Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-qhdkw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-15T22:23:58.946Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Code-switching in parents’ everyday speech to bilingual infants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2021

Lena V. KREMIN Open the ORCID record for Lena V. KREMIN [Opens in a new window] ,
Julia ALVES ,
Adriel John ORENA ,
Linda POLKA  and
Krista BYERS-HEINLEIN Open the ORCID record for Krista BYERS-HEINLEIN [Opens in a new window]
Lena V. KREMIN*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Canada Center For Research on Brain, Language and Music, Canada
Julia ALVES
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Canada
Adriel John ORENA
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada
Linda POLKA
Affiliation:
Center For Research on Brain, Language and Music, Canada School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Canada
Krista BYERS-HEINLEIN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Canada Center For Research on Brain, Language and Music, Canada
*
*Address for correspondence: Lena V. Kremin, Concordia University - PsychologyMontreal, Quebec H4B 1R6, Canada, E-mail: lena.kremin@mail.concordia.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Code-switching is a common phenomenon in bilingual communities, but little is known about bilingual parents’ code-switching when speaking to their infants. In a pre-registered study, we identified instances of code-switching in day-long at-home audio recordings of 21 French–English bilingual families in Montreal, Canada, who provided recordings when their infant was 10 and 18 months old. Overall, rates of infant-directed code-switching were low, averaging 7 times per hour (6 times per 1,000 words) at 10 months and increasing to 28 times per hour (18 times per 1,000 words) at 18 months. Parents code-switched more between sentences than within a sentence; this pattern was even more pronounced when infants were 18 months than when they were 10 months. The most common apparent reasons for code-switching were to bolster their infant's understanding and to teach vocabulary words. Combined, these results suggest that bilingual parents code-switch in ways that support successful bilingual language acquisition.

Keywords

code-switchingbilingualismparental speechLENA
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , July 2022 , pp. 714 - 740
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Albin, D. D., & Echols, C. H. (1996). Stressed and word-final syllables in infant-directed speech. Infant Behavior and Development, 19(4), 401–418. doi:10.1016/s0163-6383(96)90002-8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azuma, S. (1992). Processing and intrasentential codeswitching [PhD Thesis]. University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Bail, A., Morini, G., & Newman, R. S. (2015). Look at the gato! Code-switching in speech to toddlers*. Journal of Child Language, 42(5), 1073–1101. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000914000695CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, B. (2000). Social/interactional functions of code switching among Dominican Americans. Pragmatics, 10(2), 165–193. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.10.2.01baiGoogle Scholar
Belazi, H. M., Rubin, E. J., & Toribio, A. J. (1994). Code Switching and X-Bar Theory: The Functional Head Constraint. Linguistic Inquiry, 25(2), 221–237. JSTOR.Google Scholar
Belsky, J. (1980). Mother-Infant Interaction at Home and in the Laboratory: A Comparative Study. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 137(1), 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.1980.10532800CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bergelson, E., Amatuni, A., Dailey, S., Koorathota, S., & Tor, S. (2019). Day by day, hour by hour: Naturalistic language input to infants. Developmental Science, 22(1), e12715. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12715CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blom, J.-P., & Gumperz, J. (1972). Social meaning in linguistic structures: Code-switching in Norway. In Directions in Sociolinguistics (pp. 407–434). Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Bosch, L., & Sebastián-Gallés, N. (2001). Evidence of Early Language Discrimination Abilities in Infants From Bilingual Environments. Infancy, 2(1), 29–49. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327078IN0201_3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byers-Heinlein, K. (2013). Parental language mixing: Its measurement and the relation of mixed input to young bilingual children's vocabulary size. Bilingualism; Cambridge, 16(1), 32–48. http://dx.doi.org.lib-ezproxy.concordia.ca/10.1017/S1366728912000120CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers-Heinlein, K. (2015). Methods for studying infant bilingualism. In Schwieter, J. W. (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingual Processing (pp. 133–154). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107447257.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers-Heinlein, K., Morin-Lessard, E., & Lew-Williams, C. (2017). Bilingual infants control their languages as they listen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(34), 9032–9037. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1703220114CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byers-Heinlein, K., Schott, E., Gonzalez-Barrero, A. M., Brouillard, M., Dubé, D., Jardak, A., Laoun-Rubenstein, A., Mastroberardino, M., Morin-Lessard, E., & Iliaei, S. P. (2019). MAPLE: A multilingual approach to parent language estimates. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1–7.Google Scholar
Cantone, K. F., & MacSwan, J. (2009). The syntax of DP-internal codeswitching. Multidisciplinary Approaches to Codeswitching, 243–278.10.1075/sibil.41.14canCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabarjal, M. J., & Peperkamp, S. (2020). Dual language input and the impact of language separation on early lexical development. Infancy, 25(1), 22–45.Google Scholar
Comeau, L., Genesee, F., & Lapaquette, L. (2003). The Modeling Hypothesis and child bilingual codemixing. International Journal of Bilingualism, 7(2), 113–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069030070020101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Houwer, A., & Bornstein, M. H. (2016). Bilingual mothers’ language choice in child-directed speech: Continuity and change. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(7), 680–693. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2015.1127929CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dewaele, J.-M., & Li, W. (2014). Intra- and inter-individual variation in self-reported code-switching patterns of adult multilinguals. International Journal of Multilingualism, 11(2), 225–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2013.878347CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dewaele, J.-M., & Zeckel, I. (2016). The psychological and linguistic profiles of self-reported code-switchers. International Journal of Bilingualism, 20(5), 594–610. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006915575411CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunn, A. L., & Fox Tree, J. E. (2009). A Quick, Gradient Bilingual Dominance Scale. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(3), 273–289. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728909990113CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elmlinger, S. L., Schwade, J. A., & Goldstein, M. H. (2019). The ecology of prelinguistic vocal learning: Parents simplify the structure of their speech in response to babbling. Journal of Child Language, 46(5), 998–1011. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000919000291CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fenson, L., Marchman, V. A., Thal, D. J., Dale, P. S., & Reznick, J. S. (2014). MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories: User's guide and technical manual. PB Brookes.Google Scholar
Fernald, A. (1989). Intonation and communicative intent in mothers’ speech to infants: Is the melody the message? Child Development, 1497–1510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Genesee, F., Nicoladis, E., & Paradis, J. (1995). Language differentiation in early bilingual development. Journal of Child Language, 22(3), 611–631. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900009971CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gervain, J., & Werker, J. F. (2013). Prosody cues word order in 7-month-old bilingual infants. Nature Communications, 4(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2430CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodz, N. S. (1989). Parental language mixing in bilingual families. Infant Mental Health Journal, 10(1), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0355(198921)10:1<25::AID-IMHJ2280100104>3.0.CO;2-R3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gumperz, J. J. (1982). Discourse Strategies (Vol. 1). Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511611834CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heller, M. (2010). Codeswitching: Anthropological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives (Vol. 48). Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Heredia, R. R., & Altarriba, J. (2001). Bilingual Language Mixing: Why Do Bilinguals Code-Switch? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(5), 164–168. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00140CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hills, T. (2013). The company that words keep: Comparing the statistical structure of child- versus adult-directed language. Journal of Child Language, 40, 586–604. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000912000165CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoff, E., & Core, C. (2015). What Clinicians Need to Know about Bilingual Development. Seminars in Speech and Language, 36(2), 89–99. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0035-1549104Google ScholarPubMed
Kircher, R. (2009). Language attitudes in Quebec: A contemporary perspective [PhD Thesis].Google Scholar
Kitamura, C., & Burnham, D. (2003). Pitch and Communicative Intent in Mother's Speech: Adjustments for Age and Sex in the First Year. Infancy, 4(1), 85–110. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327078IN0401_5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitamura, C., & Lam, C. (2009). Age-Specific Preferences for Infant-Directed Affective Intent. Infancy, 14(1), 77–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/15250000802569777CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lam, C., & Kitamura, C. (2012). Mommy, speak clearly: Induced hearing loss shapes vowel hyperarticulation. Developmental Science, 15(2), 212–221. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01118.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacSwan, J. (2012). Code-Switching and Grammatical Theory. The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism, 323.10.1002/9781118332382.ch13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marian, V., Blumenfeld, H. K., & Kaushanskaya, M. (2007). The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Assessing Language Profiles in Bilinguals and Multilinguals. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 50(4), 940. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2007/067)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morini, G., & Newman, R. S. (2019). Dónde está la ball? Examining the effect of code switching on bilingual children's word recognition. Journal of Child Language, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000919000400Google ScholarPubMed
Myers-Scotton, C. (1997). Duelling languages: Grammatical structure in codeswitching. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Myers-Scotton, C. (2017). Code-switching. The Handbook of Sociolinguistics, 217–237.10.1002/9781405166256.ch13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nilep, C. (2006). “Code Switching” in Sociocultural Linguistics. Colorado Research in Linguistics, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.25810/hnq4-jv62Google Scholar
Orena, A. J., Byers-Heinlein, K., & Polka, L. (2019). Reliability of the Language Environment Analysis Recording System in Analyzing French–English Bilingual Speech. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-18-0342CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Orena, A. J., Byers-Heinlein, K., & Polka, L. (2020). What do bilingual infants actually hear? Evaluating measures of language input to bilingual-learning 10-month-olds. Developmental Science, 23(2), e12901. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12901CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Orena, A. J., & Polka, L. (2019). Monolingual and bilingual infants’ word segmentation abilities in an inter-mixed dual-language task. Infancy, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12296Google Scholar
Place, S., & Hoff, E. (2011). Properties of Dual Language Exposure That Influence 2-Year-Olds’ Bilingual Proficiency. Child Development, 82(6), 1834–1849. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01660.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Place, S., & Hoff, E. (2016). Effects and noneffects of input in bilingual environments on dual language skills in 2 ½-year-olds*. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(5), 1023–1041. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728915000322CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poplack, S. (1978). Syntactic structure and social function of code-switching (Vol. 2). Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, [City University of New York].Google Scholar
Poplack, S. (1980). Sometimes I'll start a sentence in Spanish Y TERMINO EN ESPAÑOL: Toward a typology of code-switching1. Linguistics, 18(7–8), 581–618. https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1980.18.7-8.581CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, C. E., Fourakis, E., Morin-Lessard, E., Byers-Heinlein, K., & Lew-Williams, C. (2018). Bilingual infants process mixed sentences differently in their two languages. Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. 40th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.Google Scholar
Radford, A. (2006). Minimalist Syntax Revisited, http://courses.essex.ac.uk/lg/lg514.Google Scholar
Ramírez-Esparza, N., García-Sierra, A., & Kuhl, P. K. (2014). Look who's talking: Speech style and social context in language input to infants are linked to concurrent and future speech development. Developmental Science, 17(6), 880–891. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12172CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ritchie, W. C., & Bhatia, T. K. (2012). Social and Psychological Factors in Language Mixing. The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism, 375.10.1002/9781118332382.ch15CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sankoff, D., & Poplack, S. (1981). A formal grammar for code-switching. Paper in Linguistics, 14(1), 3–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351818109370523CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schott, E., Mastroberardino, M., Fourakis, E., Lew-Williams, C., & Byers-Heinlein, K. (2020). Fine-tuning language discrimination: Monolingual and bilingual infants’ detection of language switches [Preprint]. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/xkc9bCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soderstrom, M. (2007). Beyond babytalk: Re-evaluating the nature and content of speech input to preverbal infants. Developmental Review, 27(4), 501–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2007.06.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soderstrom, M., Blossom, M., Foygel, R., & Morgan, J. L. (2008). Acoustical cues and grammatical units in speech to two preverbal infants. Journal of Child Language, 35(4), 869–902. doi:10.1017/s0305000908008763CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, D. N., Spieker, S., Barnett, R. K., & MacKain, K. (1983). The prosody of maternal speech: Infant age and context related changes. Journal of Child Language, 10(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900005092CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, D. N., Spieker, S., & Mackain, K. (1982). Intonation contours as signals in maternal speech to prelinguistic infants. Developmental Psychology, 18(5), 727–735. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.18.5.727CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Kuchirko, Y., Luo, R., Escobar, K., & Bornstein, M. H. (2017). Power in methods: Language to infants in structured and naturalistic contexts. Developmental Science, 20(6), e12456. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12456CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weinreich, U. (2010). Languages in Contact: Findings and Problems. Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Woolford, E. (1983). Bilingual Code-Switching and Syntactic Theory. Linguistic Inquiry, 14(3), 520–536. JSTOR.Google Scholar
Yip, V., & Matthews, S. (2016). Code-mixing and mixed verbs in Cantonese-English bilingual children: Input and innovation. Languages, 1(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages1010004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yow, W. Q., Tan, J. S. H., & Flynn, S. (2018). Code-switching as a marker of linguistic competence in bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21(5), 1075–1090. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000335CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zentella, A. C. (1981). “Hablamos Los Dos. We Speak Both”: Growing Up Bilingual in El Barrio. [PhD Thesis, University of Pennsylvania]. https://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8127100/Google Scholar