Филологические науки/

9. Этно-, социо- и психолингвистика

Zhiganova A.V.

Nizhny Novgorod Linguistics University

CODE-SWITCHING IN ADVERTISING: GLOBAL ENGLISH PERSPECTIVE

Social aspects of language functioning in an increasingly globalized world are the center of attention of contemporary linguistics. Modern society is continuing to become more economically oriented, which leads to the growth of contacts between languages. Human communication has ceased to be geographically limited [1: 4] due to the intensification of social, political, and cultural relations. Active migration, the development of new technologies, international marketing and the Internet make the phenomenon of code-switching, “the use of two or more linguistic varieties in the same conversation or interaction” [6: 7], not only a manifestation of bilingualism, but also one of the tactics of addressing massive target audiences, which can be observed by the example of advertising. Unlike oral discourse, where language change can be spontaneous, code-switching in advertising is a matter of conscious choice. Data analysis demonstrates that code-switching helps attract consumers’ attention to the targeted product and increases persuasive impact. The English language plays a special role in bilingual advertising due to its unique status of a lingua franca.

Code-switching to English is a common technique in worldwide advertising, and it is employed for a variety of reasons determined by its symbolic value and pragmatic potential. To a large extent, it is adopted as “a larger marketing strategy of a campaign” [4: 115] and helps advertisers achieve their ultimate goal of maximizing the profit through targeting a wider audience. Code-switching activates visual memory, making the advertisement salient, even if it does not carry any specific informational value, for example:

Mit dem BestChoice Universalgutschein haben Sie freien Zugriff auf über 200 namhafte Shop-Partner aus den Bereichen Elektronik und Möbel, Reise und Sport, Mode und Beauty oder Unterhaltung und Gastronomie. (URL: http://www.leserservice.de, March 2012)

Consequently, popular brand names, logos, and slogans are usually given in English without translation with the purpose of enhancing the advertising recall of the same product in different parts of the globe:

Beauty & Style Duftlieblinge, Wellnessfavoriten, Make-up – Highlights und Pflegetrends für Haut & Haar. (“Vogue”, 2010)

Whatever part of the world people are in, they come across familiar messages and are likely to choose the brands they are accustomed to over unknown ones.

Moreover, code-switching in advertising helps activate a number of socio-cultural concepts and serves to convey cultural values of the embedded language. English in the contemporary global context has acquired specific connotations of high quality and innovation, thus, products promoted with its help become associated with these qualities, too.

Business insured. Success ensured. Wir machen für Sie die Welt ‘businessable’ – dieses Wort ist ein Versprechen: Euler Hermes hilft Ihrem Unternehmen, sichere Geschäfte mit zuverlässigen Partnern in aller Welt zu machen (URL: http://www.eulerhermes.de, March, 2012)

English is supposed to guarantee success to the advertisement, symbolizing prestige and reliability. It articulates the dynamic of globalization and modernity through its “invisible socio-psychological features” [3: 537] and serves to construct a positive international image of the advertised product competitive in the global market:

Die "Color Edition" gibt es mit einem 1,4-Liter-Motor und 100 PS ab 19.570 Euro. Die neue Sonderlinie basiert auf der "Design Edition", die bei 18.620 Euro startet. (URL: http://www.auto-news.de, March 2012)

Although in the above-mentioned advertisement, the same idea could be expressed by means of German, English acts as a tool for promoting the cars internationally. According to An H. Kuppens, “Whether they target Asian, European, or Latin-American consumers, advertisers seem to regard the use of English words, sentences, and even entire texts as an efficient strategy to sell brands and products to consumers” [4: 115].

However, along with dominating bilingual advertising, English is influenced by local language practices and has to adapt to specific cultural and linguistic contexts. As Tej Bhatia and William Ritchie point out, “The process of localization of English parallels the process of globalization” [3: 543]. In other words, English, when coming into contact with other languages, also undergoes some changes which results in the formation of its national variants (“Spanglish”). Code-switching enables advertisers to “think and act both global and local at the same” [2: 161]. The presence of English words in a text does not make it English, since the advertisement is given in a specific local context. As Elizabeth Martin observes, although code-switching to English is widely used in French advertising, advertisements generally remain “quintessentially French” [5: 94]. Furthermore, the expansion of the English language is not entirely unambiguous. The exceptional role it plays in modern society does not mean that it governs absolutely all domains, and in some cases code-switching to other languages ​​can be found in English language advertising as well:

Welcome to Paso – “the next great California food town” (Bon Appétit). (URL: https://www.zagatwine.com, March 2012)

Code-switching to French is employed to render the image of finesse, refinement, and good taste.

In summary, code-switching performs a number of specific functions in advertising aimed at increasing the message recall and enhancing advertising efficiency. Code-switching to English is used as a successful advertising technique due to the symbolic and economic value of the language in the context of globalization. Globalization and localization tendencies correlate with each other transmitting both cosmopolitan and authentic values and addressing consumers all over the globe. Thus, “globalization should be viewed as the ‘organization of diversity’ rather than the ‘replication of uniformity,’ despite the homogenization of English advertising discourse on a global level” [qtd. in 3: 542-543].

 

Works Cited:

1.                     Иванов Д.В. Эволюция концепции глобализации // Телескоп. – 2002. – №4. – C. 3-14.

2.                     Bhatia T.K. Advertising in Rural India: Language, Marketing, Communication and Consumption. Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa. – Tokio: Tokio Press, 2000. – 333 p.

3.                     Bhatia T.K. & W. C. Ritchie. Bilingualism in Media and Advertising // The Handbook of Bilingualism / Ed. Bhatia, T. K. and W. C. Ritchie. – Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004. – P. 513-546.

4.                     Kuppens An H. English in Advertising: Generic Intertextuality in a Globalizing Media Environment  // Applied Linguistics. – 2009, Vol. 31. Issue 1. – P. 115–135.

5.                     Martin E. Language Policy and Multilingual Advertising in France // Language and the Market / Eds. Kelly-Holmes H. and G. Mautner. – Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2010. – P. 83-95.  

6.                     Myers-Scotton, C., & W. Ury. Bilingual Strategies: The Social Functions of Code-switching // Journal of the Sociology of Language.  – 1977, Vol. 13. – P. 5-20.