Studies of code-switching in writing are very limited in comparison with the numerous investigations of this phenomenon in oral communication. Recent research has revealed that in text-based computer-mediated communication internet users bring into play the various languages available in their linguistic repertoire and, consequently, switch between them. In this case study, I investigate digital code-switching between Cypriot and Standard Greek, the two varieties of Greek spoken on the island of Cyprus. Following Auer’s conversation analytic approach and Gafaranga’s view that conversational structure coexists with social structure, I investigate code-switching in online interactions. The data to be analysed here, unlike those considered in most studies of code-switching, are written data, obtained from channel #Cyprus of Internet Relay Chat. The results suggest that code-switching in writing is influenced not only by macro-sociolinguistic factors, but they are also shaped by the medium- and social-specific characteristics of Internet Relay Chat. This, in turn, allows internet users to gain access to different roles and perform various identities within this online context.

This article investigates public discourses of multilingualism in Britain. In contrast to previous research focusing on specific languages or varieties of language, we examine multilingualism as a metalinguistic construct and are interested in what is frequently said about multilingualism, and how it is said. More specifically, we explore the extent to which media discourses are consonant or diverge from the attitudes of lay people. Media discourses are investigated using a corpus-assisted discourse-study approach to the analysis of large-press corpora. Results from the corpus study are then incorporated in an attitude survey distributed to 200 participants living in a large superdiverse town in Britain. Our study shows that while positive media discourses are mostly shared by the general public, some of the negative themes, especially those relating to immigration, are either reinforced or challenged. The article demonstrates the usefulness of triangulating corpus-linguistic methods with a survey to provide a more comprehensive understanding of public discourses about language matters, and offers some implications for promoting multilingualism in society. (Multilingualism, metalanguage, corpus-assisted discourse study (CADS), attitude survey, triangulation)

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The Republic of Cyprus is a country characterised by long-term conflict which resulted in the geopolitical division of the island. Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots have lived in separation for more than 30 years until the border reopened in 2003, allowing people to cross and visit 'the other side'. One of the crossing points is located in the heart of the commercial area in Nicosia, the capital. This study explores the visibility of the two official languages, namely Greek and Turkish, and also English in the multilingual public space near the border. Unlike previous quantitative Linguistic Landscape investigations, this study is using a qualitative Semiotic Landscape approach (Scollon & Scollon, 2003; Jaworski and Thurlow, 2010) to understand how the public space that divides the two communities interacts with written discourse, visual modalities, spatial arrangements and dimensions of history and culture to create meaning and project ideologies, identities and power relations. The findings show that traditional discourses of separation and conflict are dominant in the public space but at the same time new discourses of unification, peace and integration slowly begin to surface.

The representation in online environments of non-Roman-based script languages has proved problematic. During the initial years of Computer-mediated Communication, the American Standard Code for Information Interchange character set only supported Roman-alphabetic languages. The solution for speakers of languages written in non-Roman scripts was to employ unconventional writing systems, in an effort to represent their native language in online discourse. The first aim of this chapter is to present the different ways that internet users choose to transliterate or even transcribe their native languages online, using Roman characters. With technological development, and consequently the availability of various writing scripts online, internet users now have the option to either use Roman characters or their native script. If the latter is chosen, internet users still seem to deviate from conventional ways of writing, in this case, however, with regards to spelling. The second aim, therefore, is to bring into light recent developments, by looking at the ways that internet users manipulate orthography, to achieve their communicative purposes.