Systematic Literature Review of Conversational Code-Switching in Multilingual Society From a Sociolinguistic Perspective

Abstract

Code-switching (CS) is widely used across the globe despite the unclear research trends and gaps in CS studies due to under-researched reviews on it. The current study is a systematic literature review (SLR) of conversational CS from a sociolinguistic perspective from 2010 to 2022 using the PRISMA 2020 framework. Keywords query was performed at Oct 31, 2022 on Scopus and Web of Science databases. As a result, a total of 117 articles were included for further analysis. It is found that the number of CS studies was continuously increasing before encountering declines from 2019. Previously, scholars preferred empirical studies, qualitative designs, and data collection methods including discourse analysis, observation, interview and questionnaire. Regarding research objectives, a majority of studies examined the factor of CS, mainly from the micro levels. Besides that, many studies had explored attitude and identity towards CS in the past five years. As for research contexts, Asia became the research centre of previous CS studies. However, there was a lack of CS studies worldwide, especially among Oceania, South America and Africa. Multilingual societies in the Expanding Circle require more discussion.

Language Variation in Print Media: A Study of Code Switching Patterns in Pakistani Urdu ‘Express’ Newspaper Editorials

“…The participants encompassed teachers across diverse humanities and sciences disciplines. Zhong et al (2023) present a systematic literature review (SLR) investigating conversational codeswitching (CS) from 2010 to 2022, emphasizing a sociolinguistic perspective. Utilizing the PRISMA 2020 framework and databases like Scopus and Web of Science, they identified 117 relevant articles for analysis.…”

Issues and Functions of Code-switching in Studies on Popular Culture: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Many studies have done review studies on code-switching to identify the research gaps of prior studies. Liao (2023), Oueslati et al (2020), andZhong et al (2023) conducted review studies in researching research gaps in code-switching studies. To identify research gaps, Liao (2023) reviewed various studies on bilingual and multilingual benefits for cognitive reserve, executive functions, and code-switching costs.…”

“…Correspondingly, Zhong et al (2023) conducted a systematic literature review of conversational code-switching in multilingual society from a sociolinguistic perspective to identify gaps in conversational code-switching studies over the previous 13 years. The findings of the study revealed the research gaps that could be found in the methodologies, objectives, and contexts of the code-switching studies, including declining sociolinguistic research after 2019, a preference for empirical qualitative methods, and neglect of non-empirical approaches.…”