Code-Switching in the Digital Domain

Agrim Singh / Mendel Oh / Le Vu Huy

This paper aims to explore whether the occurrences of code switching on online platforms can be
correlated to the similarity of communications of speech, or away from conventional formal
writing. We will study this with focus on code switching in the written domain and the
exploration of the digital domain, with particular focus on the Facebook Messenger chat client
and conversations occurring on that medium as laid out in the Introduction. This paper will
further explain as part of the Methodology how by utilizing Natural Language Processing we
were able to detect code switching inter and intra-sentence, with the script available as part of the
Appendix, and accordingly present results that have been further discussed in the Discussion
section. The conclusions about code-switching in the digital domain have been appropriately
bolstered with example conversations.