ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part introduces the widely used dichotomy of ‘situational’ versus ‘metaphorical’ code-switching. It proposes the notion of markedness as a basis for understanding the effectiveness of code-switching in defining social rights and obligations. The part shows how certain sets of rights and obligations are conventionally associated with certain social situations, and how language use in those situations is unmarked. It also proposes a two-step analysis which integrates language choice at the macrocommunity level with code-switching at the micro-interactional level. Researchers of bilingualism generally agree that language choice is an ‘orderly’ social behaviour, rather than a random matter of momentary inclination. Where perspectives differ is in the conceptualisation of the nature of achievement and management of that orderliness. The notion of diglossia describes the functional differentiation of languages in bilingual and multilingual communities.
