This is an empirical research. Data for this research were collected through
questionnaire for the male speakers, and questionnaire and indirect interview -chatting
with the speaker a couple of minute before giving them the questionnaire- for the
female speakers. The questionnaire is a survey which consists of four closed questions
that request yes/no answer, and a choice from multiple choices. In addition, the survey
consists of two open question that request an opinion and to list reasons for the code
switching (see Appendix).
The researcher adopted this method (questionnaire) for the male speakers
because it is hard to make a direct contact with them. On the other hand, indirect
interview was used with female speakers because it would allow the research the
opportunity to verify the answers provided by the female speakers. Through the
indirect interview, one can observe the codes used and the style of the speakers while
in the questionnaire this might not be possible.
The data come from a sample of 22 females and males who live in Jeddah.
The speakers come from three different age groups 15-20, 21-25 and 26-30. It is
mainly from the researcher's family, friends and neighbors. The researcher conducted
the indirect interview and the questionnaire of the female speakers (11 speakers),
while the remained 11 speakers (male speakers) were interviewed by the researcher's
brother.
The code-switching between English and Arabic is examined in relation to
two independent variable gender and age. The sample is classified in two groups
according to gender- male and female-, and three groups according to age -15-20, 21-
25 and 26-30.
The researcher is interested in code-switching because she finds this
phenomena quite outspread in her society; it does not only affect her family, friends
and neighbors but herself, too.