Code Mixing in Facebook Between Males and Females

Objective

The purpose of this study is to investigate the difference of frequency the use of code mixing between males and females that use one of the social networks that are available which is Facebook. In addition, we also want to identify the context in which code mixing mostly occurs.

Methodology

            Our research is conducted based on previous study done by Judy Woon Yee Ho (2007), “code-mixing: Linguistic form and socio cultural meaning” in which she investigated the usage of code mixing in the diaries 52 tertiary students in Hong Kong. The method that we use in this research is observation. We log on to two of our group mates’ Facebook account and we chose comments and statuses randomly; we chose 20 random comments and statuses from males and another 20 from females hence the total of 40 participants. We randomly selected the data on April 16^th 2012, from 10pm until 11.30pm at Human Science Square using the Internet. The age, program that some participants take in IIUM factor were not put into account which taken randomly.

Framework

CMC or computer-mediated communication means any communication via various technology usages such as instant messaging, electronic mail or e-mail, social networks like facebook, twitter, tumblr etc; blogs and weblogs. Nowadays people communicate not just through spoken language alone, even with the invention of mails, people of today’s modern world converse more frequently with the help of technologies. However, despite with all the technologies that we have some people use their language wrongly, for instance, Malaysian especially Malays tend to use code mixing a lot not just in their spoken language but also in written language.

Facebook is one of the CMC that we want to focus upon and the framework that we want to use in order to analyze is code mixing. According to Musyken (n.d.) code mixing means “to refer to all cases where lexical items and grammatical features from two languages appear in one sentence.” In order to further clarify this definition matter Judy Woon Yee Ho (2007) states “code-mixing is the change of one language to another within the same utterance or in the same oral/written text.”

Findings

Gender/ Language	Male	%	Female	%
Malay	111	36.9%	101	33.6%
English	56	18.6%	33	11%

           

The figure above shows the number of words was used in Facebook, from the table above we could see that males are the one that frequently use code mixing when posting comments or statuses than females. As much as 111 or 36.9% of the postings are made of entirely from Malay while 56 or 18.6% are English. Females on the other hand use 101 or 33.6% Malay words and 33 or 11% English words; this kind of result is to be expected of.

Discussion      

From the data that we collected, we would like to discuss code mixing regarding on several aspects. We chose 15 random comments from the males and another 15 comments from the females and firstly, we would like to discuss on the frequency of code mixing according to gender differences. From the data, it is believed that males tend to use code mixing more than females. Males code mix several English words in one sentence while females usually code mix by using many English words in a sentence. For example, a male student comments “Untunglaa uthman dpt konsert free”(Uthman is lucky to have free concert). In this sentence, he only uses two English words and compared to one of the comments from the females which is, “First time without asking people rindu ain X?”First time, without asking, do you miss me?, We could see that females tend to use almost full English sentence and only several Malay words are present in her sentence.

            The use of code mixing can be analyzed through the situations which the speakers are in. From the data and observation we made, we see that code mixing is frequent in informal situation. Speakers use code mixing more in everyday life routine such as conversation between family members and friends where the situation is spontaneous and it is not planned. However, the use of code mixing can be reduced or stopped being used when speakers are in formal situations such as in politics, business administration and lectures. For example, a professor would speak English more in a public lecture and students would speak full English when they are doing presentation in the classroom. Regarding on the situations the speakers are in, they could utilize the use of code mixing freely.

            Then, it is assumed that Malay speakers use code mixing because Bahasa Melayu is not expressive enough for the context that they want to convey their message to. The problem is not that Bahasa Melayu does not have enough vocabulary to express something but the speakers believe that it “does not feel right” in other words some would feel it is not “hip” or “young” to use the standard Bahasa Melayu. For instance, many speakers would choose to say “I love you” instead of “Aku cintakan kau” because the former phrase has always been exposed in the media like in dramas and films and it is instilled in the speakers’ attitude of using it. The attitude of the speakers themselves contributes to the use of code mixing. Like the previous example, one might feel shy to utter “Aku cintakan kau” because he believes that it is not expressive enough and it gives a little bit of “goosebumps” feeling when someone hears it.

            The frequent use of code mixing also can be the reason of the speakers who always use English terms in their life. They adapt many English words which they hear and use daily into their written and spoken language. From the observation, many Malay speakers would say busy rather than sibuk because it is heard daily and the word is infused into the speakers’ brain. Besides, the presence of English words in a code mixing sentence is because of the words are used in a specific situation or field. For example, a male comments on “Salam kepada wakil kelab yang terlibat dengan proposal Dana Belia 1 Malaysia, anda diminta bersedia untuk pembentangan projek anda yang dijadualkan dalam minggu hadapan. pembentangan secara berperingkat( 1peringkat 4 club)”. He uses the word proposal instead of  kertas kerja because the word proposal is commonly used in programs and many students and staffs have adapted the word.

            To sum everything up, males dominate when it come to code mixing. Females tend to use almost complete English sentence with a bit of Bahasa Melayu in their postings. Code mixing usually occurs when they are in informal context like between friends and family where the scenarios are spontaneous. Then when people see that they are in a formal context they will reduce the use of code mixing and will try to use the standard, be it Bahasa Melayu or English. The problem lies not in the number of vocabulary that the Bahasa Melayu has but rather the attitude of the speakers. They feel that Bahasa Melayu is not expressive enough hence looking for the most expressive language that they could which happen to be English. Other than that, a lot of English words have taken over in the Malay speakers’ daily conversation like the word ‘busy’ for ‘sibuk’.

Bibliography

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