;programs, they all invariably pay great attention to Chinese/English codeswitching out of different reasons, ignoring Mandarin/dialect codeswitching. The study mainly has the following purposes. Firstly, to find out the motivations which trigger Mandarin/dialect codeswitching and explain the realization of adaptation process in dialectal variety shows. Second, to discuss the pragmatic functions of Mandarin/dialect codeswitching performing in variety shows. Then, to give some implications to program makers and hosts and help them adjust language style and employ codeswitching as a communicative strategy. Also, the study will give us some inspirations of how to use codeswitching as a strategy to realize certain communicative goal in our daily life. The present study on Mandarin/dialect codeswitching has theoretical and practical importance in the long run. First, the study expands the application range of adaptation theory and enriches the studies about Mandarin/dialect codeswitching. The convincing explanatory power and great vitality of the adaptation theory have been proved. Second, a pragmatic research about Mandarin/dialect codeswitching will definitely broaden the research coverage, attract scholars’ attention to the dialect as well as deepen our understanding of this particular linguistic phenomenon.
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Chapter Two Literature Review
In this chapter, definitions, types and different approaches to the study of codeswitching at home and abroad will be introduced. Besides, previous studies about Mandarin/dialect codeswitching will be briefly summarized.
2.1 Definitions of Code and Codeswitching
It is necessary to define the term “code” before making a study of codeswitching. There is no recognized definition of code and codeswitching and the definition is varied in line with scholars’ specific research purpose, different research method and the unique understanding to this phenomenon. Some typical definitions and the working definition of code and codeswitching are listed in this part. In the book Introduction to Linguistics, Wardhaugh (1998:86) claims that “codes can be any semiotic system which people used for communication; it can be a language, a dialect, a language variety”. Romaine (1995:121) says that “The term code is a relatively neutral conceptualization of a linguistic variety—be it a language or a dialect, it is a certain dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasions”. Besides, Hudson (2000:22) defines variety as “a set of linguistic items with similar distribution”. Hudson (2000:22) explains that term “variety” may be used at different levels and the following can be
