Kurdish-English code-switching in Facebook

Abstract EN

The purpose of the present study is to introduce code-switching from Kurdish to English and the other way around by the Kurdish, with an English background, Facebook users.

Another purpose of the current paper is to explain the role of this phenomenon in sociolinguistic, functional and structural perspectives.

It also aims at positing the functions and reasons that trigger the Facebook users to code-switch in their Facebook interactions.

On this basis, the researcher has deteeles the accounts of 6 Kurdish native speaking Facebook users with good linguistic competence and performance in English; each of these users is educated and holds BA, MA, or PHD in English Language and Literature.

After collecting enough data from these users‟ Facebook posts and comments, the researcher has analyzed them to fulfill the aforementioned objectives.

At the very beginning, it has been hypothesized that Kurdish-English code-switching in Facebook can be examined according to the code-switching six-function model of the American sociolinguist, Gumperz.

As a result of this attempt, the study has come out with a bundle of useful outcomes and findings.

It has been concluded that in addition to the six-functions of Gumperz‟s, Kurdish- English code-switching performs four further functions, referred to in detail in the conclusions section.