Language: Apply It

  • Understand terms used to describe language use
  • Describe the typical content of conversations
  • Understand how the use of language develops
  • Understand the relationship between language and thinking

Code Switching: More than Just Language

Code-switching is defined as the ability to switch between languages in a single conversation. The way you speak to a parent may be different than the way you speak to a friend. How you speak to your classmate may be more casual than how you speak to your professor. Have you noticed that how you speak and dress for a job interview is different than how you speak and dress for class? These are all examples of code-switching.[1]

Read this Psychology Today article by Kyaien O. Conner about code-switching. In the article, she reveals data conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2019 that said that 4 out of 10 Black and Hispanic adults feel the need to change the way they talk around other races and ethnicities. This number was even higher for Black college graduates under the age of 50, where 53% reported feeling the need to code-switch.[2]
Watch this video to learn more about what code-switching is, what it looks like, why people do it, and how it could make you feel.

You can view the transcript for “Discover the powerful CPU of code-switching | Endiya Griffin & Tatiana Howell | TEDxYouth@SanDiego” here (opens in new window).
Other than language, what else do people change when code-switching?

What are some reasons why people code-switch?

Although there are benefits to code-switching, when did the speakers say it can become detrimental?

What does the acronym CPU stand for as it relates to code-switching?

  1. Gill, Kimberly (2023). What is code-switching? How does it impact the black community? University of Michigan, Department of Psychology. Retrieved from https://lsa.umich.edu/psych/news-events/all-news/faculty-news/what-is-code-switching--how-does-it-impact-the-black-community-.html ↵
  2. Pew Research Center (2019). https://pewrsr.ch/2kAWUH2 ↵