An Analysis of English Usage among Twitter Users in France
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Abstract
This study analyzes how Twitter users geolocated in France interact online and what prompts their use of the English language, based on data retrieved through Twitter’s API. Six functions are analyzed using a discourse function approach that draws from Gumperz’s discourse functions of code-switching and Begum et al.’s functions of code-switching on Twitter: feelings, advertising, quotations, discourse markers, phatic expressions, and translations. The findings suggest that Twitter users in France resort to English most often when they are expressing or discussing emotions, while advertising represents the second most common function in the dataset. The study sheds new light on current linguistic practices on Twitter and how social media has influenced French digital discourse.
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