Code-Switching between Doctors and English Teachers: A Sociolinguistic Study

Abstract

In this study, the researchers attempt to recheck Code-Switching phenomenon (CS), its causes, types, 
theories and its consequences. To keep clear and to avoid obscure use of the term, the researchers tend 
to initially define the concept and draw a distinctive line to separate CS from other related terms such as 
code-mixing (CM), lexical-switching (LS) and borrowing. Like some scholars who investigated this 
phenomenon, the researchers prefer broadening the meaning of CS because the core of the concept is 
centralized on ‘alternation’ from one code to another regardless of the types of the codes. Then, the 
researchers chose 20 English teachers (ETs) and the same number of doctors who worked in province of 
Diyala, Iraq   and showed that all of them practice CS with different types and different reasons. And 
ultimately, they compare between their CS and notice that doctors use intra-sentential switching more 
than the other types whereas Ets use inter-sentential CS because this type of CS requires a huge linguistic 
knowledge if compared with doctors who focus on medicine not language.