Pragmatic and Psychological Reasons of Code Mixing and Code Switching in the Stammered Speech of Pakistani Bilinguals

Abstract

Most of the communities in the world are linguistically diverse, and bi-/multilingualism is the norm worldwide. In such communities, code mixing and code switching is a normal phenomenon. Speakers code mix and switch the linguistic items of one language into the other language for a number of reasons. There are certain motivational factors which cause individuals to code mix or code switch the linguistic items in their speech. This study deals with the motivational factors behind using code mixed or switched linguistic choices by the people who stammer. The study attempts to look at the psychological and pragmatic reasons due to which stammerers code mix. The study reveals that apart from the other factors which lead to code mixing and switching, stammerers do so because of the difference of sounds; and they substitute the words to substitute sounds in order to overcome their stammering.