Chill, take it easy, would you mind settling down? An empirical study of code switching within the English language when spoken by teenagers in Sweden

• Main Author: Lagnevik, Anna
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Lunds universitet/Engelska 2010
• Subjects: Languages and Literatures; Tornedalen
• Online Access: http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/2760517

In Sweden there is a first language Swedish and minority languages such as Finnish, Tornedalen Finnish, Romany, Samian, and Yiddish. Although English is not a second language in Sweden some people suggest it should be. From the age of nine children start to learn the English language in school. English is a core subject in the school system alongside Swedish and math. In several companies it is the language used. In commercials from different companies aimed at the Swedish population English is used. An example of that is Aquafresh that sell their product named “between teeth”. This toothbrush has some bristles that are longer and go between the teeth to make it cleaner. They could have used “mellan tänderna” but chose the English words for it instead. This is just one example of the use of English in Sweden today. Music, computers, games, movies, TV and commercials are big contributors. In magazines and newspapers you often find English words as well. This is something that should be looked into more, for example how English is used in Swedish newspapers. My hypothesis is that teenagers who live in Sweden and do not have English as a native tongue have gained access to the language and some of its codes.