Language choice and code-switching amongst University students

Abstract

The main aim of this research is to determine the language preference as well as the attitudes towards code-switching amongst University of Malta students. This research will therefore look into language preference throughout daily interactions which the students frequently encounter. The linguistic environment in which the students were raised will also be taken into account, especially the linguistic environment throughout their earlier scholastic experiences. Code-switching is another key factor which can affect language preference, and will therefore be thoroughly discussed with the respondents as well. The method used for the collection of data was a survey. The instrument used to conduct the survey was a self-administered questionnaire. In total, one hundred University of Malta students took part in this study – fifty of which were Faculty of Arts students, whilst the other fifty were non-Faculty of Arts students. What was concluded through the results gathered is that English is a powerhouse language which has managed to infiltrate into the linguistic repertoire of University of Malta students. Although Maltese is still the preferred language amongst these students, the English language keeps growing into a serious competitor in terms of linguistic preference. Furthermore, codeswitching is accepted by many University of Malta students and is also seen as a useful linguistic tool by many respondents. It was also observed that code-switching is very popular amongst the respondents as it enables easier communication.