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Title Catherine the great [electronic resource] : Portrait of a woman. Robert K Massie.
Author Massie, Robert K.
Imprint New York : Random House Audio, 2011.
Edition Unabridged.
Description 1 online resource (19 audio files) : digital
Time 23:52:32
Description audio file rda
Call # eAUDIO
System Req Requires OverDrive Listen (file size: N/A KB) or OverDrive app (file size: 671581 KB).
Note Unabridged.
Performer Narrator: Mark Deakins.
Summary The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure young German princess who traveled to Russia at fourteen and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history. Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into Empress of Russia by sheer determination. Possessing a brilliant mind and an insatiable curiosity as a young woman, she devoured the works of Enlightenment philosophers and, when she reached the throne, attempted to use their principles to guide her rule of the vast and backward Russian empire. She knew or corresponded with the preeminent historical figures of her time: Voltaire, Diderot, Frederick the Great, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, Marie Antoinette, and, surprisingly, the American naval hero, John Paul Jones. Reaching the throne fired by Enlightenment philosophy and determined to become the embodiment of the "benevolent despot" idealized by Montesquieu, she found herself always contending with the deeply ingrained realities of Russian life, including serfdom. She persevered, and for thirty-four years the government, foreign policy, cultural development, and welfare of the Russian people were in her hands. She dealt with domestic rebellion, foreign wars, and the tidal wave of political change and violence churned up by the French Revolution that swept across Europe. Her reputation depended entirely on the perspective of the speaker. She was praised by Voltaire as the equal of the greatest of classical philosophers; she was condemned by her enemies, mostly foreign, as "the Messalina of the north." Catherine's family, friends, ministers, generals, lovers, and enemies-all are here, vividly described. These included her ambitious, perpetually scheming mother; her weak, bullying husband, Peter (who left her lying untouched beside him for nine years after their marriage); her unhappy son and heir, Paul; her beloved grandchildren; and her "favorites"-the parade of young men from whom she sought companionship and the recapture of youth as well as sex. Here, too, is the giant figure of Gregory Potemkin, her most significant lover and possible husband, with whom she shared a passionate correspondence of love and separation, followed by seventeen years of unparalleled mutual achievement. The story is superbly told. All the special qualities that Robert K. Massie brought to Nicholas and Alexandra and Peter the Great are present here: historical accuracy, depth of understanding, felicity of style, mastery of detail, ability to shatter myth, and a rare genius for finding and expressing the human drama in extraordinary lives. History offers few stories richer in drama than that of Catherine the Great. In this book, this eternally fascinating woman is returned to life. From the Hardcover edition.
Subject Biography & Autobiography.
Genre Electronic audiobooks.
Addl. Author Deakins, Mark.
OverDrive, Inc., distributor.
ISBN 9780307970220 (sound recording)
An electronic audiobook accessible online
Electronic Resource eAUDIO ONLINE (ONLINE)


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Home / Essay Samples / Science / English Language / The Contrastive Analysis Of Vietnamese And English Comparative Idioms
The Contrastive Analysis Of Vietnamese And English Comparative Idioms
Category: Business, Sociology, Science
Subcategory: Management, Identity, Language
Topic: Comparative Analysis, Cultural Identity, English Language
Words: 2453
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Idioms are a part of every language which reflects cultural features of each nation. It can be broken into certain shared categories with identical characteristics. This research paper will focus on analyzing Vietnamese and English comparative idioms in terms of their formation. The thorough analysis of idiom formation in the two languages will lead to the pedagogical and translating implication.
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It is obvious that language plays an important role as a communicative device of human being. It also reflects the social and cultural features of any regions or nations. However, the major concern of linguistic researchers is on the macro scale of idioms not micro one with various sub categories like that of comparative idioms. While idioms act as a bridge to make the speech more meaningful, comparative idioms offer a vivid image in the utterances and reflect human's observation as a result. However, it is the differences among each country's cultural values that distinguish themselves from the rest and cause great distinct of comparative idioms. This paper will aim to clarify the main features of comparative idioms through the analysis of them in the two language Vietnamese and English through explanations and examples.
Definition of Idioms
Every word has a unique meaning to express a specific object or concept. However, there are cases in which words come in a group or expression and present a completely different meaning. This is called idioms. According to McMordie & Seidl (1988), an idiom is a group of words that form a new different meaning from each separate word. There are a large number of idioms in English. For examples, "make up someone's mind", "beat around the bush", "go an extra mile",…
Vietnamese linguistic researchers also come up with the explanation for this term. Nguyen (1996) stated that "Thành ngữ là những cụm từ cố định vừa có tính hoàn chỉnh về nghĩa, vừa có tính gợi cảm. " Vietnamese language possesses a lot of idioms as well. For instance, "ăn no ngủ kĩ", "bụng làm dạ chịu", "kén cá chọn canh",…
Definition. Among the figures of speech, simile seems to be the easiest one to identify and comprehend. Simile involves the joining of two different entities that share something in common. Simile is commonly used in everyday speech and writing. We can find a lot of masterpieces employing it to make the works more and more figurative. For example:
'O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear' (Shakespeare, n. d. )
"But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires. " (Joyce, 1914)
Features of simile. "as", "like" or "than" are function words used in this type of figure of speech. For examples, "sleep like a log", "as cold as ice",… In Vietnamese, simile can be formed by utilizing words like "là, như, hơn, tựa, bằng,…" For example, "đẹp như tiên", "xấu như ma", "ngủ như chết",…
The comparison using simile does not put the comparing object and the compared one in the same semantic class. For example, "Jack is as cunning as a fox. " It is obvious that there is no correlation in physical features between Jack and a fox. However, they share the same characteristic in which both Jack and the fox are sly. Take another example, "Jimmy has worked like a horse recently". Jimmy is compared with a horse in term of working although they are not in the same semantic class in which Jimmy is human and horse is an animal. The aim of this comparison is to point out the similarity in the horse and Jimmy diligence
Comparative idioms
Definition. Idioms of comparison, or also called comparative idioms are those using simile to form the comparison. We can easily catch this figure of speech in speech on a daily basis, or literature, prose, poem,…
Features of comparative idioms. Comparative idioms are utilized to make the readers or listeners see a clear picture. It also helps concretize our ideas. That is the reason why almost all comparative idioms are easy to comprehend. Although comparative idioms are idioms with implication of simile, not all simile are comparative idioms. For example, "My love is like a red, red rose".
Contrastive Analysis
English idioms of comparison
Thanks to the use of simile, English idioms of comparison have several particular structures that can be easily detected. The model below is the most familiar with all readers and speakers whenever they catch an idiom of comparison. The adjective reflects the feature of the noun from which produces a vivid image.
AS + Adjective + AS + (a/an/the) + Noun
Some examples that we often use are listed below:
as fair as a rose
as bitter as a gall
as cunning as a fox
as black as pitch
Using verbs in comparative idioms is also a common phenomenon. The speaker can use this kind of comparative idioms to describe an action of the others by comparing it to the one of something else.
Verb + LIKE + a/an/the + Noun
eat like a horse
sleep like a log
work like a dog
sing like an angel
explode like a volcano
Besides, there are several other comparative idioms with the application of like/as, but the following part is flexible. It can be a clause, noun phrase or verb phrase. This kind of comparative idioms appears much in daily speech and writing.
(Verb) + LIKE/ AS + clause/ noun phrase/ verb phrase
like waving a red flag in front of a bull
have a memory like a sieve
go at a snail's pace
Vietnamese idioms of comparison
Similar to English, Vietnamese also has a large number of comparative idioms using simile as a based structure. We often use the formula "A như B" in which A is an adjective and B is a noun when we deliberately emphasize something in our speech or writing. Moreover, we can understand the idioms without much thinking thanks to our previous perception about the compared words' main feature. For instance:
đen như than
đẹp như tiên
trắng như tuyết
khỏe như trâu
kín như hũ nút
Vietnamese also has comparative idioms starting with a verb that is compared with another entity. This entity has a specific action, or behavior that bears resemblance to the mentioned verb. The general model for this case is "C như B" in which C is a verb and B is an entity. For example:
run như cầy sấy
ăn như lợn
cười như nghé
ngáy như sấm
khóc như mưa
There are cases that Vietnamese idioms of comparison only use "như + B". For example, "như nước với lửa", "như tay với chân", "như gà mắc tóc",. . . Those idioms do not need a comparing object as people live in the same cultures with shared values can understand the implicit meaning without explanations.
Vietnamese idioms of comparison also use other comparative words like "tày", "thể", "tựa", "là", "hơn", "bằng",… However, the frequency of those words appearing in idioms is normally less than the word "như".
In certain circumstances, comparative idioms can be formed without using comparative words. For example, "Kẻ tám lạng, người nửa cân". Although the word "như" is eliminated, readers can still understand the implicit comparison.
Similarities between English and Vietnamese comparative idioms
General meaning. Vietnamese and English has a huge source of comparative idioms. They are used in daily life and reflect each nation's culture. More importantly, they possess stable structures and make our daily conversations more attractive with lively images, emotions and emphasis.
Correlation in translation. As human being do not live separately with other communities, there is some overlapping in the point of view which leads to citizens of the two nations rendering the comparative idioms in the same way. The table below shows such cases that both Vietnamese and English comparative idioms have the same meaning with identical images.
English and Vietnamese comparative idioms' correlation in translation:
as black as coal – đen như than
as black as soot – đen như nhọ nồi
as black as ink – đen như mực
as slow as a snail – chậm như sên
as red as blood – đỏ như máu
as agile as monkey – lanh như khỉ
as heavy as lead – nặng như chì
as hot as fire – nóng như lửa
as sweet as honey – ngọt như mật
as swift as the wind – nhanh như gió
to fight like cat and dog – như chó với mèo
to follow like a shadow – như hình với bóng
to swim like a fish – bơi như cá
Differences between English and Vietnamese comparative idioms
Idioms with different images but same meaning. Culture is one of the main factors that distinguish citizens from various countries. However, humans as a whole often share some key features in lifestyle or thinking as we do not separate ourselves from the rest of the world. Moreover, corresponding with people from various cultures as well as exploring and discovering the new land seems to always be a desire of humans. Though the process of exchanging cultural identities, the world seems to be smaller with shared concepts. Therefore, although there may be certain differences in the images used in comparative idioms between English and Vietnamese, their meaning coincide each other at some point. English and Vietnamese idioms shared same meaning but different images:
as hot as an oven – nóng như đổ lửa
as yielding as wax – mềm như bún
as flat as a pancake – lép như trấu
as fit as a fiddle – khỏe như vâm
as gentle as a lamb – hiền như bụt
as easy as ABC – dễ như ăn bánh
as full as an egg – chật như nêm
as dark as midnight – tối như đêm ba mươi
as strong as a horse – khỏe như trâu
as tall as a giraffe – cao như núi
as stubborn as a mule – lì như trâu
as dry as a bone – khô như ngói
as pale as a ghost – xanh như tàu lá
Idioms with same images but different meaning. Each nation has their own values and percept the world in different ways. Therefore, there may be one idiom of comparison in English with an exact image used in Vietnamese, but the content is totally strange to each other.
A typical example is "as good as gold". In English, this idiom aims to praise good behaviors of a child. Vietnamese also has the idiom "tốt như vàng", which shares the same image with that of English. However, Vietnamese people do not use this idiom to implicate human's characteristics but the good quality of objects.
Images of famous persons. People tend to assimilate the popular characters in Literature or History to form new and unique comparative idioms, which also contribute to the representation of the country culture. In daily utterances, Vietnamese people often utilize such images as "Cuội", "chúa Chổm", "Hoạn Thư", "Tào Tháo", "Trương Phi", "Từ Hải", "Tây Thi",… to emphasize our meaning. It seems that Vietnamese people at least once in their lifetime hear about those characters and sometimes they use the image of those people in their utterances without knowing its origin. Some idioms popularly used are "nói dối như Cuội", "nợ như chúa Chổm", "ghen như Hoạn Thư", "đa nghi như Tào Tháo", "nóng như Trương Phi",…
By contrast, English people would prefer "Othello", "Croesus", "Larry", "Adam", "Lazarus", "Trojan",… as a means to reflect their culture. Each of the mentioned character are connected to a particular event and person, which makes the utterances used those images unique to that culture. This is also a barrier for foreign learners as they have to do research about those characters and fully understand their characteristics in order to render the meaning of the idiom. "as jealous as Othello", "as rich as Croesus", "to work like Trojan",… are remarkable examples to clarify this case.
Images of animals. Perception about the world is varied among cultures. That is the reason why one animal representing good luck in one culture can be that of the devil in the other one. Therefore, the image of every animal that is used in comparative proverbs varies among cultures.
In ancient Roman and some European countries, owl is considered to bring wisdom and protection, which is presented clearly in the idiom "as wise as an owl". However, when it comes to Vietnamese culture, people look at them as a dirty animal. Therefore, they often use the idiom "hôi như cú" to indicate somebody is smelly and filthy.
Due to Vietnamese's dependence on agriculture, the image of buffalo appears in a lot of idioms. People often use the good characteristics of the buffalo to compare with that of humans. Buffalo is known as an animal with strength and hard work, which is reflected lively in the idiom "khỏe như trâu". In contrast, horse is popularly used as a means of transport and agriculture work in English culture. Therefore, to convey the same meaning, English people would use "as strong as a horse".
Comparative idioms is a small part of idioms in both English and Vietnamese language. However, they are used commonly in daily speech and acts as a device to make our speech smoother and livelier. The analysis of comparative idioms based on their structures and content has revealed an interesting point in the affection of culture in English and Vietnamese idioms in which the compared objects represent the most dissimilarities. This research paper has provided an in-depth understanding of comparative idioms relating to cultural background and made an implication on its importance.
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Nguyen, T. G. (1996). Từ và nhận diện từ tiếng Việt. Hanoi, VN: Vietnam Education Publishing House.
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Viet, C. (2004). Từ điển thành ngữ tục ngữ ca dao Việt Nam – Quyển Hạ. Dong Nai, VN: Dong Nai General Publisher.
Nguyen, Đ. H. (2007), Tuyển Tập Thành Ngữ Tục Ngữ Ca Dao Việt Anh Thông Dụng. Ho Chi Minh, VN: Ho Chi Minh City Press.
Francis, B. , & Parkinson, D. (Eds. ). (2007). Oxford idioms dictionary for learners of English (2nd ed. ). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nguyen, V. H. (2009). Tìm hiểu vế so sánh trong thành ngữ so sánh tiếng Việt và tiếng Anh. (Unpublished master's dissertation). VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Burns, R. (n. d. ). A Red, Red Rose. Retrieved June 18, 2017, from https://www. poetryfoundation. org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43812
Joyce, J. (1914). Dubliners. London, LD: Grant Richards Ltd.
Shakespeare, W. (n. d. ). Romeo & Juliet: Act 1, Scene 5. Retrieved June 18, 2017, from https://www. playshakespeare. com/romeo-and-juliet/scenes/297-act-i-scene-5
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The difference between monolinguals and bilinguals does not simply lie in the fact that the latter know more than one language. Grosjean put it best in his probably most frequently cited sentence: A bilingual is not two monolinguals in one person. The situation is much more complex, as we should consider all kinds of factors, such as social, psychological and linguistic. First of all, each language has its own specific features that influence the way an individual thinks and speaks. Speakers of a language function in a particular society and culture that has impact on their behavior, not only the linguistic one. To understand the difference between mono- and bilingual individuals we should take a closer look at the psychological portrait of the bilingual and his social situation.
I am certain that you could find many examples of how you struggle to eliminate the influence of your mother tongue on your performance in a foreign language that you study. Have you ever noticed though, how your second language impacts your mother tongue? At some point of becoming bilingual you may have a feeling that you are not able to speak correctly in any language. Why is that?Cook (1992) argues that neither mother tongue nor second language of a bilingual speaker is exactly the same as these languages in monolinguals. There are differences in vocabulary and syntax, arising from the fact that languages stored together (in a single mental representation of multiple languages) must influence each other. Berman and Slobin (1994) conducted the 'frog story' experiment, the goal of which was to compare the way monolingual English, Spanish, German, Hebrew, and Turkish individuals tell stories while looking at the same events shown in a picture book. As you can imagine, the stories they told differed, mostly in the temporal and spatial orientation of the narration. The experiment was based on Slobin's claim that in the course of acquiring the grammar of a particular language, a person has to adopt a particular "framework for schematizing experience" (Slobin 1991: 7). Slobin's hypothesis states that, when a speaker presents events or experiences in any language, he has to take a grammaticized point of view in order to fit them to the structure of the language. It means that people speaking different languages must consider various online orientation of information flow and will pay attention to particular details stressed by the grammar of a given language. For instance, a speaker of Turkish trying to describe a past event has to specify whether the event was directly witnessed or not, for such distinction is a part of the Turkish grammar. An English speaker would not even think of making such a distinction when describing the same event.
These language-specific ways of the schematization of experience constitute what Slobin calls thinking for speaking, i.e. some special sort of thinking called into play in the process of speaking in a particular code. The experiment seems to support the hypothesis that the acquisition of a second language affects the learner's mother tongue. I have experienced it myself the moment I started to analyze what I intended to say in Polish from the point of view of English grammar. For instance, I wondered whether to use Present Perfect or Past Simple when talking about past events, although in Polish no such distinction exists. I would also apply English word order, which was particularly salient when I put prepositional phrases at the end of questions, e.g. Dlaczego nie chciałeś porozmawiaćz nim? (Why didn't you want to talk to him?) The correct word order in Polish is: Dlaczego nie chciałeś z nimporozmawiać? I would also confuse gender endings of adjectives, forgetting to check them for their agreement with nouns, as there is no need to pay attention to that when speaking English. Therefore, bilinguals may have some unique qualities in their speech in both languages, incompatible with monolingual standards.
Differences in language production in monolingual and bilingual individuals can also be explained by various social networks in which they function. Every utterance carries a social meaning, as it reflects the power relations between the speaker and the listeners, who attach certain social value to this utterance. Language is not homogeneous, as it varies along social dimensions, its varieties (accents, dialects, sociolects, and codes) have their own value, according to their distance from the official, legitimate norm. Thus, language behavior is the result of the dynamic interplay between power relations at the societal level and the individual's perception and evaluation of language varieties, according to his own language experience acquired and used in social networks. Speakers attach different social values to different codes, thus making some codes more appropriate in a given context.
The bilingual situation is even more complex. When more than one language comes into play, the very choice of the code to use becomes problematic. I recall a situation of this kind that I experienced in Italy. I was sitting at a restaurant table with my Italian friend and the waiter, who was Slovakian, brought me a bottle of water. I was facing a decision in which language to thank him. I talked to my Italian friend in English and Polish, as he understood some of both. The waiter spoke Italian perfectly and he knew the very basics of English. I could speak Polish, English, and German but I did not know Italian. When I met the waiter in his time off, I usually spoke to him in Polish and he answered in Slovakian; the both languages being closely related, we could more or less understand each other. However, we felt that mode of conversation too informal for the institutionalized environment of the restaurant. Thus, the choice was limited to Italian 'grazie' and English 'thanks'; Polish 'dziękuję' being excluded as inappropriate. As I did not like the waiter much, I chose to keep the distance between us and thank him in English, the language he hardly knew. Using 'grazie' would have created an unwelcome feeling of community and mutual understanding. Taking such trivial decision, as it might seem, I had to consider a number of things: what languages we knew and spoke with each other, the location and formality of the situation, the kind of relationship between each of us, and our intentions in this speech act.
When two languages are used in the same society, their values and functions differ. Each bilingual community develops several varieties of language, which are used for particular domains and according to their own norms of correctness. For instance, Clyne (1972) mentions four language varieties among German Australians: English, German Australian in which German patterns are transferred into English, German, and Australian German involving code-switching and borrowing. The degree to which code-switching is used depends on the addressee, such as family, friends, officials, superiors and on the location, such as church, home, and place of work. The patterns of code-switching are an established norm for a particular social group and they cater for the appropriate language use in a group. Haugen (1977) mentions some rules governing the use of mixed varieties in the Norwegian American and Swedish American communities. He notices that function words are seldom borrowed; cognates are rarely borrowed and adapted phonologically, rather their meanings are extended to cover other concepts; lexical borrowing includes no more than 5-10% of the words in an utterance. Any violation of these norms would be considered erroneous, just as monolinguals conceive borrowing and switching to be wrong. Moreover, speaking in one language only, e.g. using English only in a Spanish-English community, may make its bilingual members think that the speaker tries to show off, wants to break the ties with the community and indicate his affiliation to the English majority. Thus, code-switching is not only the result of a language need of a speaker, it may as well play a role in sociolinguistic norms of a bilingual community.
From the psychological perspective the difference between monolinguals and bilinguals lies also in the popular and sometimes even academic view that bilinguals must have some sort of split mentality, being two individuals in one. Grosjean (1982), for instance, has reported that bilinguals sometimes feel that language choice implicates different personalities. There is evidence that language choice may call upon different aspects of the personality: bilinguals responding to interviews and questionnaires tend to give slightly different pictures of themselves, depending upon the language used. It may be linked with the differences between cultures representing the languages.
Yoshida (1990) conducted a series of experiments investigating the relationship between bilingualism and biculturalism. His Japanese-English bilingual subjects showed varying degree of divergence from the monolinguals of both languages in terms of acculturation, leading to the hypothesis of interculturalism: "When a bilingual Japanese uses either Japanese or English, there is a strong possibility that he/she will be using a different conceptual field than the monolingual speakers of either language" (1990: 23). Also, the language choice may influence the emotional involvement of the bilingual, e.g. responses are typically more emotional through his mother tongue. Bilinguals can also use their second language to serve a distancing function when discussing troubling events. Bond and Lai (1986) looked at how easily embarrassing topics were discussed in a native language (Cantonese) and a second language (English). The subjects conducted interviews with each other in both languages. The topics of the interviews were either neutral or embarrassing. The two embarrassing topics required a description of a recently experienced embarrassing event, as well as a discussion of sexual attitudes prevalent in Chinese and Western culture. Based on the length of time that the subject spoke, this study demonstrated how code-switching into the second language made it easier for the subject to speak about the embarrassing topic for a greater length of time.
I would like to make a point here, saying that bilingualism should be studied not only in the idealistic conditions of a 'true' bilingual. Limiting the understanding of bilingualism to those relatively few individuals, as is the wish of the maximalists, hampers the development of bilingual studies. The focus should be shifted to balanced bilinguals, who according to the definition, are proficient to the same degree in the two languages, but may not meet the monolingual standards of linguistic competence. In fact, it seems that this definition, perhaps even unconsciously, recognizes that there exist differences in the idiolects of monolinguals and bilinguals, which is the point made by Cook (1992). These differences are not to be treated in terms of their adherence to linguistic norms, however. One should finally accept the fact that monolingual norms have been established for monolinguals, while bilinguals have their own standards, which are not inferior in any way.
Also, there is a lot to be learnt from foreign language learners, who according to some definitions are considered to be bilingual. A very interesting case constitute advanced students of foreign languages, that is individuals who are able to use their L2 (second language) at the level comparable with their L1 (native tongue), but their linguistic competence is still being trained, tested and evaluated on the rigid scale of school achievements. Thus, they may be proficient and still consider themselves imperfect, ready to function in their L2 on a regular basis and yet unaware of it and full of fears. They may use all kinds of bilingual strategies, e.g. code-switching, and believe it to be the sign of their linguistic failure. For the purposes of this paper, which intends to study such cases of bilingualism, I will adopt Mackey's (1987: 700) broad definition of bilingualism as "the knowledge and use of two or more languages".
Weinreich's ideal bilingual switches from one language to the other according to changing context, but never in an unchanged speech situation, and certainly not within a sentence. Any switches would be marked explicitly by quotation marks in writing and by prosodic features in speech (pause, change in tempo, etc.) The amount of switching depends on the ability of the speaker to control it, and the less the individual is able to stay in one code, the more frequent the switches will be. Two extremes of the distortion of the switching facility may occur: one is the rigid adherence to one language, when it is virtually impossible for the bilingual to translate across languages; the second case is the insufficient adherence to one language in a constant speech situation, which, according to Weinreich (1968), can be attributed to persons who have acquired the languages in fused contexts.
Reports are sometimes heard of individuals who 'speak no language whatever' and confuse the two to such an extent that it is impossible to tell which language they speak. No such cases have occurred in the writer's experience, in spite of many years of listening to American-Norwegian speech.
In fact, numerous investigations of code-switching have demonstrated that to view code-switching as an indicator of deficient language skills in the bilingual speaker is a misconception. Code-switching has been shown to be a complex, rule-governed phenomenon and, as Poplack (1980: 72) put it: "Code-switching is a verbal skill requiring a large degree of competence in more than one language, rather than a defect arising from insufficient knowledge of one or the other." Moreover, the supporters of the bilingual view claim that the more proficient a bilingual is, the more he will code-switch intrasententially. Non-fluent bilinguals, then, will favour intersentential and 'emblematic' switches: fixed expressions, discourse particles, interjections, tags (Legenhausen 1991).
The monolingual approach is very strict about code-switching but it is willing to admit that in some cases switching does point to language proficiency. Weinreich allows for switching according to changes in a speech situation: "The same bilingual may display varying amounts of interference in his speech according to circumstances in the immediate speech situation." (1968: 80), but, on the other hand, any switching within an unchanged context is said to show "abnormal proneness to switching" (1968: 74). Lipińska (2003: 90) makes a distinction between fragmentary code-switching, i.e. using both languages at the same time in small portions, and overall code-switching, usually linked to one-person-one-language rule. She states that the latter is less frequent and used exclusively by persons proficient in both languages. Hamers and Blanc (2000) propose a distinction between 'Code Alterne du Bilingue', which indicates the existence of the bilingual competence, and 'Alternance de Code d'Incompétence', which points to the opposite. Alternating both codes in bilingual families is an example of the former, while language behaviour in immigrant communities, where immigrants possess limited competence in L2 and frequently need to resort to their L1, is characteristic of the latter. It seems that the proponents of the monolingual view on code-switching are willing to accept situational code-switching and even to admit that it involves a large degree of competence to use it. However, although situative code-switching seems to find acceptance among the supporters of the monolingual viewpoint, conversational switching is condemned as inappropriate and leading to interference.
Conversational code-switching in bilingual communities is not only associated by monolinguals with lack of competence, it is also ascribed to ill-will of bilinguals. One of the most popular beliefs among monolinguals is that a speaker who code-switches is less concerned with the correctness and purity of language. Haugen (1977: 94) writes about monolinguals who enter bilingual communities and are shocked to hear how much code-switching there is that: "They hold that such infringements on the rhetorical norm, as they conceive it to be, are due either to laziness, a moral defect, or to ignorance, an intellectual defect, or to snobbery, a social defect." Warchoł-Schlottmann (1994: 204) confirms this belief, saying that sometimes one gets the impression that code-mixing is a feature of a misunderstood snobbery, and serves to demonstrate one's bilingualism or even to manifest one's so deep integration with a given community that it becomes impossible and improper not to code-switch.
The negative attitude to code-switching has been adopted by many bilinguals as well. A French-English bilingual cited by Grosjean (1982: 148) says: "This whole process of code-switching is done mostly out of laziness, for if I searched long enough for the correct word, I would eventually find it … I try to avoid code-switching … one would quickly end up speaking a language of its own." This attitude has resulted in their avoidance of switching, particularly in situations in which they could be stigmatized for doing so by e.g. their parents or teachers, who may have very strict norms concerning language use. Grosjean (1982: 149) quotes a Greek-English bilingual: "I find myself code-switching with my friends who are all Greek … they know English so well and nobody gets offended with code-switching … I don't switch with my parents as I do with my friends." However, code-switching usually takes place unconsciously, so that even speakers who condemn this practice may switch, not being fully aware of this. Bilinguals, just as monolinguals, concentrate on what is being said and not on how it is said. Therefore, making them aware of code-switches resembles making a person conscious of hesitation phenomena. For a while the person tries not to hesitate, but in the course of conversation the person no longer pays any attention to whether he/she hesitates and stops hearing the hesitations.
It is curious, however, that when they are asked to judge their own competence, they tend to ignore this ability and instead they focus on linguistic aspects, criticizing their own grammatical or lexical shortcomings in one or two or all of their languages, seemingly applying monolingual standards. In the longer term, this perceived inadequacy may lead them to develop strategies to avoid using their weaker language or reduce their use to a limited range of domains. Similarly, powerful psychological forces, such as rejection of a particular speaker or culture, or problems of finding one's own identity, may cause a speaker to abandon one or more of his or her languages (Hoffmann 2001:10).
Think about it. What is your attitude to code-switching? How do you feel when you notice that you have just used a switch? Do you even notice that? In what situation do you feel it awkward? In which cases do you feel it justified?
The monolingual attitudes towards code-switching are often negative, which can be seen in the pejorative meaning of terms like Tex-Mex, Franglais, Japlish, etc. Bilinguals, too, tend to see code-switching as 'embarrassing', 'impure', 'lazy', even 'dangerous', but the reasons they give for the practice – fitting the word to the topic, finding a word with a nuance unavailable in the other variety, helping out a listener, strengthening intimacy, and so on – make a great deal of sense (Myers-Scotton 1992). If one has two languages to draw upon, why not use it to the most? Certainly, switching may involve the repetition – for emphasis, for intimacy – of the same idea in both languages. Thus, the bilingual's 'twin bow-strings' allow him not only the style-shifting available to monolinguals but also full language-shifting. And as Edwards (1994: 20) observes: "It is hard to imagine that this is anything but a valuable addition." According to him, code-switching is a socially and grammatically rule-governed alternation between languages across and within contexts. Thus, it should be seen not as an evidence for the fact that the bilingual cannot keep his languages apart, but as the manifestation, in certain circumstances, of a unique multicultural personality.
Two main points of disagreement emerge between the monolingual and bilingual views. They involve the problem of the existence or lack of linguistic competence in bilinguals who code-switch and the issue of labels attached to switching: is it interference or a bilingual speech strategy? Both these issues are addressed and disscussed at lenght in the present paper. You will also find a description of a case study that was inspired by the questions listed above. Proficient Polish-English bilinguals, after having been put in the bilingual language mode, are studied when they talk to bilinguals and monolinguals, and the focus is put on code-switching occurrences. The findings of the study provide interesting answers to the problems raised in the paper, thus allowing me to propose vital implications for the future development of foreign language teaching and bilingual studies.


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Steuben woman, 23, ID'd as victim of crash with school bus
A 23-year-old Addison woman was killed when her car collided head on with a school bus on state Route 417 in the Town of Erwin, state police said.
Steuben woman, 23, ID'd as victim of crash with school bus A 23-year-old Addison woman was killed when her car collided head on with a school bus on state Route 417 in the Town of Erwin, state police said. Check out this story on DemocratandChronicle.com: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2019/03/21/kayanna-lehman-identified-crash-school-bus-steuben/3234836002/
Jeff Murray, Elmira Star-Gazette Published 1:28 p.m. ET March 21, 2019
New York State Police have released the identity of the driver who was killed Wednesday morning in a car-school bus collision in the Steuben County town of Erwin.
Troopers identified the victim as Kayanna Lehman, 23, of Addison.
Lehman was traveling east on state Route 417 east of Addison around 7:45 a.m. Wednesday when for an unknown reason, her vehicle crossed into the westbound lane and struck an Addison school bus head-on, state police said.
The accident took place on a curve in the road, about a mile and a half from the Interstate 99 exit. The school bus ended up against a guard rail, only a few feet from an embankment.
New York State Police investigate a crash that killed an Addison woman who struck an Addison Central School District bus head-on in the Town of Erwin on Wednesday, March 20, 2019. (Photo: Jeff Murray / Staff Photo)
No one was injured aboard the school bus, which carried 10 students and a driver. The Addison Central School District said the students were being transported to out-of-district placements at the time of the crash.
Emergency medical responders checked all the children at the scene. They were taken to Guthrie Corning Hospital for further medical checks.
Related: Pregnant woman killed in head-on Bradford County crash
Route 417 was closed for several hours as a result of the crash. Several wreckers had to be called to the scene to remove the two vehicles.
The investigation into the crash is continuing.
JMURRAY@StarGazette.com
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