"Double-voicing" in constructed dialogue: Investigating the function of Japanese in bilingual second generation Japanese American dialogue

Abstract

This descriptive study analyzes the sociocultural function of Japanese-English code-switching in an interaction among three Japanese American interlocutors (including the researcher). The data are described from three perspectives: “turns” (Sacks et al, 1974), “topics” (Gumperz 1982), and “double voicing” (Bakhtin 1981). Code-switching among bilinguals has been analyzed by many linguists through syntactic analysis; however, this descriptive study highlights the use of a sociocultural frame for a more functional analysis of Japanese English code-switching in the use of Japanese in “double voicing” in reported speech (Bakhtin 1981). The participants’ use of Japanese doublevoicing in “constructed dialogue” (Yule 1998) highlights instances in Japanese-English code-switching where Japanese was used to add “drama” to reported speech and to reenact cultural roles as a way to express Japanese American ethnic identities.