Code-Switching in Spanish/English Bilingual Speech: The Case of Two Recent Immigrants of Mexican Descent

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Code-Switching in Spanish/English Bilingual Speech: The Case of Two Recent
Immigrants of Mexican escent
!ntonieta Cal " Ma"or Turn#ull
$
I%TR&'CTI&%
This study presents the analysis of a home-based interaction between two
Spanish/English bilingual sisters( The purpose of the study is to investigate the functions code-
switching plays in this conversation and the role of these functions in the construction of their
identity as elite bilinguals. n addition! this study aims to contribute to the body of research that has
been conducted to identify the different functions of code-switching in bilingual interaction!
particularly with regards to the creation of an ethnic or linguistic identity.
Research on code-switching has been e"tensive. #owever! the majority of the studies have been
conducted on stable bilingual communities whose members are early bilinguals or se$uential
bilinguals who have resided in the community for an e"tended period of time %&lom ' (umper)!
*+,-. /yers-Scotton! *++0b. 1oplac2 *+34! *+3*5! or else they have been conducted in
educational settings where one or the two languages are used as main medium of instruction
%6romdal ' 7ronsson! -444. Rampton! *+++. 8entella! *+3*5. 9urthermore! studies of code-
switching in Spanish/English bilinguals of /e"ican origin have analy)ed primarily the interaction
of second generation /e"ican-7mericans or that of first generation immigrants who become
circumstantial bilinguals once in the :nited States %(arc;a! *+3*. <ald=s! *+33. <ald=s-9allis!
*+,,5. >ittle attention has been paid to another type of population: that of the recent! educated
*
7ntonieta 6al y /ayor Turnbull completed her /.7. and Ed./. in 7pplied >inguistics at Teachers 6ollege!
6olumbia :niversity. She is currently a full time lecturer in the &achelor of Education in English >anguage
Teaching at the :niversidad 7ut?noma de 6hiapas in Southern /e"ico. #er research interests include face-saving
and relations of power and dominance! developmental pragmatics and code-switching. She is also interested in
education and training of second and foreign language teachers! particularly teachers of English! 9rench and
Spanish. 6orrespondence should be sent to: 7ntonieta 6al y /ayor Turnbull. Escuela de >enguas 6-! :niversidad
7ut?noma de 6hiapas. &oulevard &elisario @om;ngue) Am. *43*! 6al)ada a Rector;a s/n. Tu"tla (uti=rre)!
6hiapas. 61. -+4B4. E-mail: acymtChotmail.com
*
Retrievable at http://www.tc.columbia.edu/tesolalwebjournal
immigrant who is already an elite bilingual. The current study thus attempts to fill this gap in the
literature by analy)ing the functions of code-switching in the interaction of two recent
Spanish/English bilingual immigrants of /e"ican descent.
RE)IE* &+ T,E -ITER!T'RE
Bilingualism and types of bilingualism
Dne of the greatest challenges when writing about bilingualism is finding a theoretical
framewor2 that clearly defines what bilingualism is and who is bilingual. n fact! researchers and
theorists diverge on their definitions of who is purely monolingual and who is bilingual. The
definitions of bilingualism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have evolved from a purely
dichotomous approach %monolingual vs. bilingual5 towards seeing bilingualism as a comple"
phenomenon that includes 2ey features.
/ay! #ill! and Tia2iwai %-44B5 present the historical evolution of the definition of bilingualism.
They begin with &loomfield %*+0B5 who defines bilingualism as having native-li2e control of two
languages. Then! they point out that later approaches! such as the ones posited by #augen %*+B05
and /acnamara %*+EE5! claim that a bilingual is a spea2er of one language who is also able to
communicate and understand another language! even if that capacity to communicate and
understand is minimal. 9inally! they introduce FeinreichGs %*+E35 position! which considers
bilingualism as the ability to alternatively use two languages. The above definitions are
problematic because they tend to be minimalist or ma"imalist in terms of whom they see as
bilingual! and because they do not ta2e into account the enormous variability across individuals.
n order to overcome the pitfalls of these early definitions! contemporary research has
approached bilingualism from both a linguistic and a social perspective. Romaine %*++B5 and
<ald=s and 9igueroa %*++H5 consider the degree of proficiency in each language as a 2ey attribute
-
of bilingualism. They argue that bilingualism can be determined by how fluent the spea2er is in
each language and to what degree the proficiency in both languages can be compared. That is! to
them! one can be a balanced bilingual with e$ual proficiency in both languages! or have a
dominant language and be bilingual nonetheless. /ay! #ill! and Tia2iwai %-44B5 consider age as
an important factor. They draw the distinction between a simultaneous bilingual, a child who
ac$uires two languages simultaneously as a result of family or societal bilingualism! and a
sequential or consecutive bilingual! a person who ac$uires a second language after the first
language! almost always in puberty or adulthood and often as the result of education. /ay! #ill!
and Tia2iwai. %-44B5 also maintain that the social status of the two languages and the personal
circumstances of the bilingual individuals will have an impact on how they see themselves vis-I-
vis the two languages! and whether they will consider themselves bilingual or not. 6onse$uently!
they argue the importance of distinguishing between the elective or elite bilingual and the
circumstantial bilingual.
(arc;a %*++,5 and /ay %-44-a! -44-b5 point out that a person becomes an elite bilingual when
the ac$uisition of the second language %>-5 is actively promoted and supported! and it is clearly
seen as a social and cultural asset. This individual usually becomes bilingual by means of the
ac$uisition of an elite language in an educational setting. n this case! the learners/users of the
second language %>-5 are elective bilinguals! for they decide of their own free will to ac$uire the
second language at school or in a study abroad conte"t. Their native language %>*5 and culture are
not endangered by the ac$uisition of the >-. Dn the other hand! circumstantial bilinguals are those
individuals who have to learn/ac$uire an >- in order to survive in a given society without having a
choice. This is the case of language minority spea2ers such as immigrants! refugees! and coloni)ed
indigenous people who have had to learn the language of their new country or of their coloni)ers in
order to find a place in the mainstream society at the ris2 of losing their native language.
0
Defining code-switching
7s with any aspect of the social sciences! particularly linguistics! research on code-switching
%6S5 is full of terminological confusion. Researchers use the same terms in different ways! or give
different names to the same phenomena. n fact! there is some overlap and confusion on the uses of
the terms code-switching, code-mixing, code-alternation, and borrowing.
/ilroy and /uys2en %*++B5 define code-switching as Jthe alternative use by bilinguals of two
or more languages in the same conversationK %p. ,5. They use 6S as an overarching term under
which different forms of language change ta2e place. They distinguish between intra-sentential CS!
which is used to refer to switches within the sentence! and inter-sentential CS! which is used for
switches between sentences. &eebe %*+,,! *+3*5 and (ardner-6hloros %*++*5 emphasi)e that 6S
occurs not only between languages! but between dialects of the same language %e.g.! 9rench and
7lsatian5. (umper) %*+3-5 states that 6S refers to Jthe ju"taposition within the same speech
e"change of passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems or subsystemsK %p.
B+5! thus ma2ing it clear that 6S can occur on varieties of the same language.
Aachru %*+305 and Singh %*+3B5 use the term code-switching for inter-sentential switches and
use code-mi"ing for intra-sentential switches. They claim that this is a necessary distinction since
only code-mi"ing re$uires the integration of the syntactic rules of both languages! whereas plain
code-switching does not. #owever! as &o)tepe %-4405 argues! the difference between code-
switching and code-mi"ing is also e"plained by the classification of intra-sentential and inter-
sentential 6S! ma2ing the use of either terminology a matter of personal preference! but one that
can still create unnecessary confusion.
The term code-alternation has been used to refer to instances of one language being replaced by
the other in the middle of a sentence! and it is usually related to longer stretches of 6S. 6ode-
H
alternation thus differs from insertion! in that the latter phenomenon refers to occurrences of single
le"ical items in the base or recipient language! that is! the main language in the code-switched
utterances! or to put it plainly! the language in which the greatest part of the utterance is being
delivered %/uys2en! -4445.
&orrowing! on the other hand! has been defined as Jthe introduction of single words or short!
fro)en! idiomatic phrases from one variety into anotherK %(umper)! *+3-! p. EE5. 1oplac2!
Fheeler! and Festwood %*+3,5 proposed a continuum for borrowing in 6S utterances. 7t one end
of the continuum are the nonce borrowings! that is! the le"ical items that might lac2 phonological
integration and refer only to content words. 7t the other end of the continuum are established loan
words! those that are fully integrated into the base language and that are also recurrent! accepted!
and widespread in the community.
/yers-Scotton %*++-! *++0a5 considers the distinction between code-switching and borrowing
unnecessary. #owever! she still distinguishes between cultural borrowing and core borrowing.
/yers-Scotton %*++0a5 argues that cultural borrowing refers to those le"ical items that are new to
the recipient language culture %e.g.! whis2y5! while core borrowings refer to those le"ical items that
have e$uivalents or near e$uivalents in the recipient language! and therefore! do not really fulfill
any le"ical gap in the recipient language %e.g., beer, cerveza, bire5. (umper) %*+3-5 posits that
when the language of the core borrowed item has a higher symbolic value %cf. &ourdieu! *++*5! the
social prestige of the donor language produces the non-integration of the borrowed word. n fact!
/yers-Scotton %*++0a5 suggests that educated bilingual spea2ers will try to pronounce borrowed
items as closely to the originals as possible in order to show they belong to the elite group that
2nows the prestigious language. This is a common practice when using certain 9rench e"pressions
such as Lgrande dame and Lsavoir vivre %(umper)! *+3-! p. E35.
B
Dther researchers have followed /yer-ScottonGs argument that borrowing and 6S are related
processes and part of a single phenomenon. (ysels %*++-5 and &ac2us %*++E5 stress that the line
between borrowing and 6S is not easy to draw. They argue that a non-base language le"ical item
can be either a switch or a borrowing! depending on the overall discourse structure or on the
individual spea2ersG motivations.
#aving analy)ed the arguments and definitions provided above! it can be concluded that the
term code-switching encompasses both code-mi"ing and code-alternation %intra-sentential and
inter-sentential 6S5. t can also be concluded that a categorical distinction between 6S and
borrowing is unnecessary since they are related processes. Therefore! in the present paper! the term
code-switching will be used to refer indistinctly to code-mi"ing! code-alternation! insertion! and
borrowing. The term code-switching will be used in its broadest sense! that is! to indicate Jthe use
of two or more linguistic varieties in the same conversation or interactionK %Scotton ' :ry! *+,,!
p. B5.
Functions of code-switching
n a seminal account of discourse strategies! (umper) %*+3-5 adopted the cover term
contextualization cues to refer to linguistic devices that inde" Jwhat the activity is! how semantic
content is to be understood and how each sentence relates to what precedes or followsK %p. *0*5.
(umper) %-44*5 also defines conte"tuali)ation cues as Jany verbal sign that! when processed in
co-ocurrence with symbolic grammatical and le"ical signs! serves to construct the conte"tual
ground for situated interpretation and thereby affects how constituent messages are understoodK %p.
--*5.
(umper) %*++,5 identifies four different 2inds of conte"tuali)ation cues: %*5 prosody! which
includes intonation! stress! accenting and pitch shifts. %-5 paralinguistic signs! which comprises
E
tempo! pausing and hesitation! and conversational synchrony. %05 code choice! which consists of
code-switching! style switching! phonetic! phonological and morphosyntactic choices. and %H5
le"ical forms and formulaic e"pressions! for instance! opening or closing routines.
6onte"tuali)ation cues play an important role in the co-construction of conversation and
they are readily available to monolinguals! bilinguals! and multilinguals. 6onse$uently! when
code-switching is used for conte"tuali)ation purposes in bilingual or multilingual situations! it is
often accompanied by changes in intonation! pitch! and rhythm. n a study of the reali)ation of
four discourse features %asides! reiterations! buts! and $uotations5 by si" members of the
1unjabi/English bilingual community in >ondon! (ardner-6hloros! 6harles! and 6heshire %-4445
found that! when acting monolingual! participants used a series of linguistic devices such as stress
and intonation to accomplish the discourse features. Dn the other hand! when they acted bilingual!
they simply added code-switching to those linguistic devices! thus double-signaling the
conversational functions of the features. The researchers concluded that 6S is simply an additional
linguistic device at the disposal of bilinguals! the effect of which Jwas almost always over and
above what could be achieved monolinguallyK %(ardner-6hloros! 6harles! ' 6heshire! -444! p.
*00B5.
(umper) %*+3-5 identified si" basic discourse functions that code-switching serves in
conversation. These are %a5 $uotations! %b5 addressee specification! %c5 interjections! %d5 reiteration!
%e5 message $ualification! and %f5 personali)ation versus objectivi)ation. Muotations are simply
occurrences of 6S where someone elseGs utterance is reported as direct $uotation or reported
speech. n addressee specification! the switch serves to direct the message to one particular person
among the several prospective addressees. nterjections simply serve to mar2 sentence fillers! such
as the Spanish e"pression ndale %i.e.! swell5 in an otherwise purely English utterance. Reiteration
occurs when the spea2er repeats the message in the other code. t can be employed to clarify what
,
has been said or to increase the utteranceGs perlocutionary effect. /essage $ualification is defined
as an elaboration of the preceding utterance in the other code. 9inally! personali)ation versus
objectivi)ation indicates the degree of spea2er involvement in what is being said.
Saville-Troi2e %*+3-5 identified eight different functions of 6S! some of which overlap with
those proposed by (umper) %*+3-5. These functions are: %a5 softening or strengthening of a
re$uest or command %b5 intensification/elimination of ambiguity %repetition5! %c5 humorous effect!
direct $uotation and repetition! %d5 ideological statement! %e5 le"ical need! %f5 e"clusion of other
people within hearing! %g5 avoidance strategy! and %h5 repair strategy. (ardner-6hloros %*++*5
argues that functions of 6S change according to the characteristics of the particular conversation.
This is why 6S may occur as an effect of the topic or the roles of the participants.
6ode-switching has many other functions that go beyond the discursive ones. Some of these
functions are signaling group identity and/or ethnic identity! and showing solidarity among
members of the same speech community or ethnic community %6rystal! *+3,. (al! *+,3. >i! *++B.
>o! *+++. /yers-Scotton! *++0b5. The non-compliance to code-switch! that is! the linguistic
misalignments the spea2er shows! can be seen as an attempt on the part of the spea2er to distance
himself or herself from the other participants! be it because he or she does not want to be ta2en as a
member of that community! or because he or she does not want to accept the participant who is
ma2ing the switch as part of his or her community %>o! *+++5. (umper)Gs %*+3-5 distinction of
we-code versus they-code is related to one of the basic functions just mentioned! namely solidarity.
Fhile the we-code refers to in-group relations and a language or variety which is sometimes
undervalued %e.g.! 6hicano Spanish! 77<E5! the they-code refers to the dominant language which
tends to serve as the means of communication for out-group relations with the mainstream society.
(offman %*+3*5 suggests that code-switching is the prototypical device used by bilinguals to
signal changes in frame and footing and to demonstrate whether they are aligned or not. Research
3
on 6S has shown that this is the case. 7naly)ing standard and regional talian code-switching
among adult spea2ers! 7lfon)etti %*++35 found that 6S was used for story prefacing! frame
shifting! misalignments! topic changes! and setting $uotations. 7uer %*+3H5 studied language
alternation in talian-(erman peer tal2 and adult-child conversation and found that 6S plays an
important role to determine whether the spea2er is addressing one or many participants in a group!
thus signaling the listenersG role as ratiied or unratiied !artici!ants. &ased on (offmanGs %*+,H!
*+,+5 wor2 on footing! 6romdal and 7ronsson %-4445 analy)ed the play interaction of
Swedish/English bilingual children from a !roduction ormats and !artici!ation ramewor"
approach. They found that code-switching was used by the spea2ers to signal their roles as
animators %relayers5! authors %creators5 or !rinci!als %fully bac2ing what is said5. They also found
that code-switching was used by the spea2ers to signal the roles of the listeners as ratiied or
unratiied participants! thus producing instances of by!lay! cross!lay and side!lay among the
participants and bystanders.
6ode-switching also functions as a device to establish an identity and negotiate relations of
power and dominance %&olonyai -44B5 and! in the case of developing bilinguals. it serves as a
device to fill in a le"ical gap %Nisa! -4445. 6S also serves as a device to accommodate the
linguistic needs of the listener. n interaction with a monolingual spea2er! the bilingual spea2er
will code-switch into the listenerGs language! not only as a means to address him/her directly
%addressee specification5 but as a means to ma2e him or herself understood.
RESE!RC, .'ESTI&%
The research $uestion addressed in this paper is the following:
Fhat functions does code-switching perform in the informal interaction between two
Spanish/English bilingualsO
+
MET,&
/articipants
The two participants in this study are sisters /artha and Sara /art;ne). /artha and Sara were
born and raised in /e"ico and have lived in the :nited States during different periods of their
lives. #owever! this is the first time they are living together in the :nited States. Dn previous
occasions! they had come as e"change students and lived with English monolingual 7merican
families. @uring those occasions! they attended school alongside native English spea2ers in
mainstream classrooms and were never placed in an English as second language class.
/artha is a thirty-five year old physician who self identifies as a Spanish/English bilingual!
with Spanish as her dominant language! but English as her preferred language while in the :nited
States. She first came into contact with English at the age of ten. /artha lived in the :nited States
for two months at the age of ten! for one year at ages thirteen and eighteen! respectively. n
between these two years she studied English in /e"ico. She has also traveled to the :nited States
for pleasure or wor2 several times as an adult.
Sara is a thirty-one year old graduate student who self identifies as a Spanish/English bilingual
with Spanish as her dominant language. She stated no preference for either language! saying that
she li2es to spea2 both and has no problem accommodating to whatever language her interlocutor
wants to use. #er first contact with English was at the age of twelve. Sara lived in the :nited
States for one year at ages twelve and eighteen! respectively. n between these two years she
studied English in /e"ico. She has also traveled to the :nited States for pleasure several times as
an adult.
/artha and Sara lived together in their hometown until /artha finished #igh School and left
home to attend /edical School. They both claim they only used Spanish while living in their
*4
hometown. The sisters communicated in English on rare occasions and only when they wished to
prevent understanding from bystanders! a behavior they considered rude and tried avoiding.
7t the onset of data collection! Sara had been living in the :nited States for twenty months.
She moved in with /artha when the sister arrived in the country ten months before the recording
too2 place. Since then! Sara and /artha have been living together. /artha and Sara can be
considered recent immigrants because they have resided in the :nited States for less than three
consecutive years and still hold strong connections with their home country %/atute-&ianchi!
*++*. <ald=s! *++,5.
Setting
The interaction which will be analy)ed was held in the participantsG apartment during lunch
time on a wee2end. The participants 2ept moving around the apartment %from 2itchen to living
room to bedroom5 while the conversation was being taped. #owever! during most of the
conversation they were in the 2itchen preparing food! cleaning! or eating. The bac2ground noises
and the constant movement of the participants made the conversation unintelligible at times.
#owever! since the purpose of the study was to identify how code-switching operates in casual
conversation! it seemed that recording the sisters in their own environment interacting in a non-
formal way would ma2e the data more authentic.
ata Collection /rocedures
The researcher 2nows the participants well and 2new they are Spanish/English bilinguals.
#owever! along with a brief informal interview about their growing up and linguistic e"perience!
the researcher as2ed them whether they considered themselves to be bilingual or not! and what
their preferred and dominant languages were. This informal interview too2 place several days
before the conversation was taped.
**
The day of the interaction! the two participants wereas2ed permission to be video- and tape-
recorded. /artha did not agree to be video-recorded. therefore! video was not used as part of data
collection. &oth participants agreed to be audio-recorded! but re$uired the use of pseudonyms for
themselves and for any other person or place mentioned in the conversation in order to preserve
their anonymity. 7 1anasonic cassette recorder was placed on the dining room table and moved
onto the 2itchen counter as the participants proceeded to the 2itchen. The interaction lasted about
thirty-five minutes.
ata !nal"sis /rocedures
The recorded interaction was heard and transcribed in its entirety by the researcher in order to
identify instances of code-switching. Dnce it was evident that code-switching occurred during the
interaction! the transcript was improved by the insertion of different conte"tuali)ation cues used by
the participants. Then! the passages in which code-switching occurred were coded according to
their conversational functions following (umper) %*+3-5 and Saville-Troi2eGs %*+3-5
classification. Pe"t the instances of code-switching were reanaly)ed to identify if they signaled
changes in topic! frame! alignment! and footing. or whether they fulfilled the listenerGs linguistic
needs. 9inally! the instances of code-switching were carefully analy)ed to identify whether they
contributed to the creation of the participantsG identity as elite bilinguals. The instances of code-
switching that were found to play solely a discursive role! such as interjections or sentence fillers!
were mar2ed but not ta2en into consideration for the final analysis of the data.
+I%I%0S !% !%!-1SIS
The data showed that both participants used English and Spanish interchangeably! and that they
tended to use one language or the other for an e"tended period of time. That is! they tended to act
*-
monolingual! and relied primarily on inter-sentential code-switching. The data also provided
evidence for the continuous changes in the matri" language throughout the conversation. There
were periods where the matri" language %/>5 was English and the embedded language%E>5 was
Spanish! and instances where Spanish was the E> and English the />. There were also periods in
which the matri" language was simply changed %from English to Spanish or vice versa5! without
any of the two acting as the embedded language.
The main topics of the conversation were /arthaGs e"perience wor2ing in St. /aryGs hospital
and an interview she had the previous wor2ing day at St. /ar2Gs hospital. #owever! other topics
were also found in the conversation! primarily related to having lunch! cleaning the apartment! a
visit from friends! and gossip about their hometown ac$uaintances.
n this conversation! 6S performed a wide variety of functions often being multifunctional.
6ode-switching was used to $uote! to fulfill the listenerGs linguistic needs! and to signal
misalignments and changes in topics! frames! and footing. t was also used to provide evaluations
of the situation being narrated and to enhance the illocutionary force of a command! particularly of
indirect re$uests.
Quotations and changes in footing
Dne of the most recurrent functions of 6S was that of $uotation. 6S was used by /artha
throughout the interaction in order to personify the different interlocutors that appeared in the
narration of events at her wor2place and her interview at St. /ar2Gs hospital! while the narration
was conducted in Spanish. t is interesting to note that by code-switching she also signaled a
change in footing from a !roduction ormats perspective %(offman! *+,H! *+,+5.
7t the beginning of the conversation! which is presented in e"cerpt * below! /artha shows her
relief by not having to go to the hospital and goes on complaining about being paged all the time.
She e"presses her complaint in Spanish %lines 0! H! 3! *- and *05 but switches into English to
*0
impersonate the conversations she has with the nurses %lines B-, and +-*-5. t appears that the
instances of 6S also help /artha to ta2e the role of animator! author! or principal. n lines 3 and
*-! by switching bac2 to Spanish and using her normal tone of voice! she appears to position
herself as the author and principal of the narration! but remaining as the animator of the $uotes.
Fhen $uoting herself in lines B and + she seems to act as both animator and author. #owever! by
changing her tone of voice to a higher pitch! she appears to rejects the role of principal. She uses a
sweet voice that is not her normal tone of voice. Pevertheless! the latter is a speculation for she
may in fact use that voice when she calls the nurses after receiving a page. f this is the case! then
in lines B and + she is assuming the role of animator! author! and principal at once.
Dn the other hand! when she $uotes the nurses in lines , and **! she uses a different tone of
voice! as if she were imitating the nurses. The code-switching alongside the change of voice allows
her to detach herself from the $uotes thus acting solely as mere animator.
Excerpt 1
1 Sara: Ay , qu bonito es ver llover y no moja:rse
{Its so nice to see the rain and not get wet}
- Martha: S, y sobretodo si tiene uno el da libre
{Yes, and specially if one has the day off}
3 Sara: Y yo que no puedo salir decc>pues tengo que hacer lo de la escuela<
{nd I that cant go o!t "eca!se I ha#e schoolwor$ to do}
% Martha: Y yo tan solo de no estar oyendo pin pin pin &&
{nd I at least I' not hearing pin pin pin}
( ))*hanging to a slight higher pitch++,i, this is doctor Mart-ne. fro' tea' fi#e
/ did so'e one page 'e0 ))*haging tone of #oice to an e#er higher pitch++
1 Yes, hi doctor Mart2ne., I wanted to as$ yo! a"o!t Mr& S!3re.&
4 ))She ret!rns to her own #oice++Y cin:co minutos ms tarde otra ve acc55pin
{nd fi#e 'in!tes later again pin pin pin}
6 pin pin55))*hanging to a slight higher pitch++ ,i, this is doctor Martine. fro'
17 tea' fi#e, did so'eone page 'e0))*hanging #oice to an e#er higher pitch++
11 8h, hi doctor Mart2ne. I wanted to disc!ss with yo! the treat'ent for Miss
19 S'ith ))she goes "ac$ to her own #oice++ y lue!o otra ve" y a cada rato&
{and then again and e#ery short while&}
*0 as es mi vida en el #ospital
{thats 'y life in the hospital}
/artha continues to complain in Spanish! this time about the ine"perience of the interns! as
shown in e"cerpt -. n order to illustrate an argument between an intern and a nurse she switches
*H
into English in lines *+--*. Even if in line *+ she had announced that she was $uoting the interns
by saying Jpor ejemplo dicenK Qfor instance they sayR! creating thus the possibility of retelling
their words in Spanish! she decides to $uote them in English. This allows her to present herself
only as the animator of the $uote. #ad she $uoted in Spanish! she could have been mista2en for the
author. n line -*! she switches into Spanish thus being again the author and principal of the
complaint.
Excerpt $
*, a donde sea que #ayan ido " el problema es que todo lo aprendieron de
{where#er they went& :he pro"le' is that they learnt e#erything fro'}
*3 de un libro decc>no tienen experiencia< y lue!o discuten con las
{a "oo$ decc>they have no experience< and they they argue with the}
16 en%ermeras" por ejemplo dicen ))*hanging to a dictatorial tone of #oice++ ;i#e
{n!rses& for instance they say}
-4 hi' three r!ns ))*hanging to a high pitch with a so'ewhat !pset #oice++ <hy
91 three r!ns doctor0 ))She ret!rns to her own #oice++ y no dan una explicaci&n
{and they dont gi#e an e=planation}

6ode-switching was also used by Sara to $uote. 7s shown in e"cerpt 0! Sara uses 6S to $uote
/artha and! at the same time! she positions herself solely as the animator of the $uote. She does
this by stating Jlet me understandK %line 03*5 in a tone of voice imitating /artha. /artha! on the
other hand! repeats the sentence %line 03-5 with her own voice! thus $uoting herself and reiterating
that she is not only the animator! but also the author and principal of the $uote. n this e"cerpt!
/artha switches bac2 to Spanish %lines 03H and 03E5 in order to continue her story thus
emphasi)ing her role as author and principal of the narration. #owever! when confronted with the
need to $uote another resident! she switches bac2 into English %line 03B5 so that she is the mere
animator of the $uote.
Excerpt '
316 Martha: si ella no es a!encia de conse!uir spots
{she is not an agency to get}
347 Sara: (or eso ella te est) ayudando porque mira t* nunca le reclamaste
{:hats why shes helping yo! "eca!se loo$ yo! ne#er co'plained to her}
341 nom)s le dijiste ))i'itating Marthas #oice++ >et 'e !n?derstand@
{yo! only told her}
*B
349 Martha: ?>et 'e !n@ derstandA
343 Sara: A!nderstand ))la!ghs++
34% Martha: +u crees que me dijo el residente el chief de all) ))changing her #oice++
{<hat do yo! thin$ the resident the} {fro' there told 'e}
34( so how co'e they are not gi#ing yo! another preli'inary0 ))going "ac$ to

34/ her #oice++ Es el enamorado ay tan buena !ente
{Its the one in lo#e ay s!ch a good person}
/artha continues to code-switch in order to $uote what she and the other resident said during
the conversation. Fhen $uoting herself! as shown in e"cerpt H! /artha does not change her tone
of voice thus positioning herself as animator! author! and principal of the $uote %lines 03+ and
0+*5. #owever! when $uoting her fellow resident she once again changes her tone of voice thus
becoming solely the animator of the $uote %line 0+-5. Then! she switches bac2 to Spanish %line
0+05 to continue with her narration! emphasi)ing her role as author and principal.
Excerpt ,
341 Sara: El que se va a casar-
{:he one who is getting 'arried0}
344 Martha: S el que se va a casar el chief el m)s joven est) en las nubes& Aparte le
{Yes the one who is getting 'arried the} {the yo!ngest hesdistracted now}
346 pre!unte sobre su fiancB <hats her na'e0::: y le #ice mmm:: porque nunca
{"esides I as$ed hi' a"o!t his} {and I said ''':: "eca!se I ne#er}
367 #a!o un comentario personal ni nada nunca nunca pero como l estaba
{'a$e a personal co''ent or anything ne#er ne#er "!t "eca!se he was}
361 #ablando de su fiancB a la #ora del l!nch le pre!unt whats her na'e
{spea$ing a"o!t his} {d!ring} {ti'e I as$ed}
369 ))changing her tone of #oice++ ,er na'e is:: ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ y se
{and he}
363 qued& as pensativo entonces le #ice asi ))changing her #oice++ s#"" c&mo
{stayed li$e this thin$ing so I did li$e this} { sh&& how}
36% que no sabes su nombre ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ nada que ver
{is it that yo! dont $now her na'e} {that was so weird}
Fulfillment of the listeners linguistic needs
7t one point in the conversation! /artha receives a phone call. The other person on the line
is 1edro! a monolingual Spanish spea2er calling from /e"ico. 7s shown in e"cerpt B /artha
*E
immediately changes from English into Spanish %line --5 when she reali)es her interlocutor is a
native Spanish spea2er. She answers with JhelloOK and changes into JholaOK and then carries out
the conversation in Spanish! with a few formulaic e"pressions in English which apparently did not
impede communication.
Excerpt .
99 Martha: ))phone rings++ let 'e answer ))phone rings again++ hello0 )7&9+ #ola- )7&(+ A#
93 (edro qui#ubo- c&mo est)s- )1+ 8h, I dont $now, bueno te paso a Sara
{Ceter whats !p0 ,ow are yo!0} {well Ill p!t Sara on the phone}
9% )7&9+ bueno qui#ubo- )%+ bueno when0 cu)ndo- en qu %ec#as- )(&(+
{8D whats !p0} {8D} {when0 in what dates0}
9( A#/ )7&9+ 0aray #ijola )7&3+ pero qu le contaste no le contas )4+ a# #ijola
{!ppss} {"!t what did yo! tell hi' yo! didnt tell}{ah !pss}
9/ )7&9+ t* que le contaste cuando te dijo cuntame de 1art#a2 )1+ no no
{what did yo! tell hi' what did yo! tell hi' when he told yo! tell 'e a"o!t}
91 tras )1&(+ aj) )16+ si !racias por la advertencia 8D )1&9+ si )3&9+ bueno
{Martha no no !ps yeah} {yes than$ yo! for the warning} {yes} {well}
94 pues a ver que pasa ))la!ghter++ )9+ bueno )1+ E===E )4+ ))la!ghter++
{well see what happens} {8D}
96 Asi dijo- &rale )1+ aj) )4+ bueno (edro i!ualmente que ests muy bien
{,e said so0 wow} {yeah} {well Ceter yo! too I hope yo! are doing fine}
37 te paso a Sara #asta lue!o "ye
{,ere is Sara see yo! later}
Evaluation of the situation being narrated
@uring the narration about her interview at St. /ar2Gs hospital! /artha uses English to tell the
story and to $uote the participants. however! as shown in the e"cerpts presented in this section!
/artha uses Spanish as a means to evaluate the situation being narrated. She provides judgments
on the situation in Spanish. These judgments are sometimes followed by comments made by Sara.
n e"cerpt E! /artha tells of her arrival in the hospital and the welcome she received from one of
the secretaries. n line *+0! she evaluates the situation positively! by saying Jha) de cuenta $ue
lleg? la reina the 1rusiaK Qjust as if the Nava $ueen had arrivedR! emphasi)ing the word JreinaK
Q$ueenR. Fith this sentence she evaluates the situation indicating that she was being treated with
respect and deference! just as if she had been a very important person! a $ueen. Then! after the
evaluation! she continues her narration in English.
*,
Excerpt 3
167 Martha: than$ yo! #ery '!ch E====E so so then first "y the way when I first arri#ed the
*+* secretary that I had to write an e5'ail since I got there she was )7&9+ ))raising
*+- her pitch and with an enth!siastic #oice++ MarthaF )7&9+ ))going "ac$ to her own
163 #oice++ #a de cuenta que lle!& la reina de (ru:sia/ 45"$6 and then that
{G!st as if the Ha::#a I!een had arri#ed}
16% office where they too$ 'eA
16( Sara: A'''A
16/ Martha: Athe fe'ale s!rgeon who inter#iewed 'e
161 she has a new office she re'odeled itA
/artha continues to narrate her encounter with other secretaries. n e"cerpt , she tells about
one encounter and $uotes herself and a secretary in English. #owever! when $uestioned by Sara
about the identity of her interlocutor! she replies that it was a secretary and once again evaluates
the behavior of that secretary towards her in Spanish. n line -*E she mentions Jpero no ten;a
necesidad deK Qshe did not have the need toR and Sara aligns with her and completes her sentence
in Spanish by saying in line -*3 Jser amableK Qbe 2indR. 7fter both Sara and /arta co-evaluate the
situation! /artha goes bac2 to telling the story in English in line -*+.
Excerpt 7
911 8hF yo! '!st "e #ery tired ))"ac$ to her nor'al #oice++ no no, I was #ery
919 l!c$y "eca!se I got here fast E!nintelligi"leE and then she was ))raising pitch of
913 #oice++ nice to 'eet yo! nice to 'eet yo!A
91% Sara: A that was the secretary right0A
91( Martha: Ayes
91/ the secretary )7&(+ pero no tenia necesidad de8
{"!t she did not ha#e the need to}
911 Sara: 8ser amable
{"e $ind}@
914 45"$6 especialmente en esta ciudad
{partic!larly in this city}
916 Martha: Y despus de eso So the first 'ale doctor went well he said ))changing her
{and after that}
/artha continues her narrations by telling about her encounters with the doctors. n e"cerpt 3
she is $uoting in English what one of them told her %lines -H4--HH5. Dnce again! she evaluates the
situation in Spanish! tal2ing about the protective attitude of the doctor %line -HB5! and then
reflecting on her beliefs regarding the doctorGs sincerity %line -H,5. Dnce more! Sara aligns with
her and helps in the evaluation of the situation finishing /arthaGs thought %line -H+5. The data
*3
seems to evidence that both participants are aligned as /artha! in line -B*! continues the story in
English! without contradicting SaraGs comment.
Excerpt 9
934 Sara: 8h no on the contrary so'eone whos here 'ight get $ic$ed o!t and yo! 'ight
936 get the placeA
9%7 Martha: Ae=actly ))changing her #oice again++ "eca!se yo! $now 'any
9%1 ti'es we !nfort!nately find o!t too late that we 'ade a 'ista$e yo! $now in
9%9 the 'atch the C;1 the first year residents we choose the' witho!t $nowing
9%3 the' and then when they are here we reali.e that we 'ade a 'ista$e and
9%% thats why we prefer to gi#e it so'eone li$e yo! and not so'eone li$e that
9%( ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ pero el ya #abl)ndome como prote!indome
{"!t he already tal$ing li$e protecting 'e}
9%/ Sara: 1mm
9%1 Martha: (ero te voy a decir no conoco la #onestidad del doctor pero yo creo por
{>et 'e tell yo! I do not $now how sincere the doctor is "!t I "elie#e fro'}
9%4 que #e visto :que;
{from what Ive seen [that]}
9%6 Sara: :aqu; la !ente no te promete al!o as a menos que te va
{?here@ people dont pro'ise yo! anything li$e that !nless}
9(7 a cumplir
{they are going to stic$ to their word}
9(1 Martha: nd the other doctor the fe'ale doctor she told 'e ))changing her #oice++
9(9 yo! $now Martha here yo! ha#e a high possi"ility of getting a categorical
Increasing illocutionary force of a command alongside changes in frame and footing
6ode-switching is also used by /artha as a means to increase the illocutionary force of a
command. Three times during the conversation she uses Spanish to give Sara direct or indirect
orders to do certain household tas2s. n these cases! /artha did not use Spanish as a reiteration of
a command said in English. instead! she used Spanish directly to command Sara. This immediate
use of Spanish could be seen as a means to position herself as a figure of authority! since in
/e"ican culture the eldest sibling usually has authority over the younger ones. Therefore! by
switching into Spanish! /artha does not only increase the illocutionary force! but she also signals a
change in frame and footing.
n e"cerpt +! /artha is narrating her visit to the hospital %line *4+5! but reali)es that the garbage
can is full and therefore utters a complaint that can be interpreted as a command. n lines **--**0
/artha tells Sara Jeste bote ya se llen?! a ver si lo vas cambiandoK Qthis trash can is already full!
*+
why donGt you change itR! thus signaling a change in frame and footing. /artha is no longer the
narrator of the story. she is now the older sister who is upset about her younger sister not cleaning
up the apartment! and one who has the right to order the younger sibling to clean it up. She signals
the change not only by code-switching! but also by using a complaining tone of voice. 7 frame
shift also occurs. /artha and Sara are no longer in the narration of the interview frame. they are
now in the complaining about cleaning frame. Sara aligns with /artha by immediately emptying
the garbage can and replacing the garbage bag.
Excerpt <
176 Martha: Ya voy ))Martha enters the $itchen 97 seconds later++ :he s!"way is a"o!t
{I' co'ing}
117 two "ig "loc$s away fro' the hospital
111 Sara: Is that the closest to the hospital0
119 Martha: Yes, ))loo$ing down and with a co'plaining #oice++ este bote ya se llen&, a ver
{this trash can is already f!ll,}
113 si lo vas cambiando, siempre es lo mismo
{why dont yo! change it, its always the sa'e}
))Martha goes to the dish washer and starts e'ptying it, Sarah e'pties the gar"age can, closes the "ag and p!ts
in a new "ag, then proceeds to wash her hands J a"o!t three 'in!tes elapse "etween lines 11% and 11(++
n e"cerpt *4! /artha once again uses Spanish to give Sara an indirect command. 7fter SaraGs
suggestion that they should eat first and then empty the dishwasher! /artha misaligns with her
complaining in Spanish Jcomo si fueras a vaciar la lavadoraK Qas if you were going to empty the
dishwasherR %line **B5. Sara immediately aligns with /artha replying in Spanish that she will do it
later %line **E5! thus accepting that it is her job to empty the dishwasher. Sara then switches into
English to as2 /artha about the hospital %line **,5. Fith the last code-switch Sara is signaling a
change in frame and footing. She is no longer the young sister who follows orders! but an eager
listener to a narration. She also accomplishes a change in frames which is followed by /artha
who continues her story in English thus accepting the narration frame %line **35.
Excerpt 15
11% Sara: >ets eat first and then Ill e'pty the dish5washer
11( Martha: como si si %ueras a vaciar la lavadora
{as if yo! were going to e'pty the dishwasher}
-4
11/ Sara: S lue!o lo #a!o
{Yes Ill do it later}
))Martha closes the dishwasher and goes to the ta"le++
111 Sara: )9+ So what happened0 Since the hospital was two "loc$s away
114 Martha: Yo! thin$ we li#e in a Hewish neigh"orhood0 Yo! dont $now whats Hewish
116 people I#e "een in a 'o#i eA
197 Sara: A8h 'y goodnessF
E"cerpt ** is the last instance in which /artha uses Spanish to increase the illocutionary force
of a re$uest. She is giving Sara details about her interview with one of the doctors! when!
suddenly noticing that the sin2 is not clean she tells Sara Jmira esto no se lav? bien! hay $ue
fijarseK Qsee this is not clean enough! one needs to pay attentionR %line *,E5. 7lthough Sara does
not align in an e"press manner with /artha! she also does not contradict her! for she allows /artha
to go bac2 to the narration frame without interrupting her! even though a second pause elapsed in
which she could have stolen the floor to misalign with /artha.
Excerpt 11
111 Martha: ))with to her own #oice++ "efore and d!ringA
119 Sara: A<hats that0A
113 Martha: Ad!ringA
11% Sara: Ah "efore
11( and d!ring 8D acc55I didnt get it J
11/ Martha: ))<al$ing towards the sin$++ mira esto no se lavo bien, #ay que %ijarse 416
{see this is not clean eno!gh, one needs to pay attention}
111 "!t "!t )7&(+ then he said I did it 'ore for the "enefits than for the pay
114 Sara: S'art person
Signaling changes in frames and topic
Throughout the conversation it seems that frame and topic are somehow interrelated. n e"cerpt
*- Sara uses code-switching across turns in order to signal a change in topics. n line H+! Sara
$uestions /artha about her appointment thus aligning with the narration of the interview frame.
#owever! in line B*! Sara decides to change the topic. She accomplishes this by code-switching
-*
into Spanish and as2ing /artha if the notes she gave her were useful. /artha does not code-
switch! but aligns with her e"plaining why the notes were wrong and how she managed to get to
the hospital.
The whole conversation revolving around subways and maps ta2es place in English %lines B0-
EE5. Then! in line EE Sara as2s /artha JSo what happenedK and in line E, reiterates her $uestion in
Spanish J$u= hiciste cuando llegasteOK Qwhat did you do when you arrivedR! thus signaling a
change in topics and frames. &y reiterating the $uestion in Spanish she seems to close the
discussion about the subway thus bringing /artha and herself bac2 into the narration of the
interview frame. 7lthough /artha does not code-switch! it is interesting to note that she
ac2nowledges the two instances in which Sarah code-switches aligningwith her and the topics the
code-switch introduced: the discussion about the subway and the interview at St. /ar2Gs.
Excerpt 1$
%6 Sara: <hat ti'e was yo!r appoint'ent0A
(7 Martha: A8neA
(1 Sara: ASo: acc55las notas que te escrib
{acc-- were the notes I wrote for}
(9 te sirvieron?--
{yo! !sef!l0}

(3 Martha: ;!ess what0 KoA
(% Sara: AKo0A
(( Martha: AYo! ta$e the cross town and then yo! need to ta$e
(/ the L or * change at *ol!'"!s *ircleA
(1 Sara: A8hF M!t so the 'ap is not right, "!t
(4 then it was the sa'e, yo! went to fifty5ninth then0
(6 Martha: 8h yeah, it wor$ed perfectly "!t loo$ at the 'ap here loo$ at the crosstown
/7 loo$ a the 'ap ))gi#ing Sara the 'ap++
/1 Sara: M!t here it doesnt show apparently on ninety si=th street they ha#e the
/9 ,*,N,LA
/3 Martha: AKo, no, no "eca!se ?loo$@
/% Sara: ?,:::@ I didnt pay attention I e#en tho!gh of
/( telling yo! li$e if it doesnt co'e go to fifty5ninth street, acc55because thats
// hat I did the other time!--""!t acc--you figured it out55 So, what happened!
/1 Qu hiciste cuando llegaste a las doce?
{<hat did yo! do when yo! got there at twel#e0}
/4 Martha: I arri#ed )1+ and I waited
/6 Sara: <here0
17 Martha: Oifteen 'in!tes downstairs in another chair where ?E===E@
11 Sara: ?h 8D@ ))la!ghs++
--
Sometimes! as evidenced in e"cerpt *0! code-switching served a two-fold purpose: to signal a
frame change and alignment between the participants. n line *4B! by switching into Spanish! Sara
signals that the narration frame is over and that the lunch frame has begun. /artha shows no
objection to this abrupt change of frame and topic. Dn the contrary! she aligns with Sara by
replying to her $uestion in Spanish %line *4,5. She could have also aligned by replying in English!
but it seems that her reply in Spanish and the use of the diminutive for soup JsopitaK! which is very
common in their hometown! also serves to reinforce solidarity between the sisters(
7t the end of the e"cerpt! /artha brings both of them bac2 into the narration frame by
switching into English and telling Sara about the location of the hospital %line *4+5. Sara aligns
with her and accepts the narration frame and her role as listener by as2ing /artha a $uestion in
English %line **45.
Excerpt 1'
177 Martha: )7&(+ here theres a policy so a lesser chance that they will gi#e 'e a
171 position )7&(+ o#er there the first thing that the doctor told 'e well here the
179 first thin$ Lr& Hones told 'e its a #ery co'petiti#e progra' 'ay"e the 'ost
173 that we can do is gi#e yo! a p!sh to so'ething elsewhereA
17% Sara: A#ou to$d me that
17( before< )7&9+ P', djame ir a ver la sopa ))Sara goes to the $itchen++
{let 'e go chec$ the so!p}
17/ la quieres caldosa o c&mo-
{do yo! want it with "roth0}
171 Martha: 1ira primero caldosa para tomarla como sopita
{Oirst with "roth to ta$e it li$e little so!p}
))Oi#e 'in!tes later Sara calls fro' the $itchen++
174 Sara: Ya est)
{Its ready}
176 Martha: Ya voy ))Martha enters the $itchen 97 seconds later++ :he s!"way is a"o!t
{I' co'ing}
117 two "ig "loc$s away fro' the hospital
n e"cerpt *H Sara shows she is in the narration frame by as2ing /artha a $uestion in English
%line **,5. 7lthough /artha ac2nowledges the narration frame! the data shows that she begins by
ma2ing a comment about the neighborhood in English and then suddenly changes into Spanish to
-0
tal2 about the people that live in the neighborhood %line *-*5. t appears that by code-switching
into Spanish! /artha is setting a new frame: the gossip frame.
7s evidenced in e"cerpt *H! both Sara and /artha engage in gossip about Newish people!
describing how they loo2! comparing them with 7sians and with the stereotypes of films and plays
%9iddler on the roof! line *0*5. &y doing this in Spanish! it seems that they signal that! although
they are immigrants themselves! they are different from the Newish immigrants. &y switching into
Spanish! it appears as if the sisters use the Jwe-codeK to distinguish themselves from all other
immigrants who must use a common code! English! to communicate with one another.
Excerpt 1,
197 Sara: A8h 'y goodnessFA
191 Martha: A =os cairelitos y todas las
A {the little hair c!rls and all the
199 mujeres con sus bombinetos y sus %aldas esas ))la!ghs++ como los
{wo'en with their special hats and those s$irts} {it is li$e the}
*-0 asi)ticos que no sabe uno )7&(+ todas las mujeres #a de cuenta
son
{sian that one doesnt $now )7&(+ all the wo'en are as if they are}
*-H twins y los #ombres son twinsA
{and the 'en are}
*-B Sara: Acon sus cair:elitos@A
A{with their little ?c!rls}@A
*-E Martha: :todos@A
{all of the'}A
*-, Sara: 8># 1ara
A{8h Mlessed
*-3 SantsimaFA
MaryF}A
*-+ Martha: A0omo en una como viviendo en una pelculaA
A{>i$e in a li$e li#ing in a 'o#ie}A
137 Sara: ASacado del
A{:a$en fro'
131 violinista en el tejado-8
{:a$en fro' the fiddler on the roof0}A
n e"cerpt *B! /artha switches into Spanish to signal a change in frames. She e"its the narration
frame in line --B by as2ing Sara in Spanish about the soup. Sara aligns and accepts the lunch
-H
frame by replying in Spanish %line --E5. 9urthermore! she uses the words Jmicha y michaK which
are in fact a very informal way of saying Jmitad y mitadK Qhalf and halfR. This change not only of
language! but of style! seems to reinforce solidarity between the sisters. The lunch frame is carried
about solely in Spanish. /artha switches to English to continue with the narration frame in line
-04.
Excerpt 1.
993 Martha: ))changing #oice++ so yo! do not want a preli'inary ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++
99% no no I a' open to any possi"ility ))changing her #oice++ so in the 'atch what
99( happened0 ))"ac$ to her own #oice++ I only applied for categoricals )7&(+ Esto es
{Is this}
99/ todo lo que #ay ya- ))referring to the so!p++
{all thats left}
991 Sara: 1ic#a y mic#a podemos poner m)s8
{,alf and half we can 'a$e 'ore}
994 Martha: ASi porque esto no va a alcanar
{Yes "eca!se this is not going to "e eno!gh+
996 Sara: 4<6 ?as a comer esto aqu o en la computadora
{re yo! going to eat this here or in the co'p!ter}
937 Martha: En la computadora )3+ so with hi' and then at the end I said again stressing
{In the co'p!ter}
931 that so I wanted to 'a$e it clear that 'y goal is the categorical
The data also shows that code-switching does not only signal a change in frames %e.g. narration
vs. gossiping5! but that it also signals the places where the events ta2e place %:nited States and
/e"ico5. 7s shown in e"cerpt *E! Sara sets the events in Pew Sor2 6ity stating that 6arla should
come when they are in Pew Sor2 %line 0-E5! then she refers to the e-mail sent by 6arla that tal2s
about her trip to the :nited States%line 0-,5. She tal2s about the trip in English! thus apparently
distancing the events from /e"ico. /artha uses English in line 00* to refer to the Rotary 6lub! an
international organi)ation that was created in the :nited States.
#owever! in line 000! /artha code-switches into Spanish to start the gossip frame that revolves
around critici)ing and moc2ing 7ndr=s! a businessman from their hometown. n line 00H she
mentions Jen una sociedad $ue lo permiteK Qin a society that allows itR! apparently signaling that
this society is the /e"ican society since she ma2es the comment in Spanish and not in English.
-B
&oth sisters distance the actions from the :nited States and bring them all the way bac2 to /e"ico
by carrying the gossip frame in Spanish %lines 00,-0B+5. 9inally! in line 0E4! /artha concludes by
saying that it is very different from what happens here! closing the
gossip frame with this statement in Spanish and going bac2 to the narration frame immediately
after in English %lines 0E4-0E*5.
Excerpt 13
39/ Sara: <ell, she sho!ld co'e in the s!''er when we are still here and stay for a
391 longer period "!t I g!ess that will not "e possi"le yo! $now )7&(+ she wrote
394 an e5'ail the tic$et is for thirty days so thats why "eca!se trip is only going
396 to "e two wee$s "eca!se decc>Andrs< did not do things on ti'e so they
337 only ha#e two wee$s one in ;er'any and one in ,olland
331 Martha: ,e doesnt reali.e that the Qotary *l!" does things one year ahead
339 Sara: Yeah and gosh he 'a$es so '!ch 'oney its !n"elie#a"le
333 Martha: Es lo que di!o, como le #acen, como #acen ese dinero es a travs de
{:hats what I say, how do they do it, how do they 'a$e that '!ch 'oney}
33% ma@as y trucos en una sociedad que lo permite
{its thro!gh c!nning and tric$s in a society that allows it}
33( Sara: Ae voy a decir que en el caso de l pues si ma@as8
{>et 'e tell yo! that in his case well yes it is c!nning}A
33/ Martha: 8ma@as siempre #ay
{there is always c!nning}

33153(6 ))Oro' lines 331 to 3(6 Martha and Sarah engage in critici.ing and 'oc$ing ndrBs "y
I!oting hi' in Spanish as he 'a$es false pro'ises to his teachers++
3(6 Martha: estoy esperando que ven!a el m)rmol de Btalia ))going "ac$ to her
{I' waiting for the 'ar"le to co'e fro' Italy}
3/7 own #oice++ cosa que es muy di%erente de lo que pasa aqu )7&(+ so
{so'ething that is #ery different fro' what happens here}
3/1 thats what she said at the end ))changing her #oice++ there are certain
3/9 possi"ilities ))changing to her own #oice++ and I said than$ yo! yes I' interested
onstruction of identity as elite bilinguals
There are two instances in the conversation in which inter-sentential code-switching across
turns seems to construct the participantsG identity as elite bilinguals. This is accomplished not only
by the words spo2en! but by interlocutorsG language choice! which seems to distance them from the
circumstantial bilinguals or monolingual /e"icans who immigrate to the :nited States.
-E
n e"cerpt *,! /artha and Sarah are tal2ing about the neighborhood where St. /ar2Gs hospital
is located. /artha describes the Newish environment and then! in line *00! she comments that
there is! as usual! a /e"ican restaurant. /artha also comments on the negative characteristics of
the man seated outside of it! and Sara aligns with her %lines *00-*0B5. n line *0, /artha uses the
e"pression Jtal cual nuestra genteK QthatGs how our people areR to continue the gossip about the
/e"icans in Pew Sor2! but in this case Sara completely misaligns. n line *03 Sara switches into
English and misaligns with /artha. Sara $uestions /artha Jour 2indOK and then stresses the word
JsorryK and goes on saying Jthey are from our country but they are not our 2indK. Sara could have
said this in Spanish and misalign with /artha. #owever! it seems that by choosing English to state
these words! she does not only misalign with /artha! but distances herself from that man seated
outside the restaurant and from all immigrants ali2e. That is! she! who spea2s English and is a
graduate student! should not be confused with JthemK! the /e"ican immigrants who idle outside
ethnic restaurants and do not spea2 English. &y replying in English she is thus showing she can
spea2 English and she is an elite bilingual having fluent 2nowledge of English before her arrival in
the :S. #er sister 2nows this and Sara has no need to tell her that! but it appears that by using
English she reassures herself of her position and presents herself as an elite bilingual. t is also
interesting to note that Sara switches again bac2 into Spanish to 2eep on critici)ing the man outside
the restaurant %line *0+5. t appears that once she has distanced herself from him! she feels free to
critici)e him in Spanish and carry on the gossip frame.
Excerpt 17
196 Martha: A0omo en una como viviendo en una pelculaA
A{:a$en fro'
{:a$en fro' the fiddler the roof0}A
139 Martha: Adecc>Totalmente< acc55o sea 55pero no
A{ decc>%omp$ete$y< accRthat is&but there}
133 m)s no %alta restorante tapato, a# y a%uera sentado un c#aparro !ordo
-,
is a$ways tapat-o
9
resta!rant, ah and seated o!tside a short fat 'an}
13% as !ordo %eo que nunca %alta
{li$e this fat and !gly li$e the ones there are always there}
13( Sara: S, abundan en Kew Yor$
{Yes, there are plenty in}
13/ Martha: Aal cual, nuestra !ente
{:hats how o!r people are}
131 Sara: 8!r $ind0 Sorry, they are fro' o!r co!ntry "!t they are not o!r $ind
136 )7&(+ Cmm, a# ec#ando a perder el cuadro
{there, r!ining the #iew}
1%7 Martha: Si, totalmente
{Yes, co'petely}

7s stated earlier! code-switching often signaled a change in topic. n e"cerpt *3 /artha is
narrating in English part of her interview with one of the doctors at St. /ar2Gs. #owever! in line
-E4! she code-switches to signal a topic change. The topic now is no longer the interview but the
7&STE e"am. Sara and /artha are both aligned tal2ing in Spanish about the test. #owever!
when Sara points out about how some people score low even if it is in their language %lines -EB-
-E,5! /artha misaligns with her and switches into English challenging Sara and saying J7nd!
andOK %line -E35. t seems that by challenging Sara in English and not in Spanish! /artha is
presenting herself as someone who 2nows English and therefore cannot argue that language is an
intervening factor on her test performance. She appears to distance herself from those immigrants
who blame their bad results on their language proficiency. Sara then aligns with /artha and
replies in English! ac2nowledging that what matters is the content! that not 2nowing English is not
an e"cuse %lines -E+ and -,-5. Fith this! Sara is also constructing their identity as elite bilinguals!
because even if she recogni)es that they are Spanish dominant! %line -E+5 she believes that they
should be able to cope with everything in English %line -,-5.
Switching into English to recogni)e the role of English in the wor2place and not disputing it
seems to distance the sisters from monolingual immigrants or circumstantial bilinguals who
-
The adjective Jtapat;oK refers to someone/something that was born/produced/representative of the state of Nalisco!
/="ico.
-3
complain about the dominance of English and feel that their native language is undermined and
even threatened. The data suggests that neither /artha nor Sara feel their >* is undermined or
endangered by English and conse$uently portray themselves as elite bilinguals.
Excerpt 19
9(3 afterwards decc>of course you have to proof yourse$f you have to get good
9(% grades in the '()I*+< we are p!shing for eighty percent, ))going "ac$ to her
9(( own #oice++ I got a fifty5fi#e ))changing her #oice again++ we are shooting for an
9(/ eightyA
9(1 Sara: Aeighty5eight or eighty0
9(4 Martha: eighty
9(6 Sara: )7&(+ 8 well
9/7 Martha: Si #e sabido de !ente que saca treinta
{I ha#e $nown of people who score thirty}
9/1 Sara: A# claro
{h of co!rse}
9/9 Martha: 0laro eso no me sirve de nada
{8f co!rse that doesnt help 'e at all}
9/3 Sara: (ues no mal de muc#os consuelo de tontos pero8
{<ell no "eca!se 'isfort!neof others is G!st a fools co'fort "!t}
9/% Martha: 8(ero8
{M!t}
9/( Sara: A(ero que
{M!t that}
9// ))chaging to an e=tre'ely high pitch of #oice++ ellos sacan treinta y es en su
{they get thirty and it is in their}
9/1 idioma
{lang!age}
9/4 Martha: nd, and0
9/6 Sara: Meca!se in a way e#en if its content one in a certain way is at a
917 disad#antage
911 Martha: Yes "!t "!t still that doesnt co!nt
919 Sara: <ell, of co!rse it doesnt co!nt it sho!ldnt co!nt "eca!se the instr!ctions
913 yo! will "e gi#ing and recei#ing are going to "e in Nnglish and e#erything
91% has to "e in Nnglish thats not an e=c!se thats G!st reality )7&(+ so what
91( happened&
There were also two instances in which intra-sentential code-switching seems to construct the
participantsG identity as elitebilinguals. n e"cerpt *+! while tal2ing in Spanish about the other
residents and their medical schools! /artha adapts the words J&er2eleyK and J#arvardK
phonologically! thus pronouncing them in perfect English! something a Spanish monolingual
spea2er would not be able to do. &y showing she can pronounce these proper nouns in correct
-+
English! and not in the Spanish version! /artha seems to position herself as an educated elite
bilingual %/yers-Scotton *++0a5.
Excerpt 1<
1/ Martha: dar un tratamiento de acuerdo a donde estudio Dusia Mer$eley ,ar#ard&
{gi#e a treat'ent depending on where heEshe st!died, Q!ssia}
*, A donde sea que #ayan ido"
{where#er they went to st!dy}
n e"cerpt -4! while e"changing gossip about the /e"ican residents in a Pew Sor2
neighborhood! Sara inserts the wor2 JPew Sor2K in an otherwise Spanish sentence. n line *0B
she uses JPew Sor2K instead of the Spanish version JPueva Sor2K! and she also adapts it
phonologically into English. &y showing! that she can pronounce this proper noun in English! Sara
seems to position herself as an educated elite bilingual %/yers-Scotton! *++0a5.
Excerpt $5
13% Martha: as !ordo %eo que nunca %alta
{li$e this fat and !gly li$e the ones there are always there}
{:hats how o!r people is}
C&%C-'SI&%
This study provides evidence that code-switching occurs in bilingual speech even at the most
intimate level. t also illustrates the great variety of functions code-switching played in the
interaction of two Spanish/English bilingual sisters of /e"ican descent. The study demonstrates
that code-switching can be used by the spea2ers to accomplish more than one function at once! and
that it is therefore advisable to analy)e the functions concurrently instead of separately.
The analyses of the data showed that code-switching was used to $uote and at the same time to
signal changes in footing! thus allowing the participants to presents themselves as animators!
authors or principals of the $uotes. t also evidenced that 6S was used to signal changes in frames
04
and topics! as well as to evaluate the situation. The analyses also showed that by using code-
switching to increase the illocutionary force of a command! changes in frame and footing also
occurred. 9inally! the analyses seem to suggest that by code-switching into English to show
misalignments or to insert a proper noun in an otherwise Spanish utterance! the participants
construct their identity as elite bilinguals.
The analyses evidenced that English was mostly used to narrate formal events that too2 place in
the :nited States and to $uote English spea2ers. t also evidenced that Spanish was used to
complain! to command! to tal2 about daily issues %i.e. lunch! cleaning5 and to gossip. t seems that
by code-switching into Spanish! the participants are using the Jwe-codeK! thus reinforcing
solidarity and intimacy among them. Dn the other hand! by using English to tal2 about formal
events and to $uote English spea2ers! the participants are ac2nowledging English as the means of
communication for out-group relations.
Df particular interest were the findings related to the participantsG construction as elite
bilinguals. There were two instances in the conversation in which the participants misaligned with
each other and double signaled their misalignment by code-switching into English. The data
suggests that these misalignments had an effect that went above signaling disagreement: they
appear to help the participants construct their identity as elite bilinguals. &y code-switching into
English on those occasions! the participants appear to distance themselves from the rest of the
immigrant population who do not spea2 English or who spea2 very limited English. They portray
themselves as being fully able to spea2 English and in an e"pressive manner! ac2nowledging and
approving of the role of English in the wor2place. &y doing this! they seem to show that they do
not feel that their native language is being threatened by the dominance of English in most
domains of 7merican life.
0*
This study provides further evidence that bilingual spea2ers can accomplish with code-
switching what monolingual spea2ers can accomplish only through other conte"tuali)ation cues.
9urthermore! it illustrates that by code-switching bilingual spea2ers double-signal their changes in
frames! alignment and footing! thus ma2ing it easier for the other participants to identify those
changes and react accordingly. The study evidences that code-switching is often used with other
conte"tuali)ation cues! and that! by doing so! bilingual spea2ers are able to produce a discursive
effect far greater than monolinguals can.
-imitations of the stud"
7 significant limitation of this study is the inability to generali)e the results due to the number
of participants and the limited data corpus. t would be necessary to record more conversations
both between the participants and between them! their friends and their co-wor2ers in order to
identify how code-switching operates when tal2ing to non-family members and in the wor2
environment. These conversations would also help identify whether code-switching produces
changes in footing from a !artici!ation ramewor" perspective. 7 fuller documentation of
interaction would then show whether the two participants construct their identity as elite bilinguals
by means of code-switching in the presence of others.
irections for further research
Since there seems not to be e"tensive research on recent immigrants with e"tensive formal
education! there is great need for the e"pansion of such wor2. Studies of 6S in Spanish/English
bilinguals of /e"ican descent have been carried out mainly with first generation immigrants who
arrive with little formal education or with second generation /e"ican-7mericans. t would be
0-
interesting to conduct parallel research on both populations to find out whether the participants use
code-switching as means to construct their identity as circumstantial or elite bilinguals.
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0,
!ppendix $
Transcription Con2entions
W overlap begins
W
X overlap ends
X
Y Po interval between two spea2ersG utterances. 7lso lin2s different parts of one
spea2erGs continuous utterance when the speech goes onto another line due to an
intervening line by a different spea2er.
%4.45 timed pause
! untimed pause %it refers to normal pauses between constituents or utterances5
: sound e"tension %the more! the longer the e"tension5
. stopping fall in tone
O rising inflection
Z animated tone
%% 55 researchers comments about the interaction
/"/ unintelligible word
/"""/ unintelligible words
7&6 increased volume
underline emphasis
rising intonation in the preceding word or syllable
falling intonation in the preceding word or syllable
acc--abc-- encloses speech with an increase in speed delivery
deccFabcG encloses speech with a decrease in speed of delivery
focus of attention
English tal2 in English in regular script
Espa3ol tal2 in Spanish in bold script
{translation} translation of Spanish into Nnglis
03
!ppendix 4
Transcript of the con2ersation #etween Martha and Sara Mart5ne6
1 Sara: Ay , qu bonito es ver llover y no moja:rse
{Its so nice to see the rain and not get wet}
9 Martha: S, y sobretodo si tiene uno el da libre
{Yes, and specially if one has the day off}
3 Sara: Y yo que no puedo salir decc>pues tengo que hacer lo de la escuela<
{nd I that cant go o!t "eca!se I ha#e schoolwor$ to do}
% Martha: Y yo tan solo de no estar oyendo pin pin pin &&
{nd I at least I' not hearing pin pin pin}

( ))*hanging to a slight higher pitch++,i, this is doctor Mart-ne. fro' tea' three
/ did so'e one page 'e0 ))*haging tone of #oice to an e#er higher pitch++
1 Yes, hi doctor Mart-ne., I wanted to as$ yo! a"o!t Mr& S!3re.&
4 ))She ret!rns to her own #oice++Y cin:co minutos m)s tarde otra ve acc55pin
{nd fi#e 'in!tes later again pin pin pin}
6 pin pin55))*hanging to a slight higher pitch++ ,i, this is doctor Martine. fro'
17 tea' three, did so'eone page 'e0))*hanging #oice to an e#er higher pitch++
11 8h, hi doctor Mart-ne. I wanted to disc!ss with yo! the treat'ent for Miss
19 S'ith ))she goes "ac$ to her own #oice++ y lue!o otra ve" y a cada rato&
{and then again and e#ery short while&}
13 as es mi vida en el #ospital&acc55Si estoy en el operating room no recibo
& {:hats 'y life in the hospital& acc55If I a' in the} {I dont get}
1% ningn page55 pero cuando sal!o es un problema porque lue!o #ay
{any} {"!t when I get o!t its a pro"le' "eca!se then there are}
1( desavenencias en las indicaciones mdicas" cada intern quiere dar un
{disagree'ents in the 'edical instr!ctions& each} {wants to gi#e a}
1/ tratamiento de acuerdo a donde estudio Dusia Mer$eley ,ar#ard&
{treat'ent depending on where heEshe st!died, Q!ssia}
11 a donde sea que #ayan ido" El problema es que todo lo aprendieron de
{where#er they went& :he pro"le' is that they learnt e#erything fro'}
14 de un libro decc>no tienen experiencia< y lue!o discuten con las
{a "oo$ decc>they have no experience< and they they argue with the}
16 en%ermeras" por ejemplo dicen ))*hanging to a dictatorial tone of #oice++ ;i#e
{n!rses& Oor instance they say}
97 hi' three r!ns ))*hanging to a high pitch with a so'ewhat !pset #oice++ <hy
-* three r!ns doctor0 ))She ret!rns to her own #oice++ y no dan una explicaci&n
{and they dont gi#e an e=planation}
99 ))phone rings++ let 'e answer ))phone rings again++ hello0 )7&9+ #ola- )7&(+ A#
0+
{hello0} {h}
93 (edro qui#ubo- cS'o est3s0 )1+ 8h, I dont $now, bueno te paso a Sara
{Ceter whats !p0 ,ow are yo!0} {well Ill p!t Sara on the phone}
9% )7&9+ bueno qui#ubo- )%+ bueno when0 cu)ndo- en qu %ec#as- )(&(+
{8D whats !p0} {8D} {when0 in what dates0}
9( A#/ )7&9+ 0aray #ijola )7&3+ pero qu le contaste no le contas )4+ ah hiGola
{!ppss} {"!t what did yo! tell hi' yo! didnt tell}{ah !pss}
9/ )7&9+ t* que le contaste cuando te dijo cuntame de 1art#a2 )1+ no no
{what did yo! tell hi' what did yo! tell hi' when he told yo! tell 'e a"o!t}
91 tras )1&(+ aj) )16+ si !racias por la advertencia 8D )1&9+ si )3&9+ bueno
{Martha} {no no !ps yeah} {yes than$ yo! for the warning}{yes} {well}
94 pues a ver que pasa ))la!ghter++ )9+ bueno )1+ E===E )4+ ))la!ghter++
{well see what happens} {8D}
96 Asi dijo- &rale )1+ aj) )4+ bueno (edro i!ualmente que ests muy bien
{,e said so0 wow} {yeah} {well Ceter yo! too I hope yo! are doing fine}

37 te paso a Sara #asta lue!o "ye
{,ere is Sara see yo! later}
31 Sara: acc--uego me cuentas qu te di!o-- ))Sara ta$es the phone and wal$s away++
{:ell 'e later what he said to yo!}
%%Sara wal2s into her bedroom with the phone! thus ma2ing the recording impossible.
7bout ten minutes later Sara comes out of her bedroom with the phone off55
39 Sara: +u pas&- qu te dijo- no o bien
{<hat happened0 <hat did he tell yo!0 I didnt hear well}
33 Martha: :hat Mig!el wants to co'e again on his ret!rnA
3% Sara: AYea:h I G!st got the e5'ail
3( fro' *arla )7&(+ one wee$ "efore and one wee$ after fro' the ele#enth to
3/ the twentieth and then after the e=change
31 Martha: :heyd "etter get !sed to the idea that I wont "e aro!nd )7&(+ "eca!se
34 decc>I' e=tre'ely "!syE )7&9+ Meca!se in the hospital, for e=a'ple
36 yesterday ?s soon@
%7 Sara: ?Yo!r eyes@ are so red, yo! ha#e to p!t so'e eye dropsA
%1 Martha: As soon
%9 as I got here when I was in the s!"ways I was thin$ing acc55as soon as I get
%3 home Im going to ca$$ ,r" )mith and ,r" -ones Im going to ma.e an
%% appointment Im going to go to )t" /arys0 in the evening Im gonna go
%( running55 well I got here and wanted to sleep "!t then I started loo$ing for
%/ apart'ents in T!eens so I didnt go to "ed !ntil li$e / CM
%1 Sara: )7&9+ M!t how was the inter#iew0
%4 Martha: 11#awning22 decc>All" llegu a las doce< I was there at twel#e
{ decc>I got there at aro!nd twel#e<}
%6 Sara: <hat ti'e was yo!r appoint'ent0A
(7 Martha: A8neA
(1 Sara: ASo: acc55las notas que te escrib
{acc-- were the notes I wrote for}
H4
(9 te sirvieron?--
{yo! !sef!l0}

(3 Martha: ;!ess what0 KoA
(% Sara: AKo0A
(( Martha: AYo! ta$e the cross town and then yo! need to ta$e
(/ the L or * change at *ol!'"!s *ircleA
(1 Sara: A8hF M!t so the 'ap is not right, "!t
(4 then it was the sa'e, yo! went to fifty5ninth then0
(6 Martha: 8h yeah, it wor$ed perfectly "!t loo$ at the 'ap here loo$ at the crosstown
/7 loo$ a the 'ap ))gi#ing Sara the 'ap++
/1 Sara: M!t here it doesnt show apparently on ninety si=th street they ha#e the
/9 ,*,N,LA
/3 Martha: AKo, no, no "eca!se ?loo$@
/% Sara: ?,:::@ I didnt pay attention I e#en tho!ght of
/( telling yo! li$e if it doesnt co'e go to fifty5ninth street, acc55because thats
// hat I did the other time!--""!t acc--you figured it out55 So, what happened!
/1 Qu hiciste cuando llegaste a las doce?
{<hat did yo! do when yo! got there at twel#e0}

/4 Martha: I arri#ed )1+ and I waited
/6 Sara: <here0
17 Martha: Oifteen 'in!tes downstairs in another chair where ?E===E@
11 Sara: ?h 8D@ ))la!ghs++
19 Martha: :he hospital )7&(+ is a h!ge "!ilding is "ig acc55of course not $i.e )t" /ary3s
13 -- "!t its #ery )7&(+ it is )7&(+ not cool, in a way I thin$ li$e St& UincentVs
1% loo$s "etter
1( Sara: hich one loo$s "etter0
1/ Marta: St& Uincents )7&9+ its 'ore E=E than St& Mar$s, "!t its in the city, so I' going
11 fro' worse to worse to worse "!:t now yo! see for 'y: p!rpose ))yawning++
14 I go to the hospital )7&9+ and I co'e ho'e only to sleep and I dont do anything
16 else for ?'e@
47 Sara: ?Oor@ yo! it 'a$es no differ?rence@
41 Martha: acc--[It ma.es] no difference&and well pay a '!ch
49 lower rent the thing is well ha#e to loo$for an apart'ent decc>c$ose to a
43 subway station< within wal$ing distance acc55it doesnt matter if I have to wa$.
4% six b$oc.s-5 instead of G!st crossing the street
4( Sara: I also will ha#e to wal$ the si= "loc$s too so that will 'a$e "oth of !s
4/ Martha: I thin$ that "eing closer to the s!"way station its "etter "eca!se in any case
41 whene#er I want to go o!t at least I $now that the s!"way station is close
44 Sara: nd of co!rse, if we can also "e close to the hospital0
46 Martha: ))Yawning++ E===E
67 Sara: )9+ bueno, qu pas&-
{well, what happened0

61 Martha: Its a preli'inary position so nothing new in the application E===E
69 Sara: Creli'inary0
63 Martha: Yes, preli'inary,A
6% Sara: A"!t do yo! thin$0A
6( Martha: Ahere they offer 'e also a preli'inary
6/ "!t here after that preli'inary I ha#e to go loo$ elsewhere o#er thereA
61 Sara: A"!t
64 yo! dont $now if o#er there they are going to offer yo!A
H*
66 Martha: A"!t theres at least
177 )7&(+ here theres a policy so a lesser chance that they will gi#e 'e a
171 position )7&(+ o#er there the first thing that the doctor told 'e well here the
179 first thin$ Lr& Hones told 'e its a #ery co'petiti#e progra' 'ay"e the 'ost
173 that we can do is gi#e yo! a p!sh to so'ething elsewhereA
17% Sara: A#ou to$d me that
17( before< )7&9+ P', djame ir a ver la sopa ))Sara goes to the $itchen++
{let 'e go chec$ the so!p}
17/ la quieres caldosa o c&mo-
{do yo! want it with "roth0}
171 Martha: 1ira primero caldosa para tomarla como sopita
{Oirst with "roth to ta$e it li$e little so!p}
))Oi#e 'in!tes later Sara calls fro' the $itchen++

174 Sara: Ya est)
{Its ready}
176 Martha: Ya voy ))Martha enters the $itchen 97 seconds later++ :he s!"way is a"o!t two
{I' co'ing}
117 "ig "loc$s away fro' the hospital0
119 Martha: Yes, ))loo$ing down and with a co'plaining #oice++ este bote ya se llen&, a ver
{this trash can is already f!ll,}
113 si lo vas cambiando, siempre es lo mismo
{why dont yo! change it, its always the sa'e}
)Martha goes to the dish washer and starts e'ptying it, Sarah e'pties the gar"age can, closes the "ag and p!ts
in a new "ag, then proceeds to wash her hands J a"o!t three 'in!tes elapse "etween lines 113 and 11%+
11% Sara: >ets eat first and then Ill e'pty the dish5washer
11( Martha: como si si %ueras a vaciar la lavadora
{as if yo! were going to e'pty the dishwasher}
11/ Sara: S lue!o lo #a!o
{Yes Ill do it later}

))Martha closes the dishwasher and goes to the ta"le++
197 Sara: A8h 'y goodnessFA
191 Martha: A =os cairelitos y todas las
A {the little hair c!rls and all the
199 mujeres con sus bombinetos y sus %aldas esas ))la!ghs++ como los
{wo'en with their special hats and those s$irts} {it is li$e the}
*-0 asi)ticos que no sabe uno )7&(+ todas las mujeres #a de cuenta
son
{sian that one doesnt $now )7&(+ all the wo'en are as if they are}

H-
*-H twins y los #ombres son twinsA
{and the 'en are}
*-B Sara: Acon sus cair:elitos@A
A{with their little ?c!rls}@A
*-E Martha: :todos@A
{all of the'}A
*-, Sara: 8># 1ara
A{8h Mlessed
*-3 SantsimaFA
MaryF}A
*-+ Martha: A0omo en una como viviendo en una pelculaA
A{:a$en fro'
{the fiddler on the roof0}A
139 Martha: Adecc>Totalmente< acc55o sea 55pero nom)s
A{ decc>%omp$ete$y< accRthat is&but there}
133 no %alta restorante tapato, a# y a%uera sentado un c#aparro !ordo as
{is a$ways a tapat-o
3
resta!rant, ah and seated o!tside a short fat 'an li$e this}
13% !ordo %eo que nunca %alta
{fat and !gly li$e the ones there are always there}
{:hats how o!r people is}
131 Sara: 8!r $ind0 Sorry, they are fro' o!r co!ntry "!t they are not o!r $ind

134 )7&(+ Cmm, a# ec#ando a perder el cuadro
{there, r!ining the #iew}
136 Martha: S, totalmente
{Yes, co'petely}
1%7 Sara: *lashF
1%1 Martha: M!t getting along &
1%9 Sara: Yeah, thereVs no reason for the' not to get along
1%3 Martha: Ko reason0
1%% Sara: <ell, I $now in the sense that E===E yo! $now )7&(+ So:
1%( Martha: So: they told 'e the position that we ha#e now the first doctor he was li$e
1%/ accFF!#iri g#iri g#iri g#iri g#iri g#iri g#ri g#ri FF and then he as$ed 'e he
{"la, "la, "la, "la, "la, "la, "la, "la, "la}
1%1 as$ed 'e a co!ple of I!estions I answered hi' and then he started tal$ing
1%4 a"o!t hi'self and then he said 11chaging her tone of voice22 no I' tal$ing a"o!t
1%6 'yself yo! sho!ld go first ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ and then he started
1(7 as$ing 'e 'ore I!estions a"o!t 'e li$e he said ))changing her tone of #oice++
1(1 how is it that yo! ca'e across to learn Orench0 ,ow is it that yo! $now
0
The adjective Jtapat;oK refers to someone/something that was born/produced/representative of! the state of Nalisco!
/="ico.
H0
1(9 Orench0 ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ 8h "eca!se "eca!se )7&(+ one of 'y
1(3 sisters went o#er to Orance to st!dy ?her Masters Legree@
1(% Sara: ?,ow did he $now0@ Lid yo! p!t that
1(( in yo!r *U0A
1(/ Martha: AYesA
1(1 Sara: A8h 8DA
1(4 Martha: A11chaging her tone of voice22 8h no I only as$
1(6 "eca!se I wor$ed for ir Orance two years ))"ac$ to her own #oice++really0
1/7 Sara: <here did he wor$0A
1/1 Martha: Air OranceA
1/9 Sara: A8hFA
1/3 Martha: AQeally0 ))changing her tone of #oice++Yes
1/% ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ "efore 'edical school I as$edA
1/( Sara: AhA
1// Martha: A))changing
1/1 her tone of #oice++ <ell yes oh no, "efore and d!ring act!allyA
1/4 Sara: A"efore what0A
1/6 Martha: A))going
117 "ac$ to her own #oice++ "efore and d!ringA
111 Sara: A<hats that0A
119 Martha: Ad!ringA
113 Sara: Ah "efore
11% and d!ring 8D acc55I didnt get it J
11( Martha: ))<al$ing towards the sin$++ mira esto no se lavo bien, #ay que %ijarse 45".6
{see this is not clean, one needs to pay attention}
11/ "!t "!t )7&(+ then he said I did it 'ore for the "enefits than for the pay
111 Sara: S'art person
114 Martha: ,e was goodA
116 Sara: A,ow old was he0A
147 Martha: A Yo!ng, he e#en told 'e a"o!t his wife
141 ))chaging her tone of #oice++ 'y wife she she was a resident at St& MaryVs
149 ))going "ac$ to her #oice++ reallyF0 )7&9+ pedriatics, pediatrics so he was 'ore
143 li$e yo! $now ))changing her #oice++ I $now Lr& Hones she wor$ed here ))going
14% "ac$ to her own #oice++ 8h wowFA
14( Sara: A ahF so they definitely $now yo! were there
14/ "eca!se Lr& Hones sent yo! right0
141 Martha: I g!ess "eca!se the other doctor said Wwell Lr& Hones has spo$en #ery
144 highly of yo!W y lue!o otra ve WLr& Hones has spo$en #ery higly of yo!W
{and then again}
146 es nada m)s para que veas y yo pues than$ yo! #ery '!ch, than$ yo!
{so yo! can ha#e an idea and then I}
167 #ery '!ch E===E so so then first "y the way when I first arri#ed the secretary
*+* the secretary that I had to write an e5'ail since I got there she was )7&9+ ))raising
*+- her pitch and with an enth!siastic #oice++ MarthaF )7&9+ ))going "ac$ to her own
163
*+H #oice++ #a de cuenta que lle!o la reina de (ru:sia/ 45"$6 and then that
{G!st as if the Ha::#a I!een had arri#ed}
16( office where they too$ 'eA
16( Sara: A'''A
16/ Martha: Athe fe'ale s!rgeon who inter#iewed 'e she
161 has a new office she re'odeled itA
HH
164 Sara: A''''A
166 Martha: Aits li$e they ga#e her li$e a E===E
977 part in the hospital, she closed it, she painted it, she redid e#erything the floor
971 the doors, its li$e yo! are in a poor hospital yo! wal$ thro!gh the doors those
979 doors that are crystal that is li$e "l!rry yo! $nowA
973 Sara: Ayeah
97% Martha: those doors with the 'etal handle with loc$, it was s!ch a nice office, with nice 97(
f!rnit!re, #ery co.y, her secretary all char'ing #ery #ery char'ing secretary 971 )7&9+
and then E===E the secretary of Lr& Cec$ saw 'e, "eca!se I
974 'y appoint'ent was at one "!t she was there at one ten she was worried
976 ))raising pitch of #oice++ ha#e yo! "een waiting long0 ))"ac$ to her nor'al #oice++ 917
Ko no I G!st got here a few 'in!tes ago ))raising pitch of #oice++ oh oh 8D )7&9+
911 8hF yo! '!st "e #ery tired ))"ac$ to her nor'al #oice++ no no, I was #ery
919 l!c$y "eca!se I got here fast E===E and then she was ))raising pitch of #oice++
913 nice to 'eet yo! nice to 'eet yo!A
91% Sara: A that was the secretary right0A
91( Martha: Ayes the
91/ secretary )7&(+ pero no tenia necesidad de8
{"!t she did not ha#e the need to}
911 Sara: 8ser amable
{"e $ind}@
914 45"$6 especialmente en esta ciudad
{partic!larly in this city}
916 Martha: Y despus de eso So the first 'ale doctor went well he said ))changing her
{and after that}
997 #oice++ I !nderstand yo! are interested in a categorical "!t "eca!se yo! want to
991 get to a preli'inary yo! are loo$ing for a preli'inary that has 'ore possi"ilities
999 of getting to a categorical ))going "ac$ to her own tone of #oice++e=actly ))changing
993 her #oice again++ so yo! do not want a preli'inary ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++
99% no no I a' open to any possi"ility ))changing her #oice++ so in the 'atch what
99( happened0 ))"ac$ to her own #oice++ I only applied for categoricals )7&(+ Esto es
{Is this
99/ todo lo que #ay ya- ))referring to the so!p++
all thats left}
991 Sara: 1ic#a y mic#a podemos poner m)s8
{,alf and half we can 'a$e 'ore}
994 Martha: ASi porque esto no va a alcanar
{Yes "eca!se this is not going to "e eno!gh+

996 Sara: 4<6 ?as a comer esto aqu o en la computadora
{re yo! going to eat this here or in the co'p!ter}

937 Martha: En la computadora )3+ so with hi' and then at the end I said again stressing
{In the co'p!ter}
931 that so I wanted to 'a$e it clear that 'y goal is the categorical )7&(+ yes I a'
939 interested in a preli'inary considering that I do not ha#e a progra' and there
933 'ight "e a possi"ility and he said ))changing her tone of #oice++ well yo! $now
93% what happens at this hospital is that we do we do $ic$ people o!t
93( Sara: 8h 'y godF
93/ Martha: ));oing "ac$ to her own #oice++,e didnt say that li$e warning 'e that he was
931 going to $ic$ 'e o!t
934 Sara: 8h no in the contrary so'eone whos here 'ight get $ic$ed o!t and yo! 'ight
HB
936 get the placeA
9%7 Martha: Ae=actly ))changing her #oice again++ "eca!se yo! $now 'any
9%1 ti'es we !nfort!nately find o!t too late that we 'ade a 'ista$e yo! $now in
9%9 the 'atch the C;1 the first year residents we choose the' witho!t $nowing
9%3 the' and then when they are here we reali.e that we 'ade a 'ista$e and
9%% thats why we prefer to gi#e it so'eone li$e yo! and not so'eone li$e that
9%( ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ pero el ya #abl)ndome como prote!indome
{"!t he already tal$ing li$e protecting 'e}
9%/ Sara: M''
9%1 Martha: (ero te voy a decir no conoco la #onestidad del doctor pero yo creo por
{>et 'e tell yo! I do not $now how tr!thf!l the doctor is "!t I "elie#e fro'}
9%4 que #e visto :que;
{from what Ive seen [that]}
9%6 Sara: :aqu; la !ente no te promete al!o as a menos que te va
{?here@ people dont pro'ise yo! anything li$e that !nless}
9(7 a cumplir
{they are going to stic$ to their word}
9(3 afterwards decc>of course you have to proof yourse$f you have to get good
9(% grades in the '()I*+< we are p!shing for eighty percent, ))going "ac$ to her
9(( own #oice++ I got a fifty5fi#e ))changing her #oice again++ we are shooting for an
9(/ eightyA
9(1 Sara: Aeighty5eight or eighty0
9(4 Martha: eighty
9(6 Sara: )7&(+ 8 well
9/7 Martha: Si #e sabido de !ente que saca treinta
{I ha#e $nown of people who score thirty}
9/1 Sara: A# claro
{h of co!rse}
9/9 Martha: 0laro eso no me sirve de nada
{8f co!rse that doesnt help 'e at all}
9/3 Sara: (ues no mal de muc#os consuelo de tontos pero8
{<ell no "eca!se 'isfort!neof others is G!st a fools co'fort "!t}
9/% Martha: 8(ero8
{M!t}

9/( Sara: A(ero que
{M!t that}

9// ))chaging to an e=tre'ely high pitch of #oice++ ellos sacan treinta y es en su
{they get thirty and it is in their}
9/1 idioma
{lang!age}
9/4 Martha: nd, and0
9/6 Sara: Meca!se in a way e#en if its content one in a certain way is at a
917 disad#antage
911 Martha: Yes "!t "!t still that doesnt co!nt
919 Sara: <ell, of co!rse it doesnt co!nt it sho!ldnt co!nt "eca!se the instr!ctions
HE
913 yo! will "e gi#ing and recei#ing are going to "e in Nnglish and e#erything
91% has to "e in Nnglish thats not an e=c!se thats G!st reality )7&(+ so what
91( happened0
91/ Martha: She concl!ded that there is a high possi"ility that I can get there "eca!se
911 things chance a lot in their progra' I $now that also so'e residents ta$e a
914 year off for research "!t she didnt 'ention anything a"o!t thatA
916 Sara: Athe pro"le' is that yo! do a research year yo! ha#e to go "ac$
947 Martha: <here0
941 Sara: <hat $ind of #isa wo!ld yo! get if yo! are a fellow instead of wor$ing0 If
949 yo! do a research year0
943 Martha: Ko I cant ta$e a research year what I 'eant is that so'eone ta$es a
94% research yearA
94( Sara: AI $nowA
94/ Martha: Aand I can !se that position I do not 'ean that for
941 'e )7&(+ I told her that well yes I a' #ery interested "!t I still ha#e to get
944 e#erything thro!gh the residency 'anager and he is not here this wee$ so:
946 it is not the residency coordinator not the s!rgeon whos in charge of the
967 progra' "!t the secretary "!t he is away for this wee$ it is G!st li$e Michael
961 who is also awayA
969 Sara: A'''A
963 Martha: A"!t she told 'e ))chaging her #oice++ go ahead Ill
96% inter#iew yo! and ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ then she said ))changing her
96( #oice++ said Lr& Hones has spo$en #ery highly of yo! ))"ac$ to her own #oice++
96/ Woh than$ yo! than$ yo!W and then half way thro!gh ))chaging her #oice
961 again++Lr& Hones has spo$en #ery highly of yo! ))going "ac$ to her own
964 #oice++ E===E
966 Sara: :hat 'eans that yo! were there only "eca!se of her
377 Martha: 1ira que amable la doctora pues una recomendaci&n de ella no la
{See how nice the doctor is "eca!se they cannot lea#e a reco''endation
371 pueden dejar8
{fro' her}A
379 Sara: 8as nom)s
A{G!st li$e that}
373 Martha: )3+ so: its ta$ing the chance well its act!ally ta$ing the ris$ I ha#e to ta$e it
37% and decide another year of enGoying here getting a lot of e=perience and
37( p!shing for the' to 'a$e an e=ception li$e accepting a person with #ery
37/ poor grades
371 Sara: )9+ so is the neigh"orhood nice0
374 Martha: Ko, not at all its li$e constr!ction its nothing no no no no no its its
{no no no no no}
376 depressing li$e St& Uincent is hip hop yo! $now
317 Sara: 8h 'y goodness
311 Martha: Car$ a#en!e is hip hop
319 Sara: <hats the prince ranges of the apart'ents yo! saw0
313 Martha: <ell in the internet is '!ch a waste of ti'e its notA
31% Sara: A8f co!rse
31( Martha: I co!ldnt find any in that area
31/ Sara: So we will ha#e to go and l!c$ for it
311 Martha: I a' not s!re what the price will "e "!t definitely cheaper than here
314 <e need to find so'ething near the s!"way station thats I wo!ld prefer
316 also "eca!se when *arla #isits I' thin$ing of her she doesnt want to go
397 to the hospital she wants to go o!t the pro"le' with the train station is that
391 she has to wal$ !p the stairs so I ha#e to loo$ for a "!s line where is the
H,
399 "!s stop 'ay"e is "etter to li#e closer to the "!s stop than to the s!"way
393 stationA
39% Sara: A'''A
39( Martha: AMeca!se of *arla
39/ Sara: <ell, she sho!ld co'e in the s!''er when we are still here and stay for a
391 longer period "!t I g!ess that will not "e possi"le yo! $now )7&(+ she wrote
394 an e5'ail the tic$et is for thirty days so thats why "eca!se trip is only going
396 to "e two wee$s "eca!se decc>Andrecito< did not do things on ti'e so they
337 only ha#e two wee$s one in ;er'any and one in ,olland
331 Martha: ,e doesnt reali.e that the Qotary *l!" does things one year ahead
339 Sara: Yeah and gosh he 'a$es so '!ch 'oney its !n"elie#a"le
333 Martha: Es lo que di!o, como le #acen, como #acen ese dinero es a travs de
{:hats what I say, how do they do it, how do they 'a$e that '!ch 'oney}
33% ma@as y trucos en una sociedad que lo permite
{its thro!gh c!nning and tric$s in a society that allows it}
33( Sara: Ae voy a decir que en el caso de l pues si ma@as8
{>et 'e tell yo! that in his case well yes it is c!nning}A
33/ Martha: 8ma@as siempre #ay
{there is always c!nning}

331 Sara: Gueno en el caso de l es explotar a sus trabajadores porque eso es lo
{<ell in his case it is e=ploiting his wor$ers"eca!se that is what}
334 que #ace les pa!a el salario mnimo a los maestros y los maestros lo
{he does he pays the 'ini'al wage to the teachers and the teachers}
00+ aceptan8
{accept it}8

3%7 Martha: 8A# est)
{,ere it is}
3%1 Sara: (or eso cuando me o%reci& ser coordinadora de su escuela ))changing
{:hats why when he offered 'e to "e his schools s!per#isor}

0H- a slightly higher pitch++ deccHno muc#as !raciasE
{no than$ yo! #ery '!ch}

3%3 Martha: (or eso te di!o con al!una ma@a8
{:hats why I tell yo! with so'e sort of c!nning}
3%% Sara: 8S claro
{Yes of co!rse}

0HB Martha: ))chaging her tone of #oice 'a$ing it sweet so!nding++ Si mire usted pro%esor
{Yes loo$ )respectf!l+ yo!+}

3%/ pro%esora el pr&ximo a@o les vamos a poner un cuarto de maestros
{teacher )fe'ale+ teacher ne=t year we are going to ha#e a teachers roo'}
3%1 con aire acondicionado ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ cada a@o les dice
{with air conditioning} {e#ery year he tells the'}
H3
0H3 eso cada a@o renuncian y cada a@o contratan nuevos" si me
{that and e#ery year they resign and e#ery year he hires new teachers& yo!}

0H+ entiendes-8
{!nderstand 'e0}A

3(7 Sara: 80laro si eso es lo que #ace
8{8f co!rse yes that is what she does}
3(1 Martha: Si le dicen est) muy %ea esta sala de maestros no #ay ba@os ))changing
{If they tell hi' that the teachers roo' is #ery !gly there are norestroo's}

3(9 her tone of #oice 'a$ing it sweet so!nding++ es que les vamos a poner un
{its that we are going to 'a$e foryo!}
3(3 ba@o con m)rmol y estoy esperando a que lle!ue el m)rmol de Btalia
{a 'ar"le "athroo' and I' waiting for the 'ar"le to co'e fro' Italy}
3(% Sara: A# bueno
{Yeah right}
3(( Martha: Iom)s que lle!ue el m)rmol de Btalia les pon!o su ba@o para los
{s soon as the 'ar"le co'es fro' Italy I will "!ild the "athroo'}
3(/ pro%esores8
for the teachers}
3(1 Sara: AJe qu lu!ar de Btalia es ese m)rmol %amoso- de 0arrara-
{<hat place of Italy is this fa'o!s 'ar"le fro'0 Oro' *arrara0}
3(4 Martha: ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ As queda l bien ))chaging her tone of #oice++
{that way he 'a$es a good i'pression}

3(6 estoy esperando que ven!a el m)rmol de Btalia ))going "ac$ to her
{I' waiting for the 'ar"le to co'e fro' Italy}
3/7 own #oice++ cosa que es muy di%erente de lo que pasa aqu )7&(+ so
{so'ething that is #ery different fro' what happens here}
3/1 thats what she said at the end ))changing her #oice++ there are certain
3/9 possi"ilities ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ and I said than$ yo! yes I'
3/3 interested )7&9+ a#ora si!uiente paso
{now ne=t step}
3/% Sara: EsperarA
{<ait}
3/( Martha: AEntonces le escrib a la Joctora Kones I wrote to her I 'et
{:hen I wrote to Loctor Hones}
3// with Lr& lper and Lr& ;olo$ today and they were "oth #ery $ind and they
3/1 told 'e that they will re#iew 'y application in consideration for a C;1
3/4 preli'inary
3/6 Sara: Yo! told her preli'inary right0
317 Martha: Yes, yes, and then I said Lr& ;olo$ tells 'e that )7&9+ depending on 'y
311 perfor'ance 'ay"e there is the possi"ility that I co!ld ha#e a categorical
319 position in the progra' ne=t year "eca!se there are !s!ally 'any changes
H+
313 in their progra' )7&9+ and a position is li$ely to open punto Lr& lper and
{period}

31% Lr& ;olo$ stressed 'any ti'es the fact that yo! had reco''ended 'y
31( application "efore hand& than$ yo! #ery '!ch& pues la ten!o que
{"eca!se I ha#e to $eep her}
31/ mantener as )7&(+ ima!nate despus de que atiende a tanta !ente"
{li$e this} {i'agine after she deals with so 'any people}
311 siempre le est)n reclamando ))changing her tone of #oice++ Joctora Kones
{:hey are always co'plaining to her} {Loctor Hones}

314 como no me consi!ui& un lu!ar ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ si ella no es
{how co'e yo! didnt get 'e a spot} {she is not an}
316 a!encia de conse!uir spots
{agency to get}
347 Sara: (or eso ella te est) ayudando porque mira t* nunca le reclamaste
{:hats why shes helping yo! "eca!se loo$ yo! ne#er co'plained to her}
341 nom)s le dijiste ))i'itating Marthas #oice++ >et 'e !n?derstand@
{yo! only told her}
349 Martha: ?>et 'e !n@ derstandA
343 Sara: A!nderstand ))la!ghs++
34% Martha: +u crees que me dijo el residente el chief de all) ))changing her #oice++
{<hat do yo! thin$ the resident the} {fro' there told 'e}

34( so how co'e they are not li#ing yo!another preli'inary0 ))going "ac$ to

34/ her #oice++ Es el enamorado ay tan buena !ente
{Its the one in lo#e ay s!ch a good person}
341 Sara: El que se va a casar-
{:he one who is getting 'arried0}
344 Martha: S el que se va a casar el chief el m)s joven est) en las nubes& Aparte le
{Yes the one who is getting 'arried the} {the yo!ngest hesdistracted now}
346 pre!unte sobre su fiancB ,er na'e is::: y le #ice mmm:: porque nunca
{"esides I as$ed hi' a"o!t his} {and I said ''':: "eca!se I ne#er}
367 #a!o un comentario personal ni nada nunca nunca pero como l estaba
{'a$e a personal co''ent or anything ne#er ne#er "!t "eca!se he was}
361 #ablando de su fiancB a la #ora del l!nch le pre!unt whats her na'e
{spea$ing a"o!t his} {d!ring} {ti'e I as$ed}
0+- changing her tone of #oice++ ,er na'e is:: ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ y se
{and he}

363 qued& as pensativo entonces le #ice asi ))changing her #oice++ s#"" c&mo
{stayed li$e this thin$ing so I did li$e this} { sh&& how}
B4
36% que no sabes su nombre ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ nada que ver
{is it that yo! dont $now her na'e} {that was so weird}

36( pero entonces me dijo ))chaging her #oice++ so what0 so: preli'inary Matha0
{"!t then he told 'e}
36/ :hats the inter#iew yo! went for& ,ow a"o!t St& MaryVs "eca!se thats yo!r
361 "ac$ !p right0 ))changing to a sad #oice++ I 'ean ItVs nothing g!aranteed&
364 ))chaging to a s!rprised #oice++ <hat do yo! 'ean is nothing g!aranteed0
366 ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++ (ero a l no le puedo decir
{M!t I cant tell hi'}
%77 Sara: Io, claro
{8f co!rse not}
%71 Martha: (orque la doctora Kones lo #io discretamente" e#en so when she told 'e
{Meca!se doctor Hones did it discreetly}
%79 the way she told 'e that she ga#e 'e the position shes really li$e
%73 'a$ing an e=tra effort& I lost 'y position here and I wanted to 'ade that
%7% #ery clear at first ))chaging her #oice++ so how a"o!t St& Marys0 <hat do yo!
%7( 'ean is nothing g!aranteed0 ))changing to her own #oice++ <ell, its li$e she
%7/ told 'e I ha#e to wait ))changing to an !pset #oice++ <ait for what0 ))going "ac$
%71 to her own #oice++ ,e co!ldnt "elie#e it )7&9+ its G!st "eca!se I $now that she
%74 already contacted 'e that she already told 'e that of co!rse I ha#e the
%76 position that I can rela= decc>he cou$dnt be$ieve it<he was li$e ))changing to
%17 an !pset tone of #oice++ whats the pro"le'0 ))going "ac$ to her reg!lar #oice++ <ell I
%11 dont $now 'ay"e another applicant will drop o!t ))changing tone of #oice++
%19 no"ody is going to drop o!tA
%13 Sara: A8f co!rse not it is 'ore li$ely that theyll drop
%1% dead than theyll drop o!tA
%1( Martha: A ))changing to an angry tone of #oice++Ko"ody is going
%1/ to drop o!t what is she waiting for0 ))going "ac$ to her own #oice++
%11 acc55Lubieras visto como se pusoM
{Yo! sho!ld ha#e seen how !pset he was}
%14 Sara: Y t* no puedes decir nada
{nd yo! cant say anything}
%16 Martha: ))with an angry tone++ <hat is she waiting for0 ))going "ac$ to nor'al
%97 #oice++ 0laro yo a todo esto desde el da que les dije Ko I didnt 'atch
{8f co!rse in relation to this e#er since they day I told the'}
%91 and ))chaging her #oice++ what are yo! going to do0 ))!sing a deter'ined #oice++
%99 Ill ha#e to loo$ for a position ))going "ac$ to nor'al #oice++ una !ran sonrisa
{a "ig s'ile}
%93 ni el mero da ni al da si!uiente que necesitaba unas tres #oras para ir
{note e#en the day itself or the ne=t day in which I needed three ho!rs to go}
%9% a #acer siquiera unas cartas" le dije ))changing #oice++ Matt can I as$ yo! a
{'a$e at least a few letters& I told hi'}
%9( fa#or0 ))*haging #oice++ Yes yes ))going "ac$ to her nor'al #oice++ porque
{"eca!se}
%9/ e#ery"ody was li$e totally not wor$ing "eca!se the ne=t day when I was in
%91 the 'edia roo' wor$ing I called hi' li$e at % CM ))chaging her #oice++ Matt I
B*
%94 wanted to go "ac$ "!t I' not going to "e a"le to scr!" ))changing her #oice++
%96 so what& are yo! still loo$ing for a place0 <hats going on0 ))changing her
%37 #oice++ <ell I cant find any place ))changing #oice++ oh o$ o$ "!t yo!re not on
%31 call today0 ))changing #oice++ no I' not ))chaging #oiceagain++ o$ o$ o$ ))going
%39 "ac$ to her reg!lar #oice++ the ne=t day things were li$e he had forgotten then
%33 told hi' ))changing #oice++ Matt can I as$ yo! a fa#or0 ))changing #oice++ yes
%3% yes ))changing #oice again++ do yo! 'ind if I gi#e 'y pager to Oen >ing ))going
%3( "ac$ to her nor'al #oice++ Oen >ing had already told 'e ))changing her #oice++
%3/ Ill help yo! Ill do so'ething while yo! are trying to find a 'atch
%31 Sara: <hats his na'e0
%34 Martha& ))going "ac$ to her reg!lar #oice++ Oen >ing Oen >ing he is li$e Hi' he is li$e
%36 Hi' #a de cuenta es el !emelo de Hi'
{I'agine he is Hi's twin}
%%7 Sara: hA
%%1 Martha: 8pero m)s alto
{"!t taller}
%%9 Sara: !ordito tambin
{ch!""y as well}
%%3 Martha: si !ordito y de este tama@o8
{yes ch!""y and this si.e}
%%% Sara: 8y simp)tico #a de ser
{and he '!st "e nice}
%%( Martha: tan bueno de esos coraones
{so nice one of those hearts}
%%/ Sara: coraones nobles
{no"le hearts}
%%1 Martha: si pues, ste no tiene misterios, nin!*n misterio, entonces no
{yes e=actly, this one has no 'ysteries, not a single 'istery, so I}

%%4 pude decirle nada m)s y nada m)s le di el pager paso una #ora
{co!ldnt tell hi' anything else and I only ga#e hi' the} {an ho!r}
%%6 pasaron dos dos #oras y media y Nen =in! no dijo nadade que
{went "y two ho!rs went "y two and and half ho!rs and Oen >ing didnt}
%(7 #ay- (orque porque de verdad me ayudo
{say anything li$e whats !p0 Meca!se "eca!se he really help 'e&
))t his point Martha reI!ested the tape recorder to "e t!rned off++
B-

Code-Switching in Spanish/English Bilingual Speech: The Case of Two Recent Immigrants of Mexican Descent

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