Deconstructing "mixed code"

Abstract

In this chapter I propose that the often taken-for-granted, commonsensical notion \nof “mixed code” as a presumably existing, stably recurring, monolithic, debased \nlanguage variety is in fact a rhetorical construct. By examining a diverse range of \ncomplex language use phenomena that can all be named “mixed code”, I argue \nthat the notion of “mixed code” as asserted in the public and official discourses \nplays an important role in naturalizing and normalizing a certain language \nideology, which, in turn, is appealed to as a rationale for a socially inequitable \nlanguage education policy. The chapter concludes with the proposal that language \nand education issues in Hong Kong can be seen in a clearer light only when the \nofficial and popular media notion of “mixed code” is problematized and \ndeconstructed, and the diverse range of social interactive actions mediated by \nmultiple language resources seen and understood in their situated contexts, and \nnot through the hidden language ideological lens of the reifying rhetorical \nconstruct of “mixed code”.

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