加深入地了解日常生活中人们在交际中进行语码转换的原因等问题。通过分析影响语码转换的主要因素，为更好地在日常生活中理解和使用语码转换提供有效的交际策略。关键词：语码转换；谭恩美；喜福会；文化交际ABSTRACTCode-switching is very popular in peoples verbal communication. It is the phenomenon which speakers alternatively use two or more languages or language varieties in a certain conversation. With the development of communication technology and the popularity of modern communication, academic world, especially the linguistics, increasingly pays more attention to the code-switching phenomenon. In the recent thirty years, researchers at home and abroad discussed more on code-switching from many aspects. Recently, many studies on code-switching in literature works have also appeared in our country. However, most of them start from the function of code-switching, or adaptation theory, or other aspects. And less people focus on analyzing the reason of code-switching. Meanwhile, there are lots of code-switching phenomena in the best seller The Joy Luck Club, which was written by Amy Tan, who is a foreign citizen of Chinese origin. Hence, I try to analyze the code-switching phenomenon in the novel The Joy Luck Club which is caused by the collision of Chinese and Western cultures. We can understand the term code-switching and its usage vividly. And we expect a better understanding of the motivation of code-switching in this novel and a better understanding of its culture background, and expect a deeper understanding of the reasons why people use code-switching in daily communication. After analyzing the main factors influencing code-switching, Ill offer effective communicative strategies to help get a better understanding of code-switching better and use it more efficiently.Key words: code-switching, Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club, culture communicationCONTENTS0. Introduction.11. Theoretical study of code-switching.21.1 The definition of code.21.2 The definition of code-switching.31.3 The classification of code-switching.42. Introduction to Amy Tan and The Joy Luck Club.42.1 Amy Tan.52.2 The Joy Luck Club.63. Reasons of code-switching in The Joy Luck Club.7 3.1 Different customs.73.2 Different personal characters.83.3 Psychological motivation.93.4 Other reasons of code-switching.94. Functions of code-switching in The Joy Luck Club.94.1 Humorous function.94.2 Expressive function .105. Conclusion.10Works Cited.12v0. IntroductionWith the development of economy and society, the relationships between people are becoming increasingly closer. People of different cultures have more chances to communicate with each other. However, because of different growing environments and speak habits, people are hardly to express their opinions sometimes. Hence, they need some methods to make others understood. And code-switching comes in handy. Since people from different parts of the world are increasingly acquiring more than two languages, code-switching frequently appears in peoples daily life and even in their daily conversations. In recent thirty years, domestic and foreign researchers have studied social linguistics, syntax, discourse analysis, psychological linguistics, pragmatics area, and so on. And they study the social and psychological motivation, psychological process, pragmatic functions and syntactic structure problems when we speak between standard language and dialect, between first and second language. And in recent years, many researchers at home and abroad have carried out some studies about code-switching in second language acquisition and language teaching. Furthermore, code-switching has grown into a common linguistic phenomenon in China nowadays, and many studies have been done in this field. For example, five approaches have been discovered by researchers. They are the sociolinguistic approach, the conversational analysis approach, the psycholinguistic approach, the grammatical approach and the pragmatic approach, but there are still some other aspects that havent been discovered. The Joy Luck Club is a representative work concerning code-switching. It was written by Amy Tan, a Chinese-American writer. In this novel, characters frequently use Chinese-English code-switching in their conversations which is in favor of understanding code-switching both in literary works and in real life better. Hence, the thesis will make a study of English-Chinese code-switching in Amy Tans novel with the aim of exploring the factors and motivations of code-switching in daily cultural communications. This thesis consists of six parts, including an introduction, four chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction part aims to present the background and significance of code-switching as well as the brief background of the novel The Joy Luck Club. Then the following parts present theoretical study of code-switching and analyze code-switching phenomenon in The Joy Luck Club individually. Moreover, this paper highlights reasons and functions of code-switching in order to offer effective communicative strategies to people to help get a better understanding of code-switching and use it more efficiently in daily life. Finally, the whole paper ends with a conclusion which includes main content and expectations.1. Theoretical study of code-switching It is obvious that recently people from different countries and speaking different languages and dialects have more chances to meet and communicate with each other. Moreover, code-switching exists more in spoken discourse than in written discourse. The main task of this chapter is to have a literature review of code-switching. It is of great importance to discuss code-switching because of its social meaning and literature meaning, which the thesis will present later.1.1 The definition of code First of all, we should know what is code before we want to talk about code-switching. Code is the term that used to replace any language communication system, and Verschueren once defines code as“any distinguishable variant of language, involving systematic sets of choices, whether linked to a specific geographical area, a social class, an assignment of functions, or a specific context of use”(Verschueren 118). Code is neutral, which can be used to refer to any kind of language system that two or more people employ for communication. It is rare that one person grasp only one language variety, instead, most people grasp bilingual or multilingual language. Speakers often choose a suitable code according to different situations, participants, issues and purpose when speaking. In this degree, they switch one code to another, or mix two codes when speaking.1.2 The definition of code-switching As we know, code-switching is becoming increasingly popular in todays social communication, so what is the precise definition of code-switching? Just as different researchers hold different opinions on the definitions of the term code-switching. The first explicit mention of code-switching is found in Vogt(1954):“code-switching in itself is perhaps not a linguistic phenomenon, but rather a psychological one, and its causes are obviously extra-linguistic” (Alvarez-Cacamo 32). Valdes Fallis regards code-switching as“the alternation of two languages”(Grosjean 145). And another explain is“the juxtaposition within the same speech exchange of passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems or subsystems”(Gumperz 59). It is widely accepted that the term code refers to a language or any varieties of the language such as dialect, register, style and so on. And anther explain is that “Code-switching refers to the alternative use by bilinguals of two or more languages in the same conversation.” (Milroy and Muysken 7). In this regard, we can see that the definition of code-switching is often changed due to different starting points. Even so, it is true that code-switching concerned with different kinds of cods. In daily communication, its a natural phenomenon for a speaker to use more than one code. Code-switching frequently exists among the people who acquire languages and dialects in another language environment, such as a foreign country or a place which contents people of different languages. And it is common for people to use several languages or language varieties in daily conversations, literary works or other situations. One should able to select a particular code to express themselves when they communicate with another person that do not understand each others languages. This is how code-switching occurs. Code-switching is a common phenomenon for those bilinguals in a daily communication. Code-switching is significant to lots of research fields, for example, sociology, anthropology and linguistics, and it is also a very important linguistic phenomenon, which is influenced by many factors, such as linguistic, social and psychological factors and so on. Researchers from many fields such as sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, anthropological linguists, conversational analysis and pragmatics have studied code-switching. And current study of code-switching can be traced back to 1972. Code-switching is usually used as an effective communicative strategy by people who know two or more languages to achieve their goals in communication.1.3 The classification of code-switching There are many types of code-switching. Great studies have been made in this field by some linguists such as Poplack, Auer, Gumperz and Muysken. Poplack(1980) classified code-switching into three types such as inter-sentential code-switching, intra-sentential code-switching and tag switching. And Auer(1990) had identified two types of code-switching named discourse-related alternation and participant-related alternationFrom the perspective of pragmatics, Gumperz(1972) distinguished two types of code-switching which are called situational code-switching and metaphorical code-switching. Whats more, Muysken(1995) presented another code-switching type named alternation, insertion, and congruent lexicalization.2. Introduction to Amy Tan and The Joy Luck Club As a common phenomenon, code switching often occurs in literature, which has gained close attention in the academic circles. In recent years, scholars of our country have made many deep studies on code-switching phenomenon in literatures, such as Son and Lovers, Ulysses, Lady Chatterley, and so on, which contributes to better understanding of the ancestors wisdom of communication. The Joy Luck Club is a novel that describes an Chinese-Americans mental process to identify two different cultures, which has caused an instant shock after its publication. Since 1970s, Chinese American writers and their works are becoming increasingly popular and well-known. Hence, their works own not only the literature value, but also the social value. The Joy Luck Club was published in 1989 which focused on the lives of Chinese-American daughters and their Chinese-born mothers. In this part, we make a brief introduction to Amy Tan and The Joy Luck Club which will provide background knowledge for the analysis of code-switching in The Joy Luck Club in the next part.2.1 Amy Tan Amy Tan is a Chinese-American writer. She was born in America in 1952, and was originally from Guangdong. Her novel The Joy Luck Club became the best seller when it came out. As the second generation of a Chinese immigrant family, Amy Tan is the representative of the new generation of Chinese-American writers. She always chooses women as protagonists and all of these protagonists are so representative in that days. Many of her works deal with familiar bonds, usually mother-daughter relationships. Like thousands of Chinese-American, she was facing the problem of different culture opinions. Tan and her mother had made a tour to China in 1987, which gave her a deeper understanding of the two cultures. And this experience inspired her to write her first novel The Joy Luck Club in 1989. Based on her mother and grandmothers experience and her own life, Tans works, which focus on Chinese who have immigrated to the America, illustrated the difficulties in communication and understood of different cultures. Many of the struggles and conflicts concern with her own experience, which can implicate cultural differences. Through her works, American readers can actually feel the cultural conflicts which Chinese immigrants are facing.2.2 The Joy Luck Club The Joy Luck Club is the first novel of the famous Chinese-American writer, and it also makes her well-known. It appeared on the New York Times best seller list and remained on this 1ist for as long as nine months. The novel describes the twists and turns of life among four women who immigrated from mainland China to the United States, as well as mental conflicts between they and their American-born daughters. The whole story is divided into two main parts, called mother parts and daughter parts. The two parts match very well, and the whole plots based on the affairs between mothers and daughters were divided into different parts. The Joy Luck Club is a place to paly mahjong, and it started by a mother in Guilin. After immigrating to America, the four mothers still combined together and formed The Joy Luck Club again, which created a Chinese environment in the foreign country. Four pairs of mothers and daughters always got together to play mahjong and talked about their own affairs. Mothers recollected the memory which the war brought in the old days, then moved to America to let their children enjoy a happy life. However, their daughters did not cherish the opportunity. Mothers told daughters the story of ghost, but daughters thought they owned mysterious and strange forces. And they could not understand their mothers stubborn, superstition, and conservative. Mothers wanted their daughter to combine American and Chinese characters together, however, things go contrary to their wishes, they have obvious differences. To deal with the collisions and conflicts between Chinese culture and America culture, they use code-switching to communicate. With daughters understanding of their mothers and Chinese culture, and mothers understanding of their daughters and American culture, the two generations finally understand each other. When we read the whole story, we can not only realize mentality and ideas of Chinese-Americans, but also can feel sincere kinship. This novel reveals different values and living philosophies, as well as different identities between the two generations in the Chinese-American families3. Reasons of code-switching in The Joy Luck Club As a successful novel, the most remarkable character in The Joy Luck Club is code-switching. Code-switching can