Codeswitching in Social Media Influencers’ Speech:" Iraqi Youtubers" A Case Study

Abstract

Sociolinguistics is a discipline of linguistics that explores the interaction between language and society. Every person in the world has their own personal language that they use while interacting with others. People can switch between languages with a single speech because of their language variety. In sociolinguistics, code-switching is a phenomenon that may occur in bilingual or multilingual communities. It happens when one switches from one code to another whether intentionally or unintentionally. Many people all over the world employ code-switching in social life. This study aims at determining and analyzing the types of Code-switching used by YouTubers’ influencers. To achieve these aims the study hypothesizes that CS is more frequently used by Female YouTuber s’ influencers than males. The study uses a quantitative method to show the percentage of code-switching, and a qualitative method to show the linguistic and social reasons for employing CS. To carry out the data analysis, the study adopts Pollack’s model (1980). it is found that intra-sentential CS is the most frequently used one. It is also found that female influencers use code-switching more than males. The research concludes that the highest percentage of codeswitching employed by YouTubers’ influencers relies on their need for using register and lexical items, showing their knowledge, persuading their audience, show off, and performing habitual practice.