Does code-switching influence novel word learning?

Margarita Kaushanskaya, Kimberly Crespo, Anne Neveu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Code-switching occurs regularly in the input to bilingual children. Yet, the effect of code-switched input on language development is unclear. To test whether word learning would be affected by code-switching, Spanish–English bilingual children (N = 45, 19 boys, MeanAge= 5.05 years; ethnicity: 37 Hispanic/Latino, six Non-Hispanic/Latino, two unreported) were taught English-like novel words in two conditions. In the English-only condition, definitions for novel words were provided entirely in English. In the code-switch condition, definitions for novel words were provided in English and Spanish, incorporating code-switches. Children required fewer exposures to retain novel words in the code-switch than the English-only condition and this effect was not moderated by children's language ability or exposure to code-switching, suggesting that code-switched input does not pose word-learning risks to bilingual children, including children with lower levels of language ability.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere13292
JournalDevelopmental Science
Volume26
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2023

Keywords

  • bilingualism
  • code-switching
  • word learning

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