Bilingual Code-Switching in a Swedish Context : A study of three Swedish-Arabic and three Swedish-English speakers

Abstract: Code-Switching (CS) is a world-wide phenomenon, allowing bilinguals across the globe to alternate effortlessly between their languages. As interesting as it sounds, code-switching can be used for a number of reasons, and there are different linguistic contexts in which this phenomenon occurs. Umeå is a very multinational city in northern Sweden, and this paper will present the results from interviewing a group of three (a) Arabic-Swedish speakers and a group of three (b) English-Swedish speakers on their use of language and code-switching. The results show that group a and group b both use CS as a tool to express themselves better, and also to feel a sense of belonging in their different surroundings. Being a bilingual usually comes with two cultures, and this includes many different situations in which these bilinguals use CS.