English lexical borrowing and code switching in spanish speaker living in Corozal Town, Belize.

Abstract

Language phenomena such as bilingualism, diglossia, language contact, code-switching and lexical borrowing have been the object of study in sociolinguistic research. In this particular case, the main objective of this thesis was to measure the frequency of English lexical borrowing and code switching in bilinguals' utterances. In other words, the study was mainly based on two different types of interference: borrowing and code switching. The subjects were bilinguals from Corozal town where English and Spanish are mostly spoken. Our sample was of eighteen bilinguals who were chosen according to three variables: gender, age, and educational level. The main instrument was a free interview, which gave us the frequency of interference that occurred in bilinguals' utterances.