Code-Switching In the World of Hawaiian Creole

Pidgin English: A Conscious or Unconscious Decision

Presenter: Brandi Ely

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 22-23

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Clare Sandy

Department: Anthropology

Funding Source/Sponsor: Class Project

Abstract:
My hypothesis states that people who code-switch between Standard American English and Hawaiian Pidgin English, do so subconsciously. This is important to the findings that Pidgin English is not an ignorant, lazy use of words, but a language all in its own, and it is a brilliant mix of languages brought to the Hawaiian Islands by migrant workers from different places around the world. With its rich history, this language lends so much to the Hawaiian culture and its background in my life. Using three research methods I have shown that my hypothesis is true. Media research (YouTube videos of people on the Hawaiian Islands speaking to interviewers who use Standard American English), personal interviews, and observational research, where I watched interactions between code-switchers, both with their knowledge and without such as (a phone call that I hear one side of). I got information from four different sources who are bilingual and tend to use Standard American English with most people around them, and then code-switch to their secondary language, which is Pidgin English. My preliminary findings have shown that the code-switching is done subconsciously. This takes place in a surrounding which is cultural in that the people speaking were born and raised on the Hawaiian Islands. I observed family gatherings.