Codeswitching among Igbo-English Bilinguals on Twitter
| dc.contributor.advisor | Kohlberger, Martin | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Stewart, Jesse | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Cenerini, Chantale | |
| dc.creator | Ekeanyanwu, Ebuka | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-01-13T18:30:09Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-01-13T18:30:09Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2024 | |
| dc.date.created | 2024-12 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-01-13 | |
| dc.date.submitted | December 2024 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2025-01-13T18:30:09Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Codeswitching, the use of more than one language in a single discourse episode, has been a major subject of linguistic research for over four decades. Once erroneously perceived as a deviant bilingual speech behaviour, it is now understood as a resourceful trait that is attested in the speech of all bilinguals. This study adopts a sociolinguistic approach to investigate the ‘how and why’ of codeswitching among Igbo-English bilingual users of Twitter, an asynchronous social networking platform. Motivated by the need to address gaps in research on Igbo-English codeswitching in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and by extension, the lack of research on written codeswitching, this study applies both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyse a final dataset of 855 tweets from 47 purposively sampled Igbo-English bilingual Twitter users. Drawing from key sociolinguistic frameworks—including Myer-Scotton’s markedness model, Auer’s conversational analytic approach, Gumperz’s conversational functions of codeswitching, and Poplack’s typological framework—the study examines the types, functions, and patterns of codeswitching observed. The findings reveal that English is the unmarked code choice among Igbo-English bilinguals on Twitter, while the use of Igbo, either solely or in codeswitched tweets, functions as a marked choice through which users index ethno-linguistic solidarity. Codeswitching was used strategically to perform various communicative functions, such as quotations, reiteration, addressee specification, message qualification, filling lexical gaps, and establishing oneself as an information resource within a discourse network. Importantly, the study shows that prior language choice, particularly the use of Igbo, significantly influences subsequent language use in interactions. However, with a small sample size and the purposive sampling of Igbo-English bilingual Twitter users, caution must be applied, as the findings reported might not be generalizable to the entire population of Igbo-English bilingual Twitter users. Nevertheless, this study contributes to the growing body of research showing that codeswitching is a rational and contextually meaningful aspect of bilingual communication rather than a random or erroneous language choice. It also highlights the need for further research into other forms of electronic discourse and the evolving use of Igbo in online interactions. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10388/16438 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.subject | Igbo | |
| dc.subject | sociolinguistics | |
| dc.subject | language contact | |
| dc.subject | codeswitching | |
| dc.subject | social media | |
| dc.subject | ||
| dc.title | Codeswitching among Igbo-English Bilinguals on Twitter | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dc.type.material | text | |
| thesis.degree.department | Linguistics | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Linguistics | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Saskatchewan | |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Arts (M.A.) |