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ctors which cause the longitudinal changes. As is known to all, code-switchingwill inevitably affect the use of language and the variation. Considering the far-reachinginfluence of it, the study of the Chinese-English code-switching phenomenon of Chinesepop songs in the thesis can bring some implications for lyrics creation and appreciation.More importantly, it is expected to enrich the theories in code-switching and code-mixing.
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2. Literature Review

2.1 Code-switching and Relevant Terms
The concept “code” was first put forward by Bernstein. It refers to “the principles ofsemiotic organization governing the choice of meanings by the speaker and theirinterpretation by the hearer” (1973, p, 262).Code is any system of signals which can be used for sending message. This term isneutral. Terms like dialect, language, style, standard language, pidgin, and Creole areinclined to arouse emotions. In contrast, the ‘neutral’ term code can be used to refer to anykind of system that two or more people employ for communication (Wardhaugh, 2000, p,87).According to Verschueren, “code” can be considered as “any distinguishable variant ofa language involving systematic sets of choices, whether linked to a specific geographicalarea, a social class, an assignment of functions, or a specific context of use. In other words,‘code’ is a quite inclusive term and its range is virtually infinite” (1999, p, 118).In this thesis, “code” is a cover term for a language or any variety of the language, andin the lyrics it refers to the Chinese or English expressions.Concerning code-switching, scholars have different definitions for it. Even thelinguists do not have consistent views. Here is a table to show the different definitionsfrom linguists:
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2.2 Theoretical Foundations of the Present Study
Myers-Scotton (1993) put forward the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model about thestudy of code-switching. The MLF model highlights the two important aspects: 1)code-switching occurs under the condition of a conceptual framework; 2) the framework isgoverned by the semantic, lexical and syntactic rules of language which participates incode-switching. The dominating language is called the matrix language (ML), the otherparticipating language is called the embedded language (EL).The matrix language is the main language of code-switching, while the embeddedlanguage takes on minor role in code-switching. The matrix language sets lexical andsyntactic framework for the sentences with code-switching. The establishment offrameworks means to set the morpheme order and provide the related syntacticmorphemes for language ingredients which participate in code-switching.The constituents of code-switching can be divided into three types under the MLFmodel: 1) the first type is ML+EL constituents. It contains two morphemes of matrixlanguage and embedded language. Its typical combination is that in the framework of anynumber of matrix language morphemes, they contain a single embedded languagemorphemes; 2) the second type is ML islands. The ML islands are completely composedby the morphemes of matrix language. The ML islands must be discourses which areconstructed well in accordance with the matrix language. Code-switching will not happenin the ML islands; 3) the third type is EL islands. The ML islands and EL islands aresimilar. The EL islands are discourses which are constructed by embedded languagegrammar