51. Name: MA Mu Tong Title: Code Switching in Arab Media Discourse (A Study of Al Jazeera’s The Opposite Direction Talk Show) Institution: University of Texas at Austin Country: United States Date: 2009 Language: English Abstract: This descriptive analytical study examines the language situation in media discourse. As a case study, the research focuses on the discourse of “The Opposite Direction”, one of the Al Jazeera satellite channel flagship talk show programmes. The study explores and investigates the phenomenon of code switching between the standard Arabic language and the different spoken vernaculars and dialects during the talk exchange in this television show. A number of theoretical frameworks, including theories of code switching proposed by Gumperz, Giles, and Myers-Scotton et al. was introduced and discussed after a brief history of Arabic discourse analysis was provided. In order to explain under what conditions code switching takes place, the researcher chose to observe and analyze instances of code switching operations in four episodes of the Al Jazeera “Opposite Direction” talk show, hosted by TV presenter Faisal al-Qasim. The analysis focuses on the communicative functions and motivations for language choice during the talk exchange. The applicability of relevant theories has also been examined in order to find the theories that best account for speakers’ engaging in code switching in the pan-Arab media discourse.
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