Code-Switching In Digital Communication: A Study of Indonesian EFL Students on Social Media Platforms

Abstract

This study interrogates the dynamic deployment of code-switching in digitally mediated communication among Indonesian learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). In an era characterized by pervasive social media engagement, bilingual users increasingly navigate multiple linguistic repertoires within fluid and hybridized communicative spaces. This research seeks to delineate the typological patterns of code-switching and to elucidate its underlying communicative functions across prominent platforms, namely Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp. Adopting a qualitative descriptive design, the study draws upon naturally occurring digital texts, including captions, comments, and conversational exchanges produced by university students. The findings reveal the predominance of intra-sentential switching, suggesting a sophisticated level of bilingual proficiency that enables seamless linguistic integration. Moreover, code-switching emerges as a multifaceted semiotic resource, serving functions such as intensification of meaning, identity construction, social alignment, and discursive nuance. The analysis further demonstrates that platform-specific affordances significantly shape both the frequency and function of code-switching practices. These findings foreground the role of code-switching as a strategic and meaning-laden practice within contemporary digital discourse, thereby challenging reductive assumptions that equate it solely with linguistic insufficiency.