Code-switching Contexts Research Articles

Protective effect of bilingualism on aging, MCI, and dementia: A community-based study.

Lifelong bilingualism is associated with a delayed age at onset of dementia, but evidence from community-based studies is limited. We investigated the relationship between bilingualism and the prevalence of cognitive impairment in a linguistically diverse community. A door-to-door community study was conducted from January to December 2021 in urban Bengaluru, India. 1234 individuals aged ≥60 years participated in the study. Participants were diagnosed with no cognitive impairment (NCI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or dementia using established diagnostic criteria. Dementia prevalence was higher in monolinguals (4.9%) than bilinguals (0.4%) (P=.001). The prevalence of MCI was also higher in monolinguals (8.5%) than bilinguals (5.3%) (P=.001). The study also revealed better cognitive function in bilinguals than monolinguals with NCI, after controlling for confounding variables. The current study provides significant support for the protective effect of bilingualism on cognitive impairment in an urban community with extensive bilingual interactional contexts in everyday life. Bilingualism has been demonstrated to protect against dementia and mild cognitive impairment in a linguistically diverse community with extensive code-switching contexts. Bilingual older individuals had superior baseline cognitive performance compared to monolingual older individuals. Bilingualism was found to have an independent effect on general cognition after adjusting for major social determinants of health in the group without cognitive impairment.

An analysis of Arabic tautology in English compounds used in customer-service settings in Jordan: A pragmatic perspective

This paper examines the utilization of Arabic tautological expressions, provided by customers as a reiteration of an element of an English compound such as ‘apple pie’ [fatˁi:rit ʔabil bai ‘an apple pie pie’], from the perspective of Relevance Theory (RT). Data was collected from 90 participants, divided into two groups: 40 native speaker informants recruited from various shopping malls, and 50 shop assistants in Amman, Jordan. The first group was interviewed, whereas the second group filled out a multiple-choice task aimed at identifying the type of expression they typically receive when taking orders from customers. The data analysis revealed that Arabic tautological expressions are more frequently used compared to other alternatives. Drawing on RT, we argue that Arabic tautological expressions function as an ostensive stimulus. We propose that tautological expressions, utilized within a code-switching context, function as a means of pragmatic enrichment. This occurs through the process of ad hoc construction, wherein speakers refine the originally encoded concept to convey corrective or contrasting meanings. Instead of lacking information, the use of tautological phrases can be seen as a pragmatic tactic to maximize relevance by minimizing cognitive effort, optimizing successful communication of the intended meaning, and reinforcing contextual effects.

Challenges for non-English speakers: inter- and intralingual factors shaping the writing of Ukrainian authors in biologial sciences

Background. Nowadays, almost all indexed journals expect submissions in English, which is a great challenge for exophonic authors. Code-switching context, where cross-language effects, especially native language interference, are well distinct, is critical for approaching the dilemma. Navigating the complicated issues of language-related challenges will be impossible without referring to three crucial levels of written production: lexical, syntactic, and textual. In our investigation, we address the nature of potential errors and their inter- and intralingual origins. In particular, we identify and interpret the deviations from Standard English in scholarly research writing of Ukrainian authors in the field of life sciences, exemplify and classify errors into categories based on the type of language misuse. Materials and Methods. Language material for the study comprised 50 manuscripts submitted by authors from Ukraine to the journal “Studia Biologica”. This research is a mixed-method study encompassing descriptive qualitative and descriptive quantitative methods. Content analysis was employed as the data gathering technique. The analysis of texts was focused on tracing deviations from consistent principles and rules of Standard English and linguistic features of English research discourse and encompassed such steps as highlighting the error, cross-checking and stating the deviation, listing and classifying the errors, and tracing a possible connection of the error to authors’ first language interference. Results. The study identified language areas where Ukrainian authors fail to effectively communicate their ideas to the global academic community. At the textual level, the problem areas encompass defective paragraph structure and excessive verbosity. At the syntactic level, the most critical deviations from the language and stylistic norm comprised misuses of word order and clauses, wordy and confusing sentences with multiple issues that hinder the readability of text. The most widespread grammatical mistakes include missing predicates, faulty subject-verb agreement, incorrect forms of the verb, and inappropriate use of articles, pronouns, demonstratives and quantifiers. At the lexical level, the prevalent errors relate to various types of loan translation, but also include improper word choices and poor vocabulary. Orthographic mistakes, though in minority, refer to the spelling of toponyms, capitalisation, switching from American to British orthographic standards and other random spelling errors. Conclusions. An insight into the nature of the analysed deviations suggests the presence of both intra- and interlingual factors that cause mistakes in papers submitted for publication in the field of life sciences. The error analysis can be beneficial in the educational process for both educators and practitioners. Proper understanding of the functional mechanism of the mistakes might increase the awareness of the potential pitfalls and consequently help avoid them. The classification of errors can be adopted in the educational process and contribute to the development of error pedagogy.

Bilingual phonological interaction: Cross-language process transfer in code-switching

Bilinguals challenge the boundaries of languages’ distinct grammars – including their phonological systems and phonological processes – but the impact of code-switching on the challenging of these boundaries is not fully understood. The current study explores the interaction between adult bilinguals’ two phonological systems by investigating the effects of code-switching on the cross-language transfer of phonological processes. I investigate two main questions: 1) Can a bilingual speaker cross-linguistically transfer phonological processes (promotion) or the lack of particular processes (inhibition) in a code-switching context?; and 2) Do code switches affect the degree and/or frequency of these cross-language influences? To answer these questions, I examine the /t/ → [ɾ] tapping process of English and /d/ → [ð] spirantization process of Spanish. Data was collected from the Miami Corpus (Bangor University). Results indicate that phonological processes and the lack of particular processes can transfer cross-linguistically in code-switching contexts, and these transfers can be realized through phonetically gradient and, occasionally, categorical effects. Results also indicate that code switches can indeed affect the nature of these cross-language phonological processes transfers. These results suggest that code-switching can motivate the interaction between a bilingual’s two phonological systems and offer insight into the nature of phonological systems’ boundaries.

Bilingual interactional contexts predict executive functions in older adults

AbstractDrawing on the adaptive control hypothesis, we examined whether older adults’ bilingual interactional contexts of conversational exchanges would predict important indices of executive functions (EF). We assessed participants’ engagement in each bilingual interactional context – single-language, dual-language, and dense code-switching – and their performance on a series of nonverbal EF measures. Sixty-nine healthy older adults (Mage = 70.39 years; ages 60–93) were recruited from local community centers. We found that the dense code-switching context was associated with enhanced overall EF, but not individual facets of EF (inhibitory control, shifting, and updating). These findings held true when we controlled for a host of covariates. Our findings shed light on aging bilinguals’ interactional contexts as crucial bilingual experiences that modulate overall EF. Given that bilingualism is a multidimensional construct, rather than a unidimensional variable, our study underscores the importance of more fine-grained operationalisation of bilingualism when studying its impacts on EF.

Code-Switching by Spanish–English Bilingual Children in a Code-Switching Conversation Sample: Roles of Language Proficiency, Interlocutor Behavior, and Parent-Reported Code-Switching Experience

Code-switching is a complex bilingual behavior that can be affected by a variety of factors related to characteristics of the speaker, the interlocutor, and the broader sociolinguistic context. A better understanding of these factors is important for interpreting children’s use of code-switching in different elicitation contexts across research studies and in applied settings, such as language sample analysis for clinical assessment. In the current study, we used a conversation sample protocol with a code-switching adult interlocutor to examine the use of English, Spanish, intra-sentential and inter-sentential code-switching, and alignment with the interlocutor by Spanish/English bilingual children with a wide range of language abilities. In a single-language comparison condition, the same examiner engaged the child in conversation using only English or only Spanish. Key findings include that children exhibited limited use of code-switching in the English condition and similar frequency of code-switching in the Spanish, compared to the code-switching, conditions. Children exhibited a tendency to align with the examiner in their use of English vs. Spanish and their use of intra-sentential code-switching during the code-switching context, although they generally code-switched less than the examiner. There was also considerable variability across children. Predictors of this variability included children’s age and language proficiency. However, language proficiency was not associated with the frequency of children’s intra-sentential code-switching in a code-switching context. Parent-report measures of code-switching experience exhibited limited associations with the children’s observed code-switching behavior; inter-sentential switches into English showed the most direct associations. Based on the findings from this exploratory study, we highlight the importance of including a code-switching context when analyzing language samples from bilingual children, considering both the target child and the interlocutor’s behavior, and continuing to refine indirect report measures of code-switching experience.

BILINGUAL COGNITIVE ADVANTAGE HYPOTHESIS: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY WITH KOMI-PERMYAK-RUSSIAN NATIVE BILINGUAL SPEAKERS

The bilingual cognitive advantage hypothesis assumes that native speakers of two languages have better-developed cognitive abilities than native speakers of only one language. In particular, bilinguals are considered to be characterized by enhanced executive functions (attention, cognitive flexibility, resistance to interference). The bilingual cognitive advantage effect is most frequently revealed for elderly bilingual speakers, while experiments with young adults yield inconsistent results. The authors hypothesize that the presence/absence of the cognitive advantage effect at a young adult age can be determined by bilingualism type: bilingualism formed in a dense code-switching context boosts the development of executive functions. The hypothesis is tested in the experimental study with two groups of young adults: 1) the bilingual group (native speakers of the Komi-Permyak and Russian languages) and 2) the monolingual group (native speakers of the Russian language). Experimental techniques that measure the level of attention concentration, attention shifting and resistance to interference (the Schulte test, the Burdon test, the Stroop test) were applied. While analyzing the experimental results, mean and individual values of the speed and accuracy of the task performance for each group of participants were evaluated; then the results of bilingual and monolingual groups were compared. The research results demonstrate that young adult native speakers of the Komi-Permyak and Russian languages consistently outstrip their monolingual peers in adaptability of certain executive functions (namely, in their ability to flexibly coordinate attention concentration and shifting while performing various cognitive tasks).

Dynamic engagement of cognitive control in intra-sentential code-switching during comprehension

AbstractThis study investigated whether the deployment of cognitive control was modulated by the intra-sentential code-switching types during comprehension. L1-dominant Chinese–English bilinguals were administered a self-paced reading task in two reading contexts – namely, alternation context and dense code-switching context. We assessed language switch cost and reversed language dominance effect in the self-paced reading task and examined how these language control measures related to domain-general inhibition and monitoring capacities. The results showed a larger switch cost asymmetry in alternation context compared to dense CS context. In addition, bilinguals’ inhibition skills were associated with second language (L2) switch cost in alternation context, while monitoring tended to predict the language dominance effect in dense code-switching context. These findings suggest that alternation context exerts high requirement to reactive inhibition while dense code-switching context tends to induce proactive monitoring during comprehension. We conclude that intra-sentential code-switching types trigger different aspects of cognitive control during comprehension.

Codeswitching and the Egyptian Arabic construct state

Abstract In this paper, I assume a grammatical approach to codeswitching (MacSwan, 2012), which predicts a ban on codeswitching below the head level. Previous literature has analyzed this ban largely at the word-level, terming it a ban on word-internal codeswitching. In this paper I argue that the said ban can also be extended from the lexical domain to certain syntactic domains that act as one word. I test MacSwan’s theory in the context of codeswitching within construct state nominals, a genitive construction prevalent in Semitic languages. The construct state is particularly relevant for discussions on the syntax-phonology interface within codeswitching because it is a complex and productive syntactic structure that is mapped onto one word. The results of an acceptability judgment experiment show lowered acceptability for sentences where a codeswitch occurred within a construct state nominal vs. sentences where the codeswitch occurred outside of a construct state nominal. The lowered acceptability for such codeswitched judgments suggests that the ban on word-internal codeswitching is not in fact limited to words but can be extended to complex syntactic units that prosodically function as one word.

FL code-switching in the L1 environment among early-aged monolingual learners: a pilot study

Code-switching has recently become an interesting phenomenon to study because it is a part of the developmental processes, as well as the result of the use of, and exposure to, multiple languages. For this reason, code-switching usually occurs during foreign language teaching and learning, “especially when studying English based on the different backgrounds and reasons” (Yusuf, 2009). Accordingly, code-switching can be examined from various viewpoints such as the form, location, patterns, conditions, and functions, in relation to the use or the roles of the L1 and L2 or FL in the classroom, the former being most often referred to. This paper aims to determine the conditions for the use of code-switching in a quite different situation, namely, among very young learners conceived of as monolinguals who happen to switch to English (FL) in the L1 classroom environment. The article opens with a brief characterization of code-switching, defining its most frequent forms and functions, and a description of bilingual and monolingual code-switching contexts, an emphasis being put on the role of L1 in the language adaptation process and switching. The study, composed of a questionnaire distributed among 5 kindergarten teachers in public kindergartens in Poland, has shown bits and pieces of code-switching to be observed among four groups of Polish children (early-aged monolinguals), and their “linguistic behaviors” on a daily basis in the kindergarten classroom. What has been hinted at ranges from the exact situations of switching to language samples, presented according to age, and possible reasons for the current state of affairs.

Code-Switching patterns differentially shape cognitive control: Testing the predictions of the adaptive control hypothesis

AbstractBilinguals engage in qualitatively different code-switching patterns (alternation, insertion, and congruent lexicalization) to different degrees, according to their engagement in different types of interactional contexts (single-language context, dual-language context, and dense code-switching context). Drawing on the adaptive control hypothesis, we examined whether bilinguals’ code-switching patterns would differentially shape multiple aspects of cognitive control (interference control, salient cue detection, and opportunistic planning). We found that a dense code-switching context, which predominantly involves insertion and congruent lexicalization, was positively associated with verbal opportunistic planning but negatively associated with interference control and salient cue detection. In contrast, a dual-language context, which predominantly involves alternation, was not associated with interference control or salient cue detection, but with significantly reduced response times for opportunistic planning. Our findings partially corroborate the theoretical predictions of the adaptive control hypothesis. Altogether, our study illustrates the importance of bilinguals’ disparate code-switching practices in shaping cognitive control outcomes.

Examining Language Switching and Cognitive Control Through the Adaptive Control Hypothesis.

Increasing evidence suggests that language switching is a distinct form of bilingual language control that engages cognitive control. The most relevant and widely discussed framework is the Adaptive Control Hypothesis. This theoretical framework identifies language switching to be a key aspect of bilingual language control. It proposes that bilinguals’ engagement in three different types of interactional contexts (single-language context, dual-language context, and dense code-switching context) confers adaptive effects on cognitive control processes. These contexts differ in the presence of both languages and how language control is exercised. The model makes predictions about behavioral outcomes associated with these contexts. This study is a novel attempt to test for the model’s assumptions, predictions, and its interactional contexts. It seeks to examine the relationship between language switching behaviors, reported bilingual interactional contexts, and verbal and non-verbal cognitive control through this theoretical framework. Seventy-four English–Mandarin young adult bilinguals were measured on their self-reported engagements in the different interactional contexts and production of word and sentential language switches through experimental language switching tasks (alternating, semi-cued, and uncued switching). Cognitive control processes in verbal and non-verbal goal maintenance, interference control, selective response inhibition, and task engagement and disengagement were measured. Overall, partial support for the model was observed. Higher reported engagement in the dual-language context was positively but not uniquely related to cognitive engagement and disengagement on verbal tasks. Non-verbal goal maintenance and interference control, on the other hand, were related to uncued inter-sentential language switching. However, the distinction of the model’s three interactional contexts might not be evident in a multilingual society, as findings suggest that there is fluidity in bilinguals’ interactional contexts. Current findings reveal the complex interaction of language switching with distinct domains and cognitive control processes. This study is significant in testing an influential bilingual language control model.

The role of bilingual interactional contexts in predicting interindividual variability in executive functions: A latent variable analysis.

Despite a growing number of studies on bilingual advantages in executive functions (EF), their findings have been inconsistent. To shed light on this issue, we aimed to address both the conceptual and methodological limitations that have prevailed in the literature: failure to consider diverse bilingual experiences when assessing bilingual advantages or to address the task impurity problems that can arise with EF tasks. Drawing on the adaptive control hypothesis and control process model of code-switching, we adopted theory-driven and latent variable approaches to examine the relations between bilingual interactional contexts and EF. By administering 9 EF tasks to 175 bilingual participants over multiple sessions, we found that bilinguals' dual-language context significantly predicted the latent variable of task-switching, while a dense code-switching context significantly predicted 2 latent variables of inhibitory control and goal maintenance. These findings remained robust after controlling for potential confounds of demographics, socioeconomic status, nonverbal intelligence, and unintended language-switching tendency. Our study suggests that bilingual interactional context is a key language experience that modulates bilingual advantages in EF. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Fonetikos išlyginimas vykstant kodų kaitai

Fonetikos išlyginimas vykstant kodų kaitai

Eye Tracking Technology in Detecting the Switch Cost in the Intra-sentential Code-Switching Contexts

Switch cost and cost site have been controversial issues in the code-switching studies. This research conducted an eye tracking experiment on eight bilingual subjects to measure their switch cost and cost site in comprehending the intra-sentential code-switching (Chinese and English) and the unilingual (pure Chinese) stimuli. The English words and their Chinese translations or equivalents were assumed as the key words in either a unilingual or an intra-sentential code-switching paragraph. These key words were located as areas of interest (AOI) with the same height and consisted of three word-frequency levels. After the experiment, the subjects were required to do a comprehension test to ensure their real understanding of the English words. Their performances in two different reading contexts were compared by adopting a paired sample t-test. Their eye movement data were validated by using 2 x 3 repeated measures ANOVA. It was revealed that: 1) the subjects’ scores in the intra-sentential code-switching contexts were higher than those in the unilingual ones, i.e. reading efficiency increased in the intra-sentential code-switching contexts; 2) word frequency had little effect on word recognition speed in the intra-sentential code-switching contexts, i.e., the least frequently used words did not necessarily take the subjects’ more time or vice versa; 3) even if a switch cost occurred(on rare occasions), it was not necessarily at the switching site, and low frequency words in alternating languages did impair performance even when the switch occurred at a sentence boundary.

Bidirectional prosodic effects of code-switching in Spanish-Basque bilinguals

This study investigates the prosody of code-switching in Spanish-Basque bilinguals, which has not been previously documented. Peninsular Spanish and Basque have several prosodic differences, including peak alignment in pitch accents. Spanish has delayed peaks (Estebas Plana & Prieto (2008)), while Basque has early peaks (Elordieta & Hualde (2015)). The current study investigates whether code-switched words are conditioned by prosodic position and whether the peak alignment and f0 maximum of a pitch accent differ between monolingual context (Spanish only) and code-switched contexts. Bilinguals (aged 21-31) from a Basque-dominant region (Lekeitio, n = 3) and a Spanish-dominant region (Bilbao, n = 4) participated in the present study. The data was coded for the following predictor variables: prosodic position, peak alignment, and f0 maximum in pitch accents. Results reveal that code-switches occur almost equally in phrase-medial and final positions. For peak alignment, Lekeitio speakers produced early peaks in both code-switching contexts (Spanish-Basque, Basque-Spanish), which matches monolingual norms for Lekeitio varieties of Spanish and Basque. However, Spanish-dominant speakers also produced early peaks in both code-switching contexts, despite delayed peak norms for Peninsular Spanish. Finally, preliminary results reveal greater f0 during code-switching contexts for Lekeitio speakers only. Further results and implications will be discussed.

Processing Code-Switching in Algerian Bilinguals: Effects of Language Use and Semantic Expectancy.

Using a cross-modal naming paradigm this study investigated the effect of sentence constraint and language use on the expectancy of a language switch during listening comprehension. Sixty-five Algerian bilinguals who habitually code-switch between Algerian Arabic and French (AA-FR) but not between Standard Arabic and French (SA-FR) listened to sentence fragments and named a visually presented French target NP out loud. Participants’ speech onset times were recorded. The sentence context was either highly semantically constraining toward the French NP or not. The language of the sentence context was either in Algerian Arabic or in Standard Arabic, but the target NP was always in French, thus creating two code-switching contexts: a typical and recurrent code-switching context (AA-FR) and a non-typical code-switching context (SA-FR). Results revealed a semantic constraint effect indicating that the French switches were easier to process in the high compared to the low-constraint context. In addition, the effect size of semantic constraint was significant in the more typical code-switching context (AA-FR) suggesting that language use influences the processing of switching between languages. The effect of semantic constraint was also modulated by code-switching habits and the proficiency of L2 French. Semantic constraint was reduced in bilinguals who frequently code-switch and in bilinguals with high proficiency in French. Results are discussed with regards to the bilingual interactive activation model (Dijkstra and Van Heuven, 2002) and the control process model of code-switching (Green and Wei, 2014).

On ineffable predicates: Bilingual Greek–English code-switching under ellipsis

Abstract In Greek–English code-switching contexts, Greek verb phrases can antecede apparent verb phrase ellipsis after English auxiliaries, even when a non-elliptical code-switched continuation with a Greek verb would not be well-formed. These facts, together with others from the previous literature, are compatible with a theory of ellipsis that posits an identity relation stated over abstract syntactic structures: mere semantic identity is too generous and fails to block sentences which are judged unacceptable.

Self-Repair and Language Selection in Bilingual Speech Processing

In psycholinguistic research the exact level of language selection in bilingual lexical access is still controversial and current models of bilingual speech production offer conflicting statements about the mechanisms and location of language selection. This paper aims to provide a corpus analysis of self-repair mechanisms in code-switching contexts of highly fluent bilingual speakers in order to gain further insights into bilingual speech production. The present paper follows the assumptions of the Selection by Proficiency model, which claims that language proficiency and lexical robustness determine the mechanism and level of language selection. In accordance with this hypothesis, highly fluent bilinguals select languages at a prelexical level, which should influence the occurrence of self-repairs in bilingual speech. A corpus of natural speech data of highly fluent and balanced bilingual French-English speakers of the Canadian French variety Franco-Manitoban serves as the basis for a detailed analysis of different self-repair mechanisms in code-switching environments. Although the speech data contain a large amount of code-switching, results reveal that only a few speech errors and self-repairs occur in direct code-switching environments. A detailed analysis of the respective starting point of code-switching and the different repair mechanisms supports the hypothesis that highly proficient bilinguals do not select languages at the lexical level.