Duelling Languages, Duelling Values: Conversational codeswitching in intergenerational disputes in bilingual immigrant families

This project aims to investigate changes in family values in immigrant communities by focussing on a specific linguistic phenomenon, namely, code switching - the competing alternation of language in conversation. Through an analysis of the sequential organisation of code switching between immigrant parents and their British-born children in Chinese families in Tyneside, we demonstrate how differences in personal needs, social identities and cultural values are negotiated in response to a wide array of interactional and social factors. The research will provide new insights into (changes of) family values in diasporas and migrant communities, evaluate current theories of intercultural communication and conflict resolution, and contribute to the development of a general theory of the pragmatics of code switching.