Footing in bilingual play

In Goffman's classic paper (1979), bilingual code-switching was seen as a prototypical device for accomplishing shifts in footing. Yet his work has not informed research on code-switching to any great extent. The present study of primary school children's play interaction in an English-Swedish school setting combines a sequential approach to code-switching with an analysis of footing (cf. Auer 1984), extending prior work in showing that code-switches often involve subtle shifts of footing, both in terms of production formats and participation frameworks. Code-switches were employed as important rhetorical and dramaturgic play devices, e.g. when contextualizing changes of addressee and shifts of frame (e.g. serious, nonserious). In contrast to earlier, often speaker-centered work, reception is discussed in-depth in the present analyses, and it is shown that footings are truly interactional achievements.