Language choice as social action

Abstract In multilingual societies, language choice is a pragmatic act rather than a neutral reflection of competence. This article examines how speakers in historically multilingual regions (Transylvania and Banat) and administratively multilingual Switzerland use language choice to perform social actions such as negotiating identity, authority, solidarity, and access. Drawing on long-term qualitative observation, the study contrasts two regimes: locally co-constructed congruency, which tolerates asymmetric production with mutual understanding, and policy-driven territoriality, which ties linguistic legitimacy to institutional norms. Using a systemic functional perspective, the article argues that language choice operates primarily at the discourse-pragmatic level and reveals how English increasingly mediates interaction through everyday preference rather than explicit imposition.