Structural constraints in late L2 code-switching: Investigating the effect of acquisition order
Document Type
Paper Presentation
Presenter Language
English
Research Area
Bilingualism and multilingualism
Location
MBSC Dodge Room 302
Start Date
18-10-2024 3:30 PM
End Date
18-10-2024 4:00 PM
Abstract
This study explores late second language (L2) code-switching (CS) acceptability, specifically aiming to determine if late L2 bilinguals can acquire structural constraints that mirror those observed in bilinguals who acquire both languages at a young age. Although previous research has shown that these patterns can be acquired by L1-English L2-Spanish bilinguals (Giancaspro, 2015; Koronkiewicz, 2018; Toribio, 2001), there has not been a comparison that looks at bilinguals who learned the same two languages in different orders. As such, it is unclear whether acquisition order has an effect. This study seeks to test how widespread such CS restrictions are across bilingual groups with distinct backgrounds.
Two parallel groups of Spanish-English bilinguals who were late L2 learners of Spanish (n=38) or English (n=45) were compared alongside heritage speakers of Spanish (n=41) (i.e., 2L1 bilinguals). Participants completed an acceptability judgment task with a 7-point Likert scale where they evaluated two different types of code-switched sentence restrictions (Koronkiewicz, 2020, 2022), subject-pronoun switches (n=24) (1) and adverb-order switches (n=24) (2), which were randomized alongside filler stimuli (n=27).
(1) a. Juana cree que yo vivo near the beach.
‘Juana thinks that I live near the beach.’
b. * Juana cree que yo live near the beach.
‘Juana thinks that I live near the beach.’
(2) a. Henry carefully lee las instrucciones.
‘Juana thinks that I live near the beach.’
b. * Antonio lee carefully the instructions.
‘Juana thinks that I live near the beach.’
Full data analysis is ongoing, but the preliminary results suggest consistency across all groups in distinguishing between grammatical and ungrammatical CS. Age of acquisition and order of acquisition does not seem to influence acceptability patterns. These findings suggest that there is a convergence in the acquisition of such structural constraints on CS even despite the different language backgrounds. Ultimately, this study enhances our understanding of bilingual competence, by first confirming that the previous findings regarding late L2 CS were not specific to a particular acquisition order. It also demonstrates the robustness of certain CS restrictions across varied bilingual experiences, reaffirming the non-arbitrary nature in which many bilinguals mix their languages.
References
Giancaspro, D. (2015). Code-switching at the auxiliary-VP boundary: A comparison of heritage speakers and L2 learners. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 5(3), 379-407. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.5.3.04gia
Koronkiewicz, B. (2018). Acquiring L1-English L2-Spanish code-switching: The role of exposure to language mixing. Languages, 3(3), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages3030026
Koronkiewicz, B. (2020). Subject-predicate code-switching: Testing the need of a matrix language through embedding. In A. Morales-Front, M. J. Ferreira, R. P. Leow, & C. Sanz (Eds.), Hispanic linguistics: Current issues and new directions (pp. 249-264). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.26.12kor
Koronkiewicz, B. (2022). Adverbs in Spanish-English code-switching: Comparing verb raising and non-raising. International Journal of Bilingualism 26(2), 227-254. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069211057955
Toribio, A. J. (2001). On the emergence of bilingual code-switching competence. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 4(3), 203-231. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728901000414
Structural constraints in late L2 code-switching: Investigating the effect of acquisition order
MBSC Dodge Room 302
This study explores late second language (L2) code-switching (CS) acceptability, specifically aiming to determine if late L2 bilinguals can acquire structural constraints that mirror those observed in bilinguals who acquire both languages at a young age. Although previous research has shown that these patterns can be acquired by L1-English L2-Spanish bilinguals (Giancaspro, 2015; Koronkiewicz, 2018; Toribio, 2001), there has not been a comparison that looks at bilinguals who learned the same two languages in different orders. As such, it is unclear whether acquisition order has an effect. This study seeks to test how widespread such CS restrictions are across bilingual groups with distinct backgrounds.
Two parallel groups of Spanish-English bilinguals who were late L2 learners of Spanish (n=38) or English (n=45) were compared alongside heritage speakers of Spanish (n=41) (i.e., 2L1 bilinguals). Participants completed an acceptability judgment task with a 7-point Likert scale where they evaluated two different types of code-switched sentence restrictions (Koronkiewicz, 2020, 2022), subject-pronoun switches (n=24) (1) and adverb-order switches (n=24) (2), which were randomized alongside filler stimuli (n=27).
(1) a. Juana cree que yo vivo near the beach.
‘Juana thinks that I live near the beach.’
b. * Juana cree que yo live near the beach.
‘Juana thinks that I live near the beach.’
(2) a. Henry carefully lee las instrucciones.
‘Juana thinks that I live near the beach.’
b. * Antonio lee carefully the instructions.
‘Juana thinks that I live near the beach.’
Full data analysis is ongoing, but the preliminary results suggest consistency across all groups in distinguishing between grammatical and ungrammatical CS. Age of acquisition and order of acquisition does not seem to influence acceptability patterns. These findings suggest that there is a convergence in the acquisition of such structural constraints on CS even despite the different language backgrounds. Ultimately, this study enhances our understanding of bilingual competence, by first confirming that the previous findings regarding late L2 CS were not specific to a particular acquisition order. It also demonstrates the robustness of certain CS restrictions across varied bilingual experiences, reaffirming the non-arbitrary nature in which many bilinguals mix their languages.
References
Giancaspro, D. (2015). Code-switching at the auxiliary-VP boundary: A comparison of heritage speakers and L2 learners. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 5(3), 379-407. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.5.3.04gia
Koronkiewicz, B. (2018). Acquiring L1-English L2-Spanish code-switching: The role of exposure to language mixing. Languages, 3(3), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages3030026
Koronkiewicz, B. (2020). Subject-predicate code-switching: Testing the need of a matrix language through embedding. In A. Morales-Front, M. J. Ferreira, R. P. Leow, & C. Sanz (Eds.), Hispanic linguistics: Current issues and new directions (pp. 249-264). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.26.12kor
Koronkiewicz, B. (2022). Adverbs in Spanish-English code-switching: Comparing verb raising and non-raising. International Journal of Bilingualism 26(2), 227-254. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069211057955
Toribio, A. J. (2001). On the emergence of bilingual code-switching competence. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 4(3), 203-231. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728901000414