Q11

[netkorea06]

Hello,

10. I don't understand what I am supposed to look for in the answer.

11. (e) said 'Puerto Rican Americans does not use code-swiching~' but isn't rhetorical effect also a part of code-swiching?

[rmoncel]

Hey:

I also got Q11 wrong. It would be great to get some help understanding why answer choice C is incorrect. In line 11 we are told that linguists believe that "most code-switching among Puerto Rican Americans is sensitive to the social contexts...in which conversations take place. Can we not infer that some instances of code-switching, according to those linguists, are not the result of social contexts, as answer choice C states?

Thanks!

[bbirdwell]

Well, first let's look at the passage.

From the first paragraph we learn that switching between languages is called "code-switching." Then we're told that two factors can explain most cases of code-switching: situational and rhetorical.

The second paragraph is about situational ("social contexts"): setting, participants, topic. The example given is high school students.

The third is about rhetorical: one language is used primarily and the other is used sparingly for rhetorical effect. The example given is a family.

#10
Here, our job is to find a good example of rhetorical code-switching. The answer needs two characteristics: one language is primary, the other is used for effect.


#11
Remember to treat this like an inference question and choose an answer that has clear and definite support in the passage. Also, utilize your general knowledge of the passage to help (ie there are two kinds of code switching, X and Y)

(A) The second kind of code-switchin does not invalidate the first. Eliminate.

(B) We have no evidence about researchers' prior expectations. Eliminate.

(C) The key word here is "all," in addition to "most." Sure, rmoncel, we can infer that some code-switching is the result of social contexts -- about half the passage is devoted to this idea. But that's not what the answer choice says. We do not have evidence, and cannot infer, that MOST researchers thought that social contexts explained ALL but a few cases of code-switching. Eliminate!

Read the first sentence of the second paragraph carefully. It says that "linguists say" (most linguists?) that most code-switching among Puerto Rican Americans is sensitive to social contexts. This is a very specific subset, and not the same as the "all but a few cases" that the answer choice cites.

(D) We only have evidence to suggest that people are unaware of code-switching in the second, rhetorical kind. Eliminate.

(E) Interpret the choice: research suggests that the Puerto Rican family in paragraph 3 only uses rhetorical code-switching (ie does NOT use situational code-switching).

Is there evidence for this? Yep. First sentence of the last paragraph: this domain (the home of the family) "would lead one not to expect [code-switching]."

Does that help clear things up?

[rishisb]

Hi, Brian:

To piggy-back on what others have asked, I have a follow-up question. Regarding answer choice E on Q11, I tossed it out because I felt that the word "except" made the answer choice too strong. E seems to say that "Code-switching never occurs in the family except for occasional rhetorical reasons." True, the author says that "situational factors" are NOT the cause of family's code-switching. But it seems like an extreme move to go from saying (1) that situational factors aren't the cause of code-switching in a family to (2) saying that nothing other than rhetoric causes a family to code-switch.

Answer choice E, however, isn’t the only answer that seems too extreme. Answer choice C goes overboard when it says that "most" researchers thought that prior research explained code-switching in all but the most nutty cases.

Question, now: When we have two answer choices like C and E _both that exaggerate parts of a text"”what makes one of the answer choices better than the other? What sorts of criteria show that E is better than C? I’m hoping that you could give me a moral that I can apply to other, similar RC questions!

Thank you!

[bbirdwell]

(E) is entirely supported by the text.

We know from the first paragraph that the "vast majority of cases" are explained by either situational or rhetorical code-switching.

Thus, if the family's code-switching is not situational, it's logical to conclude that it's rhetorical.

(C) is not supported in any way. Again, the first paragraph says that the vast majority of cases are situational or rhetorical. There is no evidence to suggest that the study of the family introduced a NEW idea -- it's just offered as an example of the second kind.

[KakaJaja]

Also I think C is wrong because though the high school experiments were put ahead of the family study in the article, the author has never said that the high school study were conducted prior to the family one. It is possible that researchers do lots of studies at the same time, and when they compile all of them, they find that either situational or rhetorical factors cause the code-switching. Is that right?