CODE-SWITCHING AMONG UZBEK ENGLISH LEARNERS: REASONS AND FUNCTIONS

Saminjon Khakimov University of Business and Science Non-Governmental Educational Institution Philology and Language Teaching (English) K.XF 23-04 Phone number: +998 333696936 +998 943623669 Email: saminjon.khakimov@gmail.com ORCID: 0009-0006-1444-7331

Annotation: This article examines the phenomenon of code-switching among Uzbek learners of English and analyzes the major reasons and communicative functions behind it. Based on classroom observations and learner interviews, the study reveals that code-switching is not simply a sign of linguistic weakness but a strategic tool used for clarification, social bonding, topic shift, and emotional expression. The research emphasizes that code-switching plays an important pedagogical role in foreign-language learning environments, especially in multilingual societies like Uzbekistan.

Keywords: code-switching, bilingualism, Uzbek learners, English learning, sociolinguistics, communication strategies, multilingual education

In multilingual communities, switching between two or more languages during communication is a common linguistic practice. This phenomenon, known as code-switching, has been widely studied in sociolinguistics. For Uzbek learners of English, code-switching frequently appears in classrooms, social media communication, and informal conversations. Although it is often perceived as a barrier to language fluency, many researchers argue that it serves important communicative, psychological, and pedagogical functions. This article explores why Uzbek English learners code-switch and what functions it performs in their communication.

Code-switching typically occurs when speakers alternate between languages depending on context, topic, or interlocutor. Scholars classify it into several types:

 Inter-sentential switching — language shift between sentences.
 Intra-sentential switching — switching within one sentence.
 Tag-switching — insertion of discourse markers such as “ha”, “you know”, “aslida”.

Previous studies (Gumperz, Myers-Scotton, Poplack) show that code-switching is often systematic and purposeful, rather than random.

The study uses:
1. Classroom observation at secondary and vocational institutions in Fergana region.
2. Semi-structured interviews with 20 English learners aged 15–20.
3. Analysis of chat-based communication (with participants’ consent).
Qualitative analysis was applied to identify repeated patterns and motivations behind switching.

1. Reasons for Code-Switching
a. Lexical Gaps
Learners often lack vocabulary for certain concepts and naturally insert Uzbek words. Example: “Teacher, I don’t know this tushunchani in English.”
b. Ease of Expression
Some ideas feel more natural in L1 due to cultural closeness.
c. Learning Strategy
Learners intentionally mix languages to confirm understanding: “Past Simple o‘tgan zamon bo‘ladi, to‘g‘rimi?”
d. Classroom Norms
Teachers themselves switch languages to save time during explanation, influencing learners’ behavior.
e. Emotional Expression
Feelings such as surprise, humor, or frustration are often expressed in Uzbek even during English conversation.

f. Social Bonding
Switching helps maintain group identity and solidarity, especially among classmates and friends.
a. Clarification Function
Students switch to Uzbek to clarify grammar, meaning, or instructions.
b. Emphasis and Focus
Certain Uzbek words are used to highlight important information.
c. Identity Marking
Using Uzbek markers like “ha”, “xo‘p”, “baribir” creates a shared linguistic identity.
d. Topic Shift
Learners switch languages when changing from academic talk to everyday conversation.

e. Pedagogical Function
Code-switching helps teachers scaffold learning and reduce confusion during complex topics.
f. Affective Function
Use of mother tongue reduces anxiety and increases speaker confidence.

The findings indicate that code-switching among Uzbek English learners is a strategic communicative practice, not a sign of poor proficiency. Learners rely on both languages to negotiate meaning, express identity, and maintain social relations. In Uzbek classrooms, where English is learned as a foreign language, total exclusion of L1 may create unnecessary psychological pressure. Instead, structured and purposeful use of the mother tongue can support language acquisition.

Code-switching among Uzbek English learners serves multiple linguistic and social functions. Rather than discouraging it completely, educators should understand its pedagogical value and guide students toward more intentional and balanced usage. Future research may explore differences in code-switching patterns across age groups or proficiency levels.

REFERENCES
1. Gumperz, J. (1982). Discourse Strategies. Cambridge University Press.
2. Myers-Scotton, C. (1993). Social Motivations for Codeswitching. Oxford University Press.
3. Poplack, S. (1980). “Sometimes I’ll Start a Sentence in Spanish Y TERMINO EN ESPAÑOL.” Linguistics, 18(7–8), 581–618.
4. Auer, P. (1998). Code-Switching in Conversation. Routledge.
5. Matras, Y. (2009). Language Contact. Cambridge University Press.
6. Iskandarova, S. (2020). “Code-Switching Practices in Uzbek EFL Classrooms.” Uzbek Journal of Education Studies, 4(2), 45–51.

Saminjon Khakimov was born in Margilan, Fergana Region, Uzbekistan. He is a student of Philology and Language Teaching (English) at Namangan University of Business and Science. He works as a Head English Teacher and IELTS Instructor at a private educational center.

Christmas Love !

A Sweet Song can hear
From so far, your dreamy peer.
Feel and sing this now
Children! Dear all come on.

Christmas comes with its Love
Knot of heart , for a new world.
Mention not, how is that?
Christmas is the prime prospect.

Santa Claus showers the joy
So many gifts with sanguine plots,
Dear Children! Dear all!
Come and feel this plot.

Share your love within all
Rich to poor, for a new rhythm.
You know this, we love all,
We want this beautiful plot.

Christmas Love! Christmas Dove!
Feel and seal all the unwanted hubs.
Not need to shed your tears
You will get the sanguine layer.

    YOUR SINS WILL FIND YOU OUT

                                    Dr Jernail S. Anand

The forces of nemesis, and the furies, are moving around, looking for moral blemishes, and they spare neither the individual nor the society. -Anand

Bible says: Your sins will find your out. I think it applies to men as individuals, and the society as a whole.

As civilized human beings, we have set up courts to ensure justice to the aggrieved, and punishment to the aggressors who violate the laws of the country. Jails are overflowing with criminals undergoing sentences. Justice, it is said,  is often delayed, and sometimes,  entirely miscarried. Of late, justice eludes people due to interventions from the above, and what we come across is a jumbled face of a society which cannot recognize itself.

However, when it comes to the divine court, there are no chances of justice going astray. It may appear to be delayed, but it is definitely delivered.  While human courts take cognizance of the crimes which are reported, the supreme court of gods has a sprawling campus, and it works suo moto, and does not like excess of any kind. They carry all the data of these people with them and sometimes they punish them there and then, but most of the times, they wait for the appropriate moment.  But one thing can be said with conviction. No advocate, however pricey, can waylay the this court. No crooked wisdom can delay justice. The system is entirely blameless. Angels carry data which is up to date, and they act unbiased like machines which are innocent by all means, if there is any one to blame, it is man who operates them.

As in human courts,  parameters regarding crime and their punishment exist in divine courts also. They fix the crime of the person, and then, award him the punishment he deserves. Only this roster is not made public. As generally believed, our judgement proceedings do not start after our death. Operation scan is going on all the time. We are under the gaze of the angels. While human laws get into action when some crime has been committed, the divine court takes cognizance

of what you think, what you feel, and then, finally, what you act.

Societies are Judged as a whole

It is all about your ‘Karma’. Lord Krishna was right when he laid stress on human action which is finally considered by gods and on the basis of which, you are granted heaven or hell. Gurbani also talks of life as a ‘karma Sandra khet’ i.e. a field where your actions matter. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that men have the power over their action only. Not on the reverberations of that act. In fact, here the Newton’s third law of an action having an equal and opposite reaction also comes into the dock, because, that may be true in a physical world, but in the metaphysical world, you don’t know what will happen to your action and how gods will react to it.

Moreover, there are thousand wrong passions doing the rounds of our blood, a thousand things which we cannot do, because of fear of the law, we are always mentally busy with things which civil society does not allow, how does that impact our score in life? There are so many people who are doing wrong things, yet they are not detected, because they are not visible to the law. How are they to be accounted for?

No doubt, we matter to the cosmos as individuals. We have a dedicated account with gods. The reason is our birth is individualized. Even in our death, we die individuals, though it may be a collective grave, as the drowning of a Titanic. But, in addition to being an individual, we are part of a society.

Unified View of Society

Who is there that takes a unified view of the people as a whole?  Gods who are on mision spy, take stock of the way people behave, and then take decisions about their collective destiny.  I can elaborate it by quoting the example of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s great writing ‘Babarwani’ in which he says that the tyrannical acts which Babur inflicted on the people of Hindustan could have been averted if the people had been wiser. Guru sahib  says ‘Aape dos n deyee karta, Jam kar Mughal chadaya’ ie. the Mughal aggressed upon the people like a Yama,  all because of their wrong deeds.

Thus, when a society fails in its morals, when people as a whole become corrupt, when people stop taking interest in good, when good deeds go unrewarded, and the murders, rapes, and evil mongers  take the main space, when the society is ruled by the corrupt, and when the poor are pushed to the edge, the society as a whole is ripe for divine retribution.

The forces of the nemesis, and the furies, are moving around, looking for moral blemishes, and they spare neither individual nor the society.  A layman once stopped an angel in a dream and asked, what is the punishment for people who do not stand for their rights? Pat came the reply. “Hitler. Nero. Mussolini…and….” when the angel was going to name a few more people, the man woke up from his sleep, sweating.

Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, with an opus of 190  books, is Laureate of the Seneca, Charter of Morava, Franz Kafka and Maxim Gorky awards.  His name adorns the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. Anand is a towering literary figure whose work embodies a rare fusion of creativity, intellect, and moral vision who heads the International Academy of Ethics. 

PARENTAL LOVE 

Do you hear how the wind blows gems among the stars, when it blows away their brilliance? They are the diamonds from Bach’s Christmas oratorio and the kind of incense 

Which fills your soul’s house with infinity and their celestial light 

Tradition celebrates parental love through the birth of a divine nature 

There have always been altars in the Heavens, incomprehensible only to the family with a mother through the Holy Spirit 

But at Christmas, every year, in our human way, we celebrate the Father who came through the son to our earth 

The Son, Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh, is the creative symphony itself, one with All that He created 

Light from Light, in the soul of every man, fractal-miraculous like love, instilled 

The miracle is not only in the one who forever “Is what Is” But also in the sacrifice of love, with which he gave a new message 

So let us understand the Son, as the part of the father who gave himself, to his other sons 

So much, Creation, He loved 

Summer still Lingers

wisps of this summer linger;

where sunlight once kissed my golden crown
the fading etches of triangular bikini tops
feet firm from walking barefoot on rough ground

where freckles crawled across my nose and cheeks
bug bite scars reside on my legs
sun bleached hair and #kill the geese

wisps of this summer linger;

in the pine trees camphoraceous aroma
clinging to my bouquet of ringlets
the citrusy tingles and floral ambrosia

in the dirt caked into the soles of my sneakers
the tye dyed socks and sweat stained shirts
and although my summer tan grows weaker

the wisps of this summer still linger.

A Girl Named Ars Poetica

My bathroom tiles have seen, heard, felt, and suffered

through more tears than your busted up, popped out shoulder

I so desperately reach to stabilize and claw into

With my poorly uncut finger nails.

If salvation is the feeling of my saliva dripping off my tongue

Settling into the grooves of your own,

Then maybe, suddenly,

I do want to be saved.

I’ll read to you until the vocal fry in my voice sounds like tv static

As if you fell asleep on your mama’s couch watching Full House,

The connection between the antennas and power altering drastically

Like the longing when our hands aren’t locked.

We will listen to the soft pitter patter of the rain

Gulping up water that’ll clog up the storm drain

Until I have found you asleep on my bathroom floor

Tear stained shoulders, bubbling foam, crystalized eyes and all.

I reach your tear stained, clawed up shoulder

And brush the cuts with my spicy stained finger tips

Until you jolt up just so I can say it’s the medicine to cure

The pain— and you’ll remember my finger tips.

Can you touch my skin with your own until there’s a film

Of deep red coating the fairness, so that no one can see the beauty

Other than your crystalized eyes that I inhabited in

The second you said “I love you.”

Portrait of Rosa Schapire

The woman sits unwilling and blue

Boxed into a corner by a chair and a red wall

Implicating you in her afflictions

Worn sharp and clean resting

In a pensive position: poised as if ready to leave

At a moments notice she is encircled with wrought waves

Gold curves just short of crossing

The sun past set on the water

She is the only bright moment left

Before you are engulfed

The only thing holding back darkness

She is dressed in bridal white

Suits adorned in a rose and strung beads

Everything that is hers emanates dark

She is your mother dressed up and dolled up

To be young again for a night that dwindles

Four red clouds watch you from behind

The sun is dripping away

And you are stuck painting a woman

That is not your mother

About Rosa Schapire:

Rosa Schapire used her ground-breaking career in art history to advocate for socialist, feminist, and anti-fascist ideals across Europe in the twentieth century. Her family and education in her hometown of Galicia, Poland, introduced her to such ideals, and her studies took her around Europe. Schapire’s contributions to the art world were many, ranging from reviews and critiques to translations to amassing an impressive collection of German Expressionist work. She edited several journals and, along with fellow art patron and suffragette Ida Dehmel, helped to form the Women’s Society for the Advancement of German Art. After the rise of the Nazis and the death of many family members, Schapire fled to England, where many pieces of her collection are still housed in museums.