Resumen de Language separateness: A normative framework in studes of language alternation

Joseph Gafaranga

• In this paper, I argue that, for a faithful account of the underlines of language alternation among bilingual speakers, an attitude of indifference must be adopted inapproaching the data. More specifically, I argue that bilingual speakers cannot be assumed to be 'normatively' speaking either language A or language B. They could alto have adopted the use of both languages as the medium (Gafaranga, 1998, 1999, 2000). To demonstrate the need for such an attitude, the paper looks al four of the must influential accounts of language alternation, namely the work of Físhman, Gumperz, Myers-Scotton and Auer. It shows that these account fail to capture the orderliness of language alternation because they approach bilingual conversations, nut with an attitude of indifference, but from a normative framework whereby every instance of language alternation it defined in terms of language separateness.