Abstract
The objective of this research is to investigate and analyze code-switching phenomena and various conditioning factors that determine the language choice between Taiwanese Mandarin as an official language, and Taiwanese as a dialect. Natural conversations collected are analyzed from both sociolinguistic and linguistic standpoints. The choices made by the interlocutors is considered in relation to the functions fulfilled by the languages. These functions include information transmission or description, degree of acquaintance (uchi/soto relations), and emotive first person expressions. A further examination of the data reveals that these functions are fulfilled by both languages.
