To Code-Switch is Harmful, to Not Code-Switch is Detrimental: An Analysis of Black Student Attitudes around AAVE and the use of Code-Switching
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Date
2025-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
This thesis examines the practice of code-switching by Black Americans, particularly with regard to personal attitudes and impressions of the practice. Specifically, this experiment investigates the code-switching of language in and out of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). The study is focused on impressions of code-switching and seeks to find the origins of its adoption by Black individuals. Code-switching is a familiar but understudied practice that reflects negative social perceptions of Blackness, and the practice itself presents numerous struggles for its users in the forms of social, emotional, and cognitive disadvantages. Using qualitative methods, this study draws on semi-structured interviews with 6 Black undergraduate students who code-switch at least sometimes between Standard English and AAVE. Interview questions were framed around the past & present experiences of these students’ use of code-switching, future projections, and thoughts on the relevant ethical and moral implications. Participants reported adolescent development of the practice as a reaction to agents of socialization as well as parental influence on the decision to code-switch. Furthermore, participants denounced the existence and necessity of code-switching while simultaneously approving of its usage by Black Americans. The data suggest the generational perpetuation of code-switching as a reaction to the institutionalized oppression of Black individuals, and a fundamental opposition to Black expression in our social institutions. Findings reveal the harsh consequences of a familiar yet overlooked phenomenon, suggest motivations for individuals to code-switch, and highlight the ethical ramifications of the prejudice against Black Americans and AAVE.
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Keywords
Code-switching, Anti-Black Racism, Communication Accomodation, Morality, African-American Vernacular English