关联理论视角下淘宝网广告语中汉英语码转换研究

发布时间：2016-08-31 07:06

Introduction

Research backgroundIn recent years, the relationship between China and other countries in the worldis getting closer with the development of globalization and informationization. Underthis circumstance, code-switching has been a natural product of the interaction ofdifferent languages and cultures. It is such a common but important languagephenomenon that we can find in almost every aspect of our daily life. Therefore, thethesis will mainly discuss the phenomenon of Chinese-English code-switching inadvertisements on Taobao from the perspective of Relevance Theory.Code-switching has been widely discussed in the field of linguistics and otherrelated fields. Code-switching refers to the phenomenon of alternation between two(or more) languages or language varieties in the same communicating discourse (ZhuWanjin, 1994). Code-switching is a common phenomenon in language contact. Due tolanguage contact, it usually occurs in bilingual settings. Chinese-Englishcode-switching usually occurs on mass media in daily life in China, such as in newsreports, magazines, television programs, popular songs, advertisements, web pages,etc. As such a hot topic, code-switching has aroused wide attention in various fieldsfrom psychology to sociology, from cultural anthropology to linguistics.The syntactic study focuses on the description of the linguistic structure and thecharacteristics of two languages, especially on syntactic restrictions of two languages.This approach explains some grammatical rules of code-switching, but ignores thepositive effects of psychological, cultural and social factors in code-switching. Thepsychological study aims to understand how brain to store, distinguish and choose allkinds of codes in a particular language environment, however, it cannot propose aconvicting model to explain code-switching. 
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Purpose and Significance of the Research
This study focuses on the characteristics of Chinese-English code-switching inadvertisements and the applications of Relevance Theory in advertisements on Taobao.First of all, this study makes an attempt to analyze the characteristics of theadvertisements which contain Chinese-English code-switching. And then, it isdevoted to analyze the reasons for using code-switching in advertisements. Thirdly, itattempts to carry on a deeper analysis on the application of Relevance Theory to thestudy and on the effects of code-switching in advertisements. At last, it attempts to putforward some possible suggestions to improve their effectiveness of sales promotion.The significance of this study can be stated from the following aspects.Firstly, it is out of the consideration for China’s current language use. With thecontinuous improvement in the degree of internationalization of China, interactionsbetween different ethnic nations have become more and more frequent. Bilingual ormultilingual phenomenon appeared. Language harmony is the basic requirement ofbuilding a harmonious society, while code-switching is an inevitable result ofmultilingual phenomenon. So more and more Chinese citizens, especially youngpeople, are motivated to learn a second even a third language for a bettercommunication. The prestige of English is quite clear in the dynamic process oflanguage contact. Many studies have been applied to text-based discourse, languagesused in online chatting, and so on. However, the advertisements containChinese-English code-switching which have not achieved much attention as theyshould have. This study would be a little contribution to the range of code-switchingresearch.
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Chapter One Literature Review

1.1 An overview of Code-Switching
With the rapid development of multicultural communication, code-switching hascaught much attention in many fields. Because of language contact, code-switchingfrequently takes place in our daily conversations. Therefore, it is a phenomenonworthy of serious concerning and thorough study. Many scholars both from China andabroad have done remarkable studies of code-switching which are also quitesignificant for later studies.Code-switching is a common phenomenon in language contact. “Code” is aneutral term that refers to a particular dialect or language used by a person on anyoccasion. It’s a communication system used by two or more parties. Hence the mostimportant thing is how to choose the most appropriate code in a particular situation. Indaily communication, people are always faced with the choice of an appropriate codewhen they talk to others.Code-switching is the result of bilingualism and multilingualism, and itcommonly occurs when people convert one code to another. So it is a very commonphenomenon in language use. The phenomenon of code-switching is very commonand easy to be understood, but it is difficult to provide a consistent definition aboutcode-switching because different linguists put forward their own definitions ofcode-switching on the basis of their unique research and data resources.
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1.2 Previous Studies on Code-Switching
Code-switching is such a hot phenomenon, which has aroused considerableresearches of scholars both abroad and at home. In this part, a review of the previousstudies on code-switching by the domestic and foreign scholars will be made.The study of code-switching is a marginal subject in linguistics which only ahandful of scholars do it from the 1950s to 1960s. These scholars were aware ofbilingual transformation in conversations. Uriel Weinreich (1953) suggests that theideal bilinguals change their words from one language to another according to the appropriate situations. Einar Haugen and Uriel Weinreich are the representatives wholaid a theoretical foundation for the study of language contact. Haugen himself coinedthe term of codes-witching. It refers to the phenomenon that some completelydifferent words in another language are introduced to his own language in varioussituations by a bilingual. Code-switching is considered as “interference” in earlystudies of language contact. Labov considers code-switching as a puzzling problem.Myers Scotton didn’t realize code-switching is a special language phenomenon untilhe has worked for more than 10 years in African community in 1972.In the 1970s, some pioneering and classical publications are emerged which areconcerned with bilingual syntax in social linguistics. Therefore, code-switchinggradually becomes the research focus of many syntacticians, social linguists andpsychologists. Poplack is a famous representative in the field of syntax, and Blom &Gumperz are influential scholars in the field of social linguistics. Most scholarsmainly focus on the study of some specific restrictions of code-switching rather thanon the universality of it. In the1980s, scholars began to seek for a more universalrestriction on conversion of words. Most scholars, such as Gumperz and Heller (1988)suggest that code-switching should be considered as a kind of skilled behavior withsocial motivation. Besides that, Gumperz (1982) proposes six functions(specification,interjection; qualification, personalization and objectivization) of code-switching.This typology of functions opens up the possibility of examining code-switchingfunctions directly and provides a set of categories that can be employed in discussingthe relevant problems. Auer, P(1984) discusses the conversational functions ofcode-switching. Myers Scotton talks about the social motivations of code-switching.
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hapter Three Data Analysis and Discussion.....26
3.1 Characteristics of Code-Switching in Advertisements......26
3.2 Reasons for Using Code-Switching in Advertisements.... 33
3.2.1 Social Reasons........... 33
3.2.2 Psychological Reasons......35
3.3 Application of Relevance Theory to the Study..........39
3.3.1Advertisement is a Kind of Ostensive-Inferential Process......39
3.3.2 Code-Switching and Optimal Relevance.........41
3.4 Effects of Using Code-Switching in Commercial Circumstance.....43

Chapter Three Data Analysis and Discussion

3.1 Characteristics of Code-Switching in Advertisements

According to the analysis of data(advertisements which be collected on Taobao),there are three aspects of characteristics can be noticed. They are the scope ofpublicizing coverage, the distribution of audience, the insert mode of language codes.In generally, the advertising costs of publicizing the advertisements on the homepage are too expensive to a single seller to afford. In addition, as the operator of theentire website, Taobao may also create advertisements for sellers as the publicizingactivity. Many advertisements are created in the form of a group of publicity to arousethe consumers’ attention for the entire promoting activities, especially on some specialoccasions, such as the anniversary celebrations or holidays. So the scope ofpublicizing coverage is enlarged along with the costs are reduced.Both example 1 and example 2 are created to catch more attention of consumersfor the entire promoting activities. Example 1 is for the coming of Women’s Day. It isa promoting activity for a holiday. Example 2 is for the coming of December 12th,(12.12 it is considered as a special day for promoting), which involves the overallpromotion activities on Taobao. Both two advertisements are created by the websiterather than a singular seller. The scope of publicizing coverage is larger. Because thiskind of advertisements are placed under the principle of prominent location on theweb page, they are mainly under the responsibility of publicizing for a wholepromoting activity instead of for a particular product.

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Conclusion

Nowadays, code-switching is a very common language phenomenon which iswidely used in Chinese advertisements because of the frequent language contacts. Theoccurrence of code-switching in advertisements on Taobao is mainly because of theintentions of promoting products, that is, to convey certain kinds of information tocertain consumers. The thesis explores the phenomenon of Chinese-Englishcode-switching on Taobao. First, the thesis summarizes some characteristics ofChinese-English code-switching in advertisements on Taobao, and then discusses thereasons for using code-switching by analyzing the data from the perspective of socialreasons and psychological reasons. Finally, the thesis discusses the application ofRelevance Theory to the study and analyzes their effects in commercial circumstance.In this part, first, the author highlights some major findings which this thesis hasachieved. Second, the author offers some implications of this study, and third, theauthor points out some limitations of this study. Finally, the author gives somesuggestions for further research.
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The reference (omitted)

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