Code Switching Roles

When talking about women’s language in the Arab World, identity should be discussed. Lakoff define human identity as “ a continual work in progress, constructed and altered by the totality of life experience. While much of the work in support of this belief concentrates on the larger aspects of identity- especially gender, ethnicity, and sexual preference- in fact human identity involves many other categories. Identity is constructed in complex ways, more or less consciously and overtly”. When discussing the use of code choice of women in the Arab World, it is important to note that women’s ability to enter the public eye was not easy. Access to education, among other things, was not granted as early as it was for men. They were silenced in

Her focus was on code switching and code switching in relation to identity. She concluded that there is a strong relationship between the code speakers use and the projection of identity. She also found that talk show hosts code switch to appeal to the audience. She also argued that women use the diglossic situation in Egypt in their speech to be more assertive. In established Arabic cities where an old vernacular is being replaced, older women tend to resist change and use the old dialect Miller (2004). Younger women, on the other hand, tend to welcome change and acquire the new features faster than older women (Eckret 1998). Another example of how women can resist change in language is Hoffman’s (2006) study of Berber language in Morocco. In a country that has at least four language varieties (MSA, Moroccan colloquial Arabic, Berber varieties, and French), Berber women are still monolingual. It is the Berber women job to preserve and pass on the language. It is the reason why they refuse to use any other varieties. In the community, language sever as a symbol of belonging and

One of the ways that Arabic women invoke power is age. In his study of Bedouin women in the western desert in Egypt, Abu-Lughod (1987) found that women tend to wear less veil and show their face more. The reason women do that is because they have higher status or they are older. Another role that invoke power to Arabic women is being a mother. A mother’s power is reflected in her language choice (BassIouney 191). In the Arab World, mothers are powerful to a great extend. In other situations, they can be more powerful than men. Kharraki’s study in Morocco is a great example of how women can be more powerful than men in social