Filling Lexical Gaps and More: Code-Switching for the Power of Expression by Young Bilinguals

• Published in: Journal of child language Vol. 50; no. 4; pp. 981 - 1004
• Main Authors: Tulloch, Michelle K, Hoff, Erika
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Cambridge University Press 01-07-2023
• Subjects: Audio Equipment; Bilingualism; Child; Code Switching (Language); English (Second Language); Humans; Individual Differences; Language; Language Development; Language Dominance; Language Proficiency; Language Usage; Longitudinal Studies; Multilingualism; Native Language; Parent Attitudes; Predictor Variables; Preschool Children; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Spanish; Vocabulary; Vocabulary Development; Lexical Gap Hypothesis; longitudinal study; code-switching; language dominance; bilingualism
• ISSN: 0305-0009; 1469-7602
• DOI: 10.1017/S0305000922000307

In this preregistered, longitudinal study of early code-switching, 34 US-born, Spanish-English bilingual children were recorded with a bilingual family member at 2;6 and 3;6, in Spanish-designated and English-designated interactions. Children's Spanish and English expressive vocabulary and their exposure to code-switching were measured through direct assessment and caregiver report. The children code-switched most frequently at speaker changes; within-turn and within-utterance codeswitching were rare. By 3;6, switches to English were significantly more frequent than switches to Spanish. At both ages, Spanish proficiency was a negative predictor of the frequency of switching to English, but children's degree of English dominance uniquely explained additional variance. Thus, children appear to code-switch not merely to fill gaps in their weaker language but to maximize their expressive power. Neither individual differences in exposure to code-switching nor in the interlocutors' language proficiency were consistently related to the children's rate of code-switching.