Hill & Hill (1986) argue that the mixing of Mexicano and Spanish in peoples’ speech in Malinche society is
guided by two codes: the power code and the purist code. Write an essay of 500 words that identifies and
discusses an analog of one of these codes in our society or in another society you are familiar with.
Your essay must address the following questions:
What are the principles that constitute this code, and what society does it operate in?
How are these principles the same as or different from those in the corresponding code in Maliche society?
How does this code allow speakers to choose between linguistic variants in making an utterance? Give three
examples illustrating how the code does this, identifying for each example: (i) the linguistic variants the speaker
is choosing between to make their utterance, (ii) who the speaker is, and (iii) the context in which they are
speaking.
Be sure to state your arguments precisely; provide explicit support for your arguments; describe and discuss
concrete examples to illustrate your points.
As described in the Grading Rubric, you can only receive full points for this essay if you go Above and Beyond.
In this context, this means conducting your own research and using outside materials (something other than
what you learned in class or in the assigned readings) in the essay. For instance, here are some examples of
what counts as going Above and Beyond:
You find materials (e.g., a story, a video, etc.) depicting a concrete speech situation, which you use to illustrate
your point about how a code is used.
You read a description of how language is used in another society and identify a code that is in operation in
that society.
You relate what you have learned about codes from Hill & Hill (1986) to theories of how people choose
between linguistic variants that you have learned about elsewhere (e.g., in another class, through independent
research).