1

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010
The functions of Code-switching in a Korean Sunday School
Sun-Young Shin, Indiana University, Bloomington

Abstract
In a bilingual community, people often switch from one language to another in their daily
conversations and the use of code-switching often reflects the social or cultural identities of the
speakers. The switch to a particular language in the bilingual discourse can also be employed as
an effective vehicle to signal ethnic identity. This paper seeks to explore the functions of codeswitching in a Korean Sunday school through an analysis of code- switching data. I identify
situation-related code-switching by examining participants' talk and the particular situations
which prompt the use of Korean. I also demonstrate how Korean is used in particular
conversational acts, for example in directives, to invoke figures of authority and how Korean may
also be used to avoid saying things which might be found offensive. In this vein, I argue that the
use of Korean in bilingual discourse may index Korean ethnic identity by evoking the traditional
social ideology of relative status and increasing solidarity.
Introduction
In a bilingual community, people often switch from one language to another in their daily
conversations. Contrary to the assumption that code-switching is evidence of deficient language
knowledge in bilingual speakers, a number of code-switching researchers (Auer 1998; Gumperz,
1982; Heller, 1988; Li & Milroy, 1995; Myers-Scotton, 1993; Shin & Milroy, 2000) suggest that
code-switching is used as an additional resource to achieve particular interactional goals with
other speakers. Additionally, the use of code-switching often reflects the social or cultural
identities of the speakers (Foley, 1997; Myers-Scotton, 1993; Siegel, 1995). The switch to a
particular language in bilingual discourse can also be used to signal ethnic identity (Kroskrity,
1993; Nishimura, 1995; Woolard, 1989). This indexical link between language choice and
ethnicity is especially prevalent among language-minority children in the U.S. (Pease-Alvarez &
Vasquez, 1994). Minority children sometimes identify themselves by their ethnic background in
the community, even when they adopt the lifestyle and values of the target language group
(Schumann, 1986). Such co-membership in a minority community is frequently reflected in codeswitching, and the speakers in the same community tend to have common orientations towards
the norms and presuppositions of each language (Lo, 1999). Similarly, at Korean ethnic churches
where code-switching from English to Korean is widespread, the use of Korean in bilingual
discourse can serve several conversational functions, including marking Korean ethnicity by
reinforcing the indexical link between a language and the speaker's ethnic identity. This paper
seeks to explore the functions of code-switching in a Korean Sunday school through an analysis
of code-switching data. I will identify situation-related code- switching by examining
participants' talk and the particular situations that prompt the use of Korean. I will also
demonstrate how Korean is used in conversational acts such as directives, to invoke figures of
authority and how Korean may also be used to avoid saying things that might be found offensive.
In this vein, I will argue that the use of Korean in bilingual discourse may index Korean ethnic
identity by evoking the traditional social ideology of relative status and increasing solidarity. In

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

particular, I will focus on showing how Sunday school teachers make use of code-switching
practices when interacting with young children.
The Korean Ethnic Church in the U.S.
The Korean-American community has become distinguished by an extraordinarily high rate of
ethnic church participation (Han, 1994; Park, 1997; Patterson, 1988; Hurh & Kim, 1990).
Reportedly, 75-80 percent of Korean immigrants in the U.S profess Protestant church affiliation
(Hurh & Kim, 1990). Such high rates of ethnic church participation in the Korean community
indicate not only their devotion to religion but also a strong sense of ethnic identity (Chong,
1998). That is, Korean churches play a dual role of promoting Christian faith and preserving
Korean ethnic identity.
The church's role as a crucial link to immigrant culture has been identified in a number of studies
of religious institutions (e.g., Baquedano-Lopez, 2001; Duranti, 1994; Ochs, 1986). Compared to
school in the dominant culture where the ethnic language use and values are denigrated (PeaseAlvarez & Vasquez, 1994), the ethnic church supports and reinforces socialization practices
learned in the home (Baquedano-Lopez, 1998). To accomplish this goal, Korean ethnic churches
run their own Saturday schools exclusively to teach Korean language and culture to heritage
speakers of Korean. However, because the majority of children attending Sunday schools are
American-born and more fluent in English than in Korean, recently most religious services,
including Bible study for second-generation members, are carried out in English (Chong, 1998).
Thus, a sense of ethnic identity stressed in church has been relatively weakened as English is
used more frequently for religious services and instruction.
What is interesting, however, is that the Korean Sunday school teachers and students often switch
from English to Korean in conversation despite English being the dominant language in ethnic
Korean churches. These code-switching practices in interaction among the students and teachers
seem to contribute to maintaining and reinforcing Korean ethnic identity by indexing their
identity and membership as Koreans. The indexical relationships between linguistic choice and
one's ethnic identity have been discussed in several studies (Heller, 1988; Kroskrity, 1993; Lo,
1999; Milroy, 1987; Nishimura, 1995; Woolard, 1989), in which it is suggested that codeswitching serves as an ethnic identity marker. In contrast to English, the Korean language uses
overt grammatical and lexical elements to indicate social hierarchy and stratification (Koo, 1992;
Sohn, 1981; Sohn, 1999), and therefore shifting to Korean at a particular moment in bilingual
conversation can make a hierarchical social relationship among the interlocutors more salient
(Kang, 2003). Thus, code- switching at the Korean Sunday school can strengthen and reinforce
Korean ethnic identity. I will begin by reviewing definitions of code-switching and various
perspectives on it.
Code-switching and Code-mixing
Gumperz (1982) defines code-switching as "the juxtaposition within the same speech exchange
of passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems or subsystems" (p. 59).
Simply put, code-switching can be defined as the alternation of languages. However, not all cases
of alternation of languages are cases of code-switching. Several sociolinguists distinguish

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

between code-switching and code-mixing. For example, in several studies (Sridhar & Sridhar,
1980; Halmari, 1997), code-switching and code- mixing refer to intersentential and intrasentential
language alternation, respectively. In other words, code-mixing can be understood as the
switching of languages that occurs within sentences, usually at the level of words or idiomatic
expressions. However, code- mixing must also be distinguished from borrowing in that
borrowings are used to fill lexical gaps by monolinguals, while code-mixing is employed at every
level of lexical and syntactic structure by bilinguals (McKay & Hornberger, 1996). Moreover,
borrowings are completely assimilated to the borrowing language, whereas mixed elements often
retain features of the donor language (Gibbons, 1987). In the Korean Sunday school setting, both
code-switching and code-mixing are evident in conversation between teachers and students.
Various Perspectives on Code-switching
The practice of code-switching itself does not indicate a deficiency of language knowledge
(Heller, 1988; Reyes, 2004; Schieffelin, 1994); rather, it seems to serve a communicative function
in conversation. Code-switching as a conversational resource has been studied by several
sociolinguists (Gumperz, 1982; Li & Milroy, 1995). Blom and Gumperz (1972) distinguish two
types of code switching, 'situational code switching' and 'metaphorical code switching'.
Situational code-switching is related to a change in situation, for instance, when a new participant
joins the activity, or a change in the conversation topic or setting. On the other hand,
metaphorical code-switching is often used as a conversational strategy to enhance or mitigate
conversational acts such as requests, denials, topic shifts, elaborations or clarifications. Gumperz
(1982) later re-labels 'metaphorical code-switching' as 'conversational code-switching.'
Myers-Scotton (1993) focuses on the social motivation of code-switching and distinguishes
between 'unmarked' (conventional) and 'marked' (unexpected) uses of language. Code- switching
can be considered as the unmarked choice when linguistic choices are expected in the speech
community and determined by the social context and situational factors outside the content of
particular communication. Using in-group languages in inter-ethnic communication as in
switching from English to Spanish between Chicanos in Los Angeles is an example of this type
of unmarked code-switching. On the other hand, speakers switch languages unexpectedly
ignoring social factors or other institutional constraints affecting linguistic choices. Using outgroup languages in inter-ethnic interaction could exemplify this type of code-switching as in
selecting English rather than Spanish between Chicanos in Los Angeles.
Myers-Scotton notes the effectiveness of code-switching in defining social rights and obligations
in interactions in East Africa and suggests that linguistic choices can be explained in terms of
speaker motivation. In her most recent article (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai, 2001), she develops
her Markedness Model into a Rational Choice Model by considering the speakers' experiences of
linguistic choice and rationality, based on available resources other than the social context and
situational factors as both a mechanism and an explanation of code-switching. Simply put, this
Rational Choice approach aims to take into account of the speakers' own 'subjective motivations
and their objective opportunities' (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai, 2001, p. 5) in their language
choice. This model assumes that speakers' choice of one language over another is individual
decision which is rationally based (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai, 2001, p. 5)

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

In contrast, Auer (1998) points out that in the models proposed by Blom and Gumperz' (1972)
and Myers-Scotton (1993), one must assume the appropriate choice of language for the occasion
before any unexpected language choice could be interpreted. Thus, Auer (1998) argues that codeswitching is a serious conversational activity and be analyzed as a contextualization cue. Auer
(1995) applies a conversation analysis (CA) approach to analyze the procedures to establish the
participant's interpretation of code-switching. Auer (1995) also distinguishes between participantrelated and discourse-related code-switching. The former is motivated by the language
preferences, or the participants' competences, and the latter plays a role in structuring
conversational acts including turn-taking and repair.
In this study, I adopt Blom and Gumperz' framework, and their categories of situational and
metaphorical code switching, to analyze participants' language choices at a Korean Sunday
School.
Code-switching and Language Socialization
Code-switching can be related to language socialization practices given that it conveys social
meaning and plays a role in shaping notions of ethnicity and cultural identity (Garrett &
Baquedano-Lopez, 2002; Schieffelin, 1994). Schieffelin (1994, p. 28) examines relationships
between code-switching and general processes of language socialization among children as
follows:
A consistent finding across these and other studies is that children's
alternation between languages is neither random nor the result of a
linguistic deficit. As with adult speakers, social, grammatical and
functional principles govern these children's code-switches. Their ability
to code-switch identifies them as members of particular communities and
represents a skillful use of language for social or stylistic ends.
As a number of researchers have shown (Blum-Kulka, 1997; Halmari & Smith, 1994; Reyes,
2004; Zentella, 1997), bilingual children acquire and develop knowledge of code- switching
functions in the course of speaking with other interlocutors. Since language socialization research
is primarily focused on how children are apprenticed into socio- cultural norms and practices
through language as a symbolic system (Garrett & Baquedano- Lopez, 2002; Ochs 1993; Ochs,
2002; Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986), a relationship code- switching and language socialization
practices in bilingual settings is likely. Moreover, since Ochs (1986, 1992) shows that a theory of
language socialization hinges on a theory of indexicality, it is possible that language indexes
social or bilingual identity. Lanza (1997) suggests that bilingual children as part of the language
socialization process are able to link social meaning to linguistic form from an early age and
learn to differentiate their languages according to the needs of the social situation or preferences.
Thus, if traditional Korean values and culture are transmitted and reinforced through codeswitching, the study of code-switching practices will shed light on the ways young Korean
children acquire ethnic identity and culture in the Korean ethnic church in the U.S.
Few studies (e.g., Lam (2004); Yun (2008)) have closely examined the role of code- switching as
a means of language socialization. In this paper, by examining the nature and functions of code-

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

switching in the bilingual discourse occurring in the Korean Sunday school, I will show how
code-switching is used and interpreted by adults and children to support and reinforce ethnic
identity of Korean Sunday school children.
Setting
The site of this study is Y church (a pseudonym) located in Koreatown in Los Angeles. Fieldwork
was conducted over four months. I attended the church weekly to observe the Bible classes for
two hours every Sunday. My data consist of video- and audio- recordings of authentic teacher and
student conversation held in the Sunday school. I also conducted participant observation and indepth hour-long interviews with three Sunday school teachers. In the interviews I inquired about
their attitudes, opinions and motivations towards code-switching.

About 100 adults and children attend Y church every Sunday. The Sunday school starts at 11:00
a.m. with the adult service starts and lasts about an hour. Sunday school consists of two sessions;
the first service session comprises prayers, a short sermon, and offering; the second session is a
Bible study session in which one teacher and three to four students study Bible together in a small
group. Y church's religious services, and their Sunday Bible study, are conducted mainly in
English.
The Participants
The following reports of teachers and children are given to describe the bilingual profile of the
speakers in this setting. The profiles are based upon interviews and observations. The names used
here are fictitious to protect the participants' confidentiality.
Five adult bilingual speakers work at the Sunday school: the director, three Bible study teachers,
and one assistant teacher, who are all perfectly fluent in English and Korean. The director, Elder
Park, came to the U.S. at the age of 12. He frequently speaks Korean at the church because most
of the adult church members are Korean-dominant bilinguals. He also speaks to Englishdominant Korean children in English. The head teacher, Jane, is in her early forties and teaches
English at a private institute. She came to the U.S. when she was 10 years old. She usually
speaks English with English speakers and Korean with Korean speakers who prefer to speak in
Korean. She tries to speak to her own children in Korean to keep their Korean fluency. The other
two teachers, David and Erin, are in their early twenties. David came to the U.S. at the age of 6,
when his acquisition of Korean was not complete. However, he is fluent both in English and
Korean. Although he usually speaks to his friends in English, he often speaks Korean at his job
as a salesperson at a bakery in Koreatown in Los Angeles where most of the customers are
Korean speakers with limited English proficiency. Erin was born in the U.S. and brought up in
Kansas, and had limited contact with other Koreans. Although she used to talk to her parents in
Korean, she rarely spoke Korean outside home and her fluency in Korean was limited until she
moved to Los Angeles four years ago. After moving to Los Angeles, where she worked at a
Korean law firm, her fluency in Korean improved; however, she still shows a strong preference
for English. The assistant teacher, Debbie, was also born in the U.S. and raised in California. She
is a first-year college student majoring in English literature. She usually feels more comfortable
using English, although she understands Korean well and speaks to old people in Korean at the
church.

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

Six children participated in this study, ranging in age from six to eight. Data on the child
participants are below in Table 1.
Table 1. Study Participants
Place of
Gender
birth/age at
arrival
female
Korea/five y.o.

Name

Age

Yejin

six years

Youngmin

six years

male

Korea/5-6

Ere

seven years

male

Korea/two y.o.

Joseph

eight years

Male

U.S.

Joshua

Seven years

Male

U.S.

Esther

Eight years

Female

U.S.

Language use

Understands
English well,
but prefers
using Korean
barely
understands
English;
always uses
Korean
more
comfortable
with English
fluent in
English and
Korean but
prefers to use
English
more
comfortable
with English
More
comfortable
with English

All children in this study regularly speak Korean with their parents. Except for Yejin and
Youngmin, they prefer speaking English rather than Korean when talking to each other.
The functions of code-switching in a Korean Sunday school
Situated code-switching
In the Sunday school setting, teachers and students tend to speak the language spoken to them
and address a person in that person's strongest language. This type of code-switching is
identified as situational code-switching, and is mostly guided by functional considerations of
setting and participants (Blom & Gumperz, 1972). As Zentella (1997) points out, switching
usually occurs to accommodate interlocutors who speak different languages. Code switching to
accommodate others is documented in the following excerpt from the Bible study class. The
examples are taken from spontaneous talk recorded in the Sunday school, and English
translations are given in parentheses. The Korean transcript is also provided.
Sample (1)

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010
*:code-switching

1 Jane : ((Pointing to the bowls)) All the articles:: ((and then pointing to the students)) are
you guys. =
2 Ere : =What?
3 Jane : Ere::, ((pointing to him)) you have an article in you, you have a big bowl in you.
((pointing to Yeeun)) * OH&OI^, big bowl in you
Yejin-i-du, big bowl in you
Yejin-PART-too, big bowl in you (Yejin also) 5 Ere : I
never eit a bowl. (0.8)
6 Jane : You have a bowl in your mind.
7 Jane: * your mind
bowl 0| $i0-|o.
your mind-e, bowl-i isseo-oyo your
mind-LOC, bowl-S be-A.HON (In
your mind, there is a bowl)
8 Youngmin: *mind -|0i|o?
mind-ga mwo-yeoyo
mind-S What-A.HON

9 Jane:

(What is mind?)
^ DhSfll
&0-|.
maum, youngmin maum-e geuleus-i isseo-oyo
mind, youngmin's mind-LOC bowl-S be-A.HON (mind,
there is a bowl in youngmin's mind.)

During class, students are likely to use whatever language they feel comfortable with. Jane, the
teacher, usually answers them in the language they use. When she speaks to Yejin and Youngmin,
who are less fluent in English than the other students, she switches from English to Korean. In
this example, Youngmin asks a teacher for the definition of mind in Korean and she responds to
him in Korean. This type of code-switching to accommodate the Korean-English bilingual
abilities of the other interlocutor has been also documented by Shin and Milroy (2000, p. 368),
where the bilingual homeroom teacher switched from English to Korean to address a student who
was unable to participate in the class activity in English.
However, in some situations, teachers alternate from one language to another regardless of
students' linguistic abilities. The situated code-switching depending on participants is often found
in child-adult interaction at the church, as in the following example.
Sample (2)

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

1 Elder Park: Joshua, what are you

doing here? (1.8)
Elder Park: playing computer game? game machine?
(0.7)
3 Joshua: *video-game ^
Q^^BO?
video-game hago isso-oyo. Jangro-nim-un-yo? videogame do-A.HON. Elder-HON-T-A.HON (I'm playing videogame. What about you?)
4 Elder Park: * 7 |2. ((he picks up his bag on the couch))
gabang-i-oyo
bag-A.HON

(For my bag)
M2?
Bab mokeuru gal-kka-oyo rice
eat-INT go-A.HON-Q (do you
want to go to eat?)

5 Elder Park:

6 Joshua: *U|?
ne? yes-Q
(pardon me?)
7 Elder Park:
Bab

[mokuro]

rice eat-INT

8 Joshua :

(to eat?)
^]
x^m
olsso] mok-oso-oyo
mani duse-oyo jangro-nim
I-HON already eat-PST-A.HON a lot eat-HON-S.HON-A.HON
Elder-HON (I already ate. Please help yourself, elder.)

9 Elder Park: *U|

ne
Yes

In Sample (2), Joshua is playing a video game in the church office, when Elder Park comes to
pick up his bag in the office and asks Joshua, in English, what he is doing in the office. In line 3,
although Joshua could have shown code-alignment by speaking in English, instead he speaks
Korean to him using honorific forms both in verb conjugation and addressee terms. It is also
noteworthy that Elder Park changes his code from English to Korean, using an honorific
addressee sentence ending that is not as common in spoken discourse as it is in interaction

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

between children and caregivers. However, several studies (Cook, 1996; Han, 2004; Ju, 1998)
indicate that the use of honorific forms by adults help index children's social identity and remind
them how to be a member of a certain institution. In this setting, most adults who speak to
children in Korean use honorific forms. Similarly, the children at this Sunday school usually shift
from English to Korean when they start talking to adults regardless of their fluency in English.
This shift might reflect the children's use of Korean at home with their parents, causing them to
view Korean as a language to be used with adults. Code-switching to the parents' preferred
language in bilingual children often indicates their deference to adults (Myers-Scotton &
Bolonyai, 2001). Moreover, the Korean language encodes hierarchical relationships
grammatically and lexically much more overtly than English does (Kang, 2003; Sohn, 1981), and
switching to Korean can index traditional Korean hierarchical relationships. However, the
relationship between code-switching and social hierarchy are more apparent in the way bilingual
Sunday school teachers and students manipulate their language choices for specific speech acts
like directives, which are discussed in the next section.
Metaphorical code-switching
Another type of code-switching, metaphorical code-switching, which functions as a
contextualization cue (Gumperz, 1982) in addition to providing the actual lexical meaning of the
coded phrases, is often practiced in Bible classes. Particularly, this study suggests that switching
from English to Korean, may indicate the changes in footing, and function as directives and an
avoidance strategy for unpleasant lexical items and situations.
Signaling Changes in Footing
Goffman (1981) suggests that people can take stances by linking their utterances to moments,
places, personae, or spirits in interaction. This indexing of a speaker's alignment or position in a
conversation is called footing. For example, while telling a story, a speaker can enact figures or
characters producing talk of their own, and indicate his own alignment toward the story.
According to Goffman (1981), a speaker can adopt various footings, including as animator,
author, or principal. The animator refers to the one who gives a voice to the message; the author
is in charge of selecting words or sentiments being conveyed; and .the principal is the person
whose position is being represented.
Code-switching can be used to signal changes in footing in a conversation. In the following
example (3) , the Bible study teacher, Jane, uses code-switching to signal a quotation; when she
places herself in another speaker's positions, she code-mixes for the noun that the children often
use in Korean such as omma (mom) and bab (rice) (in line 1) and also switches to Korean when
she imitates their mothers (in line 4). It seems that the code- mixing here is locally motivated by
her shift in footing from teacher to mother.
However, it is also noteworthy that Jane's switch to Korean to convey what the students' mothers
might say to them is related to who she is animating. Quoting involves not only repeating, or
imagining, what someone said or might say but also animating other characters (Goodwin, 1990).
In this case, by switching to Korean, Jane can animate her figure as the students' mothers. This
type of code-switching is also documented in sample 4. In this sample, Joseph and Joshua are

10

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

pillow-fighting in the church's guest room. In Korean culture, shoes are taken off when people
enter a room. When Elder Park sees Joshua playing with their shoes on, he asks Joshua, in
Korean, to take off his shoes (in line 4). After Elder Park leaves and Ere joins them with his shoes
on, Joseph tells him to take off his shoes by quoting what Elder Park to Joshua in Korean (in line
6). Although Joseph
is not the animator who originated the words spoken, by quoting Elder Park, he evokes a figure
of authority. In line 6, he intensifies his authority by using an imperative form in his Korean.
This example shows how switching to Korean for quoting can reinforce Korean language as ingroup code and authority.
Sample (3)

1 Jane : ((Showing a dirty bowl)) If you take this bowl to your mom and said
* a ^ , give me- give me some *
^ omma
bab
(mom)
(rice)
2 Jane: and then, what is your mom gonna say?
3 Children : No:: ((all together))
4 Jane : She is gonna say, that's dirty. * !hE|, lhE| ^0.
ppalli ppalli ssis-o.
Hurry, Hurry wash-IMP

(Hurry, hurry, wash it

away)
Sample (4)

1 Joseph: Let's do pillow fight here.

2 Ere: Come on, I'll beat you//
3 Joshua:
//Come on
((Joseph and Joshua are jumping up and down in the guest room))
4 Elder Park: Hey guys, what are you doing here? Joshua, *
sinbal bosu-yaji shoe
take off-should-SUP (You should take off your shoes) ((Joshua is taking off his
shoes and Elder Park walks away))
5 Joseph: Hey, punch me. Bring it on.
((When Joseph and Joshua are pillow fighting, Ere joins them))
6 Ere: Hey, Ere,

11

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

sinbal bos-o shoe

take off-IMP (take
off your shoes)
7 Ere: OK
This passage, signaling changes in footing, can also be related to the Korean cultural norms,
including the belief that it is impolite to call an older person or a person in a higher position by
their first name. This restriction in Korean honorific convention is also reflected in code-mixing
in child-child interaction in this setting, as demonstrated in the following excerpt:
Sample (5)

1 Joshua: Is Debbie
2 Debbie:

3
4
5
6
7
8

9
10

11

playing the piano for us?

nuna (male's term for older sister)
Yep, (looking a he songbook))

I don't know the song.

onni (female's term for older sister)

(2.3)
Erin: Oh:, really? (3.4) ((she looks for anther hymn at the song book)) What about
this one?
Debbie : Ok, I think I can play that song.
Joshua: What song is??? Deep down??
Erin: Yes, Joshua. Do you know this song?
Joshua: I know ((singing the song)) Deep, deep down [in my heart]
Esther:
[Joshua, don't shout].
*
and * S ^ a are having the meeting in the next room.
jangro-nim jipsa-nim Elder-HON Decon-HON
Joshua: ((not listening to Esther but singing louder)) Deep, deep down, down
Erin: Hey, Joshua, * Z \ = MO.
sori jiruji ma-si-oyo sound cry-VC
don't-S.HON-A.HON will be angry with you.
jangro-nim Elder-HON
Joshua: OK, OK.
In the sample above, Erin wants to practice a gospel song for next Sunday with Joshua and
Esther. Debbie plays the piano for them. It is interesting to see that Joshua does not call Debbie
by her first name, but adds the kinship term nuna (meaning an older sister for a male speaker),
although Debbie is not his blood sister. Debbie also calls Erin as onni (meaning an older sister for
a female speaker) instead of her first name, although Erin is not Debbie's biological sister. In
addition, in line 8, Esther uses jangro-nim and jipsa-nim (meaning elder and deacon), positionrelated terms in church, using the honorific suffix - nim. The use of position-related terms is also

12

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

reinforced by Erin, a Sunday school teacher, when she refers Mr. Park as jangro-nim (elder). In
Korean, category terms for social positions and kinship are used as reference terms for those who
are older or socially higher than the speaker (Oh, 2002). Kinship terms often embed certain rights
and obligations, allowing speakers to specify the addressees and the relationship between them
(Nishimura 1995). Using the first name of someone who is older or of higher social status than
the speaker sounds extremely rude and is avoided. Thus, code-mixing that indexes social
hierarchy helps maintain and reinforce traditional Korean behavior among participants. In other
Korean American communities, the use of Korean kinship terms as an index of relative status
outside the home in the Korean-English bilingual speeches has also been reported by Kang (2003,
p. 304).
Directives in Code-switching
Several researchers have examined caregivers' use of directives as a mechanism for language
socialization (Miller, 1982; Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984; Han, 2004). Directive choices can also be
related to the construction of asymmetrical relationships (Goodwin, 1990). Another function of
code-switching in sample (5) is Erin's use of Korean in directive forms, one of the most frequent
teachers' uses of Korean in code-switching in the Sunday school setting. Erin uses English when
she describes a future event in which Elder Park will be angry with Joshua if Joshua keeps
shouting. However, she uses Korean for directives asking Joshua not to shout in the same line
(10). In the following excerpt, such use of code-switching as directives is more apparent.
Sample (6)

1 David: ((Pointing to the chair)) OK. I want you to sit here.

2 Joseph: OK
3 D a v i d : * E ^ f - . Chapter six and verse twenty two.
Ja, handa OK, doPROP (OK, let me do
this.)
4 Joseph: OK:: verse 22 (0.8)
5 Joseph: I'm lost.
6 David: Chapter 6. OK:: * E^h Let me read this.
Ja, handa OK, do-PROP (OK, let me
do this.) ((Students look distracted and do not look at
the Bible))
7 David: OK, Let just me have Bible study started. Do you guys know who Noah is?
8 Ss: Yeah::
9 Ere: Noah is John's brother.
10 David: No. (0.5) Since we don't have enough books. I'm going to just tell you a story.
11 David: Long time ago, everyone committed a sin.

13

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

Ja, duluba OK,

listen-PROP (OK,
listen up)
((students keep talking to each other and do not listen to a teacher.))
12 David: ^
Joyong-hi he
quiet-AD do-IMP
(Be Quiet!)
David, a young Bible study teacher, tries to attract students' attention during class, he often
switches from English to Korean by saying "Ja, handd", which means "OK, let me do this." to get
the students' attention. He has a hard time managing his class; students do not bring their Bibles
and textbooks and they are distracted. David tries every possible way to get their attention,
including using code-switching for directives in line 12.
This type of code-switching can be explained by these children's association of Korean with
authority and the language of parents. J 0rgensen (1998) argues that children often think of their
parents as powerful, even if the parents are low-income, low-prestige immigrants in a European
city. This assumption can be applied to the Korean Sunday school context. Although on the global
level, English is considered to be the more dominant and powerful language, in the Sunday
school and at home, the power difference between Korean and English is reversed. When I
interviewed David about his use of code-switching in directives, he discussed the significance of
using Korean:
Children often view Korean as an adult language in church. So, when I speak
in Korean to them, I feel like having more authority over them and they tend to
be more obedient to me.
Code-switching when giving directives can also be related to Korean social hierarchy, which is
encoded in Korean grammatically and lexically (Kang, 2003). The use of Korean as a means of
infusing Korean hierarchy in the other Korean American bilingual interaction was exemplified in
Kang's excerpt (Kang, 2003., p. 312). In the cited excerpt, Sam, the director of the Korean
American Center, made a suggestion about Jin's presentation in Korean, using an honorific
sentence ending, which indicates his stance as the director compared to Jin as well as the formal
nature of the exchange.
In contrast to English, which is known as a non-honorific language, Korean is an honorific
language, which overtly codes interpersonal relationships linguistically. Using Korean to make
requests and orders therefore allows teachers to harness the illocutionary force of these
relationships and children's sensitivity to social hierarchy.
The following example shows such a use of code-switching when the head teacher, Jane, teaches
the principle of being united in Christ. In line 1, she wants to check her students' understanding of

14

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

the sermon by asking a confirmation question. However, there is no response from the children.
In line 2, she asks her students to hold their classmates' hand to signify the harmony among
believers, which is the topic of the sermon. At that moment, she switches to Korean from English
and uses a directive form. In line 3, she changes back to English when she explains what she
wants to teach them by asking them to hold each other's hand. In line 4, Jane calls Ere to take the
offering box and he tries to take it with one hand. In Korea, it is rude to take something
considered important or that is passed from the hands of adults, with one hand; one should
receive anything given by adults with both hands. Moreover, the offering box at church is usually
considered to be holy and is expected be handled with particular care. In line 5, Jane wants to
teach Ere the proper traditional Korean-behavior for receiving items and thus corrects him in
Korean.
Sample (7)

3
4

Jane: Do you guys remember what we learned today?

(4.7)
Jane: *,
son jabu-si-oyo hand seize-S.HONA.HON (Hold your friends' hands.)
Children: ((They grab each other's hands))
Jane : You have to be in harmony with each other.
Jane: OK, (3.4) Ere, *
nao-si-oyo
come out-S.HON-A.HON (Ere, come forward.) ((Ere
is coming forward and trying to receive the offering box with one hand))
Jane: ((She is handing the offering box to him)) *^
du son-uro
two hand-by means of

(with both hands)

((Ere is holding the offering box with both hands.))
A Korean bilingual Sunday school teacher's power-wielding code-switching can be also identified
in sample (8). In this sample, Jane wants to remind the children of the weekly Bible phrase that
they were required to memorize last week (in line 1). However, Ere chats with a friend instead of
paying attention to Jane. When Jane wants Ere to admit that he did something wrong, she
switches to Korean (in line 17). Ere refuses to admit his misconduct, Jane, still in Korean, tries
several more times to elicit an admission of inappropriate behavior (in lines 18, 20, and 25). In
line 24, Joseph interferes and asks Ere to apologize to Jane. Note that Joseph speaks Korean
when telling Ere what he should say to Jane. In line 26, Ere acknowledges, that he did something
wrong in Korean. In line 27, Jane scolds him for not paying attention to her, again in Korean. In
Korean culture, the most proper response to scolding by a teacher is to admit one's bad behavior
immediately and ask for forgiveness with one's eyes and head down, indicating obedience and

15

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

remorse. It is interesting to see that Jane switches to Korean when she wants to establish her
authority by asking whether he did right or wrong. She repeatedly asks rhetorical questions about
Ere's improper behavior in Korean until he admits that he did wrong (in line 26) with an
appropriate attitude.
Sample (8)

1 Jane: God is saying, If God is for us, who can be against us. No one can be against us.
((Ere doesn't look at the teacher and imitates Lucifer))
2 Ere: Yee
3 Jane: Ere, Ere
4 Joseph: Ere
5 Jane: Ere, what did I just say?
6 Ere: I don't get it. I don't know//
7 Jane:
// What did I j ust say?
8 Ere: I don't know.
9 Jane: Why?
10 Ere: I don't hear you.
(2.4)
11 Jane: Why didn't you hear me?
12 Ere: I'm looking at something. So,
(1.8)
13 Jane: Ere, do you know why you didn't hear me?
14 Jane: Do you want me to tell you why you didn't hear me?
15 Ere: No
16 Jane: I'll tell you, because you are not paying attention and doing something else.
17 Jane: SOS?
^ SOS?
jal hae-ss-oyo
mot hae-ss-oyo
good do-PST-A.HON not good do-PST-A.HON (Did you do
right or wrong?) (1.3) ((There is no response from Ere))
18 Jane: SOS?
^ SOS?
jal hae-ss-oyo
mot hae-ss-oyo
good do-PST-A.HON not good do-PST-A.HON (Did you do right or
wrong?)
19 Ere: You know my answer.
20 Jane: Ere, That's not, That's not your answer. OK, * ^ SOS?
jal hae-ss-oyo
mot

16

Heritage Language Journal, 7(1)

Winter, 2010

7-MIS

= ^ 7-MIS

good do-PST-A.HON not good

jal ha-n go-eyo

mot ha-n go-eyo
good do-VC thing-A.HON not good do-VC thing-A.HON (Was it a
good thing or bad thing?) (6.4) ((Still there is no response from Ere))
21 Jane: Ere
22 Ere: Uh
23 Jane: I'm asking you a question.
24 Joseph: ShM^. 3BH
mot hat-ss-umni-da
gurae
not good do-PST-A.HON-DEF-DC say so (Say I did something
wrong!)
(5.2)
25 Jane: SOS? ^ SOS?
jal hae-ss-oyo mot hae-ss-oyo
good do-PST-A.HON not good do-PST-A.HON
(Did you do right or wrong?)
26 Ere: * ^ SOS. ((with his head down))
mot hae-ss-oyo not good do-PST-A.HON (I did something wrong)

27 Jane: O K , * ^ M 0 | 0 | 0 ^ 7 | # M b
pay attention
EflO.
sunseng-nim-i iyagi hal tte-enun sunseng-nim
hae-yajidwe-yo
teacher-HON-S story do time-LOC teacher-HON do-should-A.HON
(When I speak to you, you should pay attention to me.)
After the service, I asked Jane why she issues commands to the children in Korean and she
responded:
I don't know. But at home I usually talk to my children in Korean when I ask
them to do something. I feel like being more powerful when I speak to them in
Korean, and they seem to be more obedient to me when I talk to them in
Korean. I think that's why I often speak Korean to my students at church,
especially when I'm angry with them and order them to do what they have to do
but they don't want to.
Sunday school teachers at this church switch to Korean when they intend to control children's
behavior or direct their attention. Since the use of commands provides teachers with a powerful
resource to teach children socially and culturally appropriate norms of behavior (He, 2000),
switching to Korean to make commands may prompt children to be more aware of the Korean
social hierarchy between adults and children. In the interaction above, following Jane's commands
to Ere, he understood what he was supposed to do and eventually behaved appropriately, lowering
his head.
However, as the following examples show, code-switching practices in church also have the
function of preventing undesirable behavior while mitigating face-threatening acts by drawing
upon the notion of we-code (Gumperz, 1982, p. 66) for in-group and informal activities,
increasing intimacy among members of the group. Code-switching can permit speakers to say
things that are acceptable only if said by an in-group member, by realigning their relationships
among interlocutors as members of the same in-group (Li, 1995).
Avoiding Unpleasant Lexical Items and Actions

In the following example, Jane often uses code-mixing to avoid using a particular lexical item
during Bible class.
Sample (9)

Jane: Ocean was really really (0.8)

the water was not nice to the ocean.
But you know what? ((pointing to the students))
you know what happened? When it rains
(0.5)

2 Joseph : uhm
3 Jane: When it rains (0.4) all:: the bad things from the streets get washed up and all
are going to the ocean. Sometimes trash goes to the ocean. Sometimes you know what goes to the
ocean?
4 Joshua: No, what?
5 Jane: *o
ttong (feces)
6 Children: hahahahahah ((students are all laughing.))
7 Jane: Sometimes *ttong goes to the ocean but you know what happens? (0.8)
The Ocean says OK, welcome. It takes up everything, all the bad things and turns
them into a good thing.
See, that's why love is like an ocean. Love:: in the beginning it cannot accept
many things but the ocean::if you accept it, it turns it into good water.
Esther asks Jane how she as a Christian can love her classmates who are mean to her, and Jane
compares true love with the ocean. She draws an analogy between love and the ocean, which
carries away everything, even what is dirty. But, she doesn't want to say feces in English so she
switches to Korean.
In the next example (sample 10), when Erin changes the topic and wants to pray together with her
students, she uses Korean. It is common to use code-switching for signaling topic- shift and
mitigating such conversational acts (Heller, 1988; Lanza, 1997). In this example, it is also
interesting to see that Yejin shifts to Korean, when she talks about a bodily function. She seems to
avoid using English to talk about a dispreferred topic.
Sample (10)

1 Erin: I want you to remember all we learned.

2 Erin: **K O|^|
Ja, eje gido-hab-sida. OK, now
prayer do-PROP (OK, now Let's
pray) ((Kids start to giggle))
3 Erin: Esther, why are you guys laughing?
4 Esther: (hhhhhh) Oh, my God. That's nasty. Joshua * ^ fl^OS
banggu kkui-os-eyo
fart release-PST-A.HON
The use of code-switching to avoid unpleasant situations is also documented in the following
example (11), in which David does not allow Joshua to go to the bathroom during Bible class and

asks him to "hold it" for a moment. When he denies Joshua's request to leave and go to the
bathroom, David switches to Korean, which serves to attenuate his refusal.
Sample (11)

1 David: He said, "I was blind from being born."

( Joshua is holding up his hand )
2 David: Joshua
3 Joshua: Can I go to the bathroom?
4 David: * KfeB M. Just hold it for a minute. OK?
jigum-un an-dwe-yo now-T notshould-A.HON
A similar pattern of using code-switching by a Korean American teacher to contextualize
disagreement is also observed in different Korean-English bilingual speech samples (Shin and
Milroy, 2000, p.374). In this cited excerpt, Kathy, a Korean-English bilingual teacher, reiterates
her dissatisfaction with Gina's story by switching from English to Korean when Gina ignores
Kathy's comments in English. This type of code-switching as voicing disapproval has been widely
reported in other German-Italian (Auer, 1984) and Chinese- English (Li, 1994) bilingual
communities.
While code-switching can serve as a resource for aggravating directives by assigning Korean
social hierarchy, it can also be used as a mitigating strategy depending on the relationships among
interlocutors and the context in which code-switching occurs. Code- switching in bilingual
speeches at this church setting can be a solidarity marker by emphasizing a we-code notion and a
close relationship among interlocutors.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study is to identify the functions of code-switching practices in a Korean
Sunday school. The data discussed here suggest that code-switching in Korean in this setting
constructs and reinforces social hierarchies. The way Korean Sunday school teachers switch from
English to Korean at particular junctures can be a useful tool for maintaining and reinforcing
children's Korean identity. Likewise, when Korean-American children at church switch to Korean
from English, they are expressing respect and deference to an older person at church. For
example, the mixing of Korean kinship terms in their bilingual speech can specify their
relationship to other people in the traditional Korean system of social categorization and express
their Korean identity.
Furthermore, metaphorical code-switching, which is used as a conversational strategy for
changing footing, reinforcing directives, and increasing mitigation, instantiates the way the
Korean social hierarchy is reflected in bilingual interaction in a Korean ethnic church in the U.S.
Code-switching is used to contextualize a change in footing to emphasize the authority of parents
and other adults.

The Sunday school teachers also use code-switching to issue directives. As He (2000) notes,
teachers can use directives to engage students in the co-construction of social and cultural
knowledge. Code-switching therefore can be a powerful tool for teachers to transmit Korean
traditional values and to reinforce hierarchical relationships between teachers and students. Codeswitching can also be used to avoid expressions that might be found offensive by increasing
solidarity among interlocutors.
This paper demonstrates how interlocutors' code-switching to Korean from English serves to
socialize their Korean identity. The paper also shows that the Korean ethnic church is an
important institution for transmitting and maintaining ethnic identity as well as for teaching
religious lessons. Moreover, Korean code-switching plays this essential role at the same time that
English is increasingly used at the Sunday school as the medium of instruction.
Limitations of the Research
This study provided an analysis of the functions of code-switching in a Korean Sunday school.
However, it was limited in several ways that might be addressed in future research. One limitation
of the study is the small number of participants; another is that code- switching practices were
observed only at one Korean ethnic church in the U.S., which limits the ability to generalize the
study's findings. To overcome this limitation, future research could seek code-switching data from
a large number of Korean-English bilinguals at a variety of Korean Sunday school settings.
Another limitation is that the rates of code- switching practices in Korean American teachers and
children's bilingual speech, compared to the entire corpus, were not estimated. If the overall
amount of code-switching was quantified, the functions of code-switching behavior in this
specific setting could be more systematically characterized. For future research, the entire speech
corpus and the total number of all utterances, including code-switching, could be quantified, and
the percentage of code-switching for various functions should also be calculated.
Pedagogical Implications
As can be seen in this study, Korean Sunday schools can serve not only to teach biblical
knowledge and the Christian faith but also to offer a place to preserve Korean ethnic identity. The
experience of shifting from English to Korean can help Korean-English bilinguals shape their
identity as Koreans and thus can contribute to enhancing Korean language learning for heritage
speakers, as a positive relationship has been established between a well-developed sense of ethnic
identity and proficiency (Chinen & Tucker, 2005; Cho, 2000; Tse, 1998).
References
Auer, P. (1984). Bilingual conversation. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Auer, P. (1995). The pragmatics of codeswitching: A sequential approach. In L. Milroyand & P.
Muysken (Eds.), One speaker, two languages: Cross-disciplinary perspectives on
codeswitching (pp. 115-135). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Auer, P. (1998). Code-switching in conversation: Language, interaction and identity. New York:
Routledge.

Baquedano-Lopez, P. (1998). Language socialization of Mexican children in a Los Angeles

Catholic parish. (Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 1998).
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, AAT 9905590.
Baquedano-Lopez, P. (2001). Creating social identities through doctrina narratives. In A. Duranti
(Ed.), Linguistic anthropology: A reader (pp. 342-358). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Blom, J., and Gumperz, J.J. (1972). Social meaning in linguistic Structures: Code-switching in
Norway. In J. J. Gumperz & D. Hymes (Eds.), Directions in sociolinguistics (pp.407-434).
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Blum-Kulka, S. (1997). Dinner talk: Cultural patterns of sociability and socialization in family
discourse. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Chinen, K., &. Tucker. G. R. (2005). Heritage language development: Understanding the roles of
ethnic identity and Saturday school participation. Heritage Language Journal, 3(1). Available
from http://www.heritagelanguages.org
Cho, G. (2000). The role of heritage language in social interactions and relationships: Reflections
from a language minority group. Bilingual Research Journal, 24(4), 369384.
Chong, K. H. (1998). What it means to be Christian: The role of religion in the construction of
ethnic identity and boundary among second-generation Korean Americans. Sociology of
Religion, 59(3), 259-287.
Cook, H. M. (1996). The use of addressee honorifics in Japanese elementary school classrooms.
Japanese/Korean Linguistics, 5, 67-81.
Duranti, A. (1994). From grammar to politics: Linguistic anthropology in a western Samoan
village. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Duranti, A. (1997). Linguistic anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Foley, W. (1997). Anthropological Linguistics: An introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishers.
Garrett, P., & Baquedano-Lopez, P. (2002). Language socialization: Reproduction and continuity,
transformation and change. Annual Review of Anthropology, 31, 339-361.
Gibbons, J. (1987). Code-mixing and code choice: A Hong Kong case study. Clevedon and
Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters.
Goffman, E. (1981). Footing. In E. Goffman, (Ed.), Forms of talk. (pp. 126-159). Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press.
Goodwin, M. H. (1990). He-said-she said: Talk as social organization among Black children.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Gumperz, J. J. (1982). Discourse strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Han, G. S. (1994). Social sources of church growth: Korean churches in the homeland and
overseas. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Han, N. (2004). Language socialization of Korean-American preschoolers: Becoming a
member of a community beyond the family. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of
California, Los Angeles.
Halmari, H. (1997). Government and code-switching explaining American Finnish.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Halmari, H., & Smith, W. (1994). Code-switching and register shift: Evidence from FinnishEnglish child bilingual conversation. Journal of Pragmatics, 21(4), 427-445.

He, A.W. (2000). The grammatical and interactional organization of teacher's directives:
Implications for socialization of Chinese American Children. Linguistics and Education,
11(2), 119-140.
Heller, M. (Ed.). (1988). Codeswitching: Anthropological and sociolinguistic perspectives.
New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Hurh, W. M, & Kim, K. C. (1990). Religious participation of Korean immigrants in the United
States. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 29, 19-30.
Ju, H. (1998). A discourse analysis of Korean -si- in an elementary school setting. Unpublished
M.A. thesis, University of California, Los Angles.
J0rgensen, J. N. (1998). Children's acquisition of code-switching for power-wielding. In P. Auer
(Ed.), Code-switching in conversation: Language, interaction and identity (pp. 237-258).
New York: Routledge.
Kang, M. A. (2003). Negotiating conflict within the constraints of social hierarchies in Korean
American discourse. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7, 299-320.
Koo, J. H. (1992). The terms of address 'you' in South Korea today. Korea Journal, 32, 2742.
Kroskrity, Paul V. (1993). Language, history, and identity: Ethnolinguistic studies of the
Arizona Tewa. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Lam, W.S.E. (2004). Second language socialization in a bilingual chat room: Global and local
considerations. Language Learning and Technology, 56, 5(3), 44-65.
Lanza, E. (1997). Language mixing in infant bilingualism: a sociolinguistic perspective. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Li, W. (1994). Three generations, two languages, one family: Language choice and language
shift in a Chinese community in Britain. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters.
Li, W. (1995). Code-switching, preference marking and politeness in bilingual cross- generational
talk: Examples from a Chinese community in Britain. Journal of Multilingual and
Multicultural Development, 16, 197-214.
Li, W. (1998). The 'why' and 'how' questions in the analysis of conversational code- switching. In
P. Auer (Ed.), Code-switching in conversation: Language, interaction and identity (pp. 156176). New York: Routledge.
Li, W., & Milroy, L. (1995). Conversational code-switching in a Chinese community in Britain: A
sequential analysis. Journal of Pragmatics, 23, 281-299.
Lopez, D. E. (1996). Language: Diversity and assimilation. In R. Waldinger & M. Bozorgmehr
(Eds.), Ethnic Los Angeles (pp. 139-163). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Lo, A. (1999). Code-switching, speech community membership, and the construction of ethnic
identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 3, 461-479.
Mckay, S. L., & Hornberger, N. H. (1996). Sociolinguistics and language teaching. Cambridge.
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Milroy, L. (1987). Observing and analyzing natural language: A critical account of
sociolinguistic method. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Miller, P. J. (1982). Amy, Wendy, and Beth: Learning language in South Baltimore. Austin:
University of Texas Press.

Moyer, M. (1998). Bilingual conversation strategies in Gibraltar. In P. Auer (Ed.), Codeswitching in conversation: Language, interaction and identity (pp. 215-234). New York:
Routledge.
Myers-Scotton, C. (1993). Social Motivations for Codeswitching. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Myers-Scotton, C., & Bolonyai, A. (2001). Calculating Speakers: Code-switching in a Rational
Choice Model. Language in Society, 30(1), 1-28.
Nishimura, M. (1995). A functional analysis of Japanese/English code-switching. Journal of
Pragmatics, 23, 157-181.
Ochs, E. (1986). Culture and language development: Language acquisition and language
socialization in a Samoan village. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ochs, E. (1992). Indexing Gender. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking context (pp.
335-358). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ochs, E. (1993). Constructing social identity: a language socialization perspective. Research on
Language and Social interaction, 26(3), 287-306.
Ochs, E. (2002). Becoming a speaker of culture. In C. J. Kramsch (Ed.), Language acquisition
and language socialization: Ecological perspectives (pp. 100-120). New York: Continuum.
Ochs, E., & Schieffelin, B.B. (1984). Language acquisition and socialization: Three
developmental stories and their implications. In R. A. Schweder & R. A. LeVine (Eds.),
Culture theory: Essays on mind, self, and emotion (pp. 276-320). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Oh, S-Y. (2002). Referring to people in Korean and English. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
University of California, Los Angeles.
Park, K. (1997). The Korean-American dream: Immigrants and small business in New York
City. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Patterson, W. (1998). The Korean frontier in America. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Pease-Alvarez, C., & Vasquez, O. (1994). Language socialization in ethnic minority communities.
In F. Genesee (Ed.), Educating second language children: The whole child, The whole
curriculum, the whole community (pp. 82-102). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Reyes, I. (2004). Functions of code switching in schoolchildren's conversations. Bilingual
Research Journal, 28(1), 77-96.
Schieffelin, B. B. (1994). Code-switching and language socialization: Some probable
relationships. In L.E. Hewett, R.M. Sonnenmeier, and J.F. Duchan (Eds.), Pragmatics:
from theory to practice (pp. 20-42). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Schieffelin, B. B., & Ochs, E. (Eds.). (1986). Language socialization across cultures. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
Schumann, J. H. (1986). Research on the acculturation model for second language acquisition.
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 7(5), 379-392.
Shin, S. J., & Milroy, L. (2000). Conversational codeswitching among Korean-English
bilingual children. International journal of Bilingualism, 4(3), 351-383.
Siegel, J. (1995). How to get a laugh in Fijian: Code-switching and humor. Language in
Society, 24, 95-110.
Sohn, H. M. (1981). Power and solidarity in the Korean language. Papers in Linguistics:
International Journal of Human Communication, 14, 431-452.

Sohn, H. M. (1999).. The Korean language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sridhar, S. N., & Sridhar, K. K. (1980). The syntax and psycholinguistics of bilingual code
mixing. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 34(4), 407-416.
Tse, L.. (1998). Affecting affect: The impact of heritage language programs on student
attitudes. In S. D. Krashen, L. Tse, & J. McQuillan (Eds.), Heritage language development
(pp. 51-72). Culver City, CA: Language Education Associates.
Yun, S. (2008). Role-play and language socialization among bilingual Korean children in the
United States. Simulation and Gaming, 39(2), 240-252.
Woolard, K. A. (1989). Double talk: Bilingualism and the politics of ethnicity in Catalonia.
Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Zentella, A. C. (1990). Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in the study of bilingual
code-switching. The uses of linguistics. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 583,
75-92.
Zentella, A. C. (1997). Growing up bilingual: Puerto Rican children in New York. Malden, MA:
Blackwell.

Appendix. Abbreviations

AD: adverb derivational morpheme A. HON:

addressee honorific sentence ending HON:
honorific vocabulary IMP: imperative INT:
intentive
LOC: locative particle
PART: particle attached after a word-final consonant in personal names PROP: propositive PST:
past tense Q: question S: subject
S.HON: subject honorific infix
SUP: suppositive T: topic
VC: verbal connective in a verb phrase