‘ Como está hablando con su mamá, está bien que haga el code-switching ’: social perceptions of situationally-based code-switching in West Texas

This study examines Spanish-English bilinguals’ social perceptions of the usage of monolingual Spanish, monolingual English, and code-switching, taking into consideration the situational context (interlocutor and location) in which utterances are produced. A matched-guise experiment was created with the speech of 4 Spanish-English bilinguals from Texas varying in language mode and speech setting. Based on responses from 112 Spanish-English bilingual listeners, regression models examined main effects and interactions involving listener characteristics (code-switching behaviour, gender) and context. Quantitative and qualitative data indicate that listeners hold hierarchical and context-dependent attitudes toward language modes, with monolingual Spanish generally viewed most favourably in terms of social attributes (status, respect, affability), monolingual English most ‘American’, and code-switching often stigmatised – especially by non-code-switching listeners and in formal contexts. However, code-switchers themselves express more positive, identity-affirming views of the practice. The findings suggest that overall monoglossic language ideologies carry even more weight in more formal situations in which named languages are expected to be kept separate.