Mother, Father, and Child Code Switching and Links to Child Language Development

• In Event: Relevance of Individual and Family Environment Factors for Young Children’s Language Use and Language Skills

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of parental and child code switching—the practice of alternating between languages—on bilingual toddlers’ language development. Although code switching is a common feature in bilingual households, its impact on early language acquisition remains debated (Méndez et al., 2015; Oh & Fuligni, 2010). Using a transactional framework and sociocultural perspective, this research aimed to understand whether: (1) frequency of code switching by mothers and fathers correlates with the frequency of toddler code switching, and (2) code switching behaviors of either parent or toddlers predict toddlers’ concurrent productive vocabulary in English and Spanish.

Participants included 23 children aged 24 to 36 months (M age = 28.00, SD = 4.70), raised bilingually in Spanish- and English-speaking homes. Data were collected using daylong, naturalistic audio recordings captured by wearable Language Environment Analysis (LENA) devices. Caregivers reported children’s relative language exposure using the Language Exposure Analysis Tool (DeAnda et al., 2016) and assessed English and Spanish productive vocabulary with the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories: Words & Sentences (Fenson et al., 1994) and Spanish Palabras y Enunciados (Jackson-Maldonado et al., 1993).

Recordings were processed into 30-second segments, with 100 total segments analyzed per child. Segments were coded for the presence of code switching (0 = no, 1 = yes), child code switching (0 = no, 1 = yes, 2 = no utterances), and parent code switching (0 = no, 1 = mother, 2 = father, 3 = both). Correlations examined the association between mother, father, and child use of code switching. Linear regressions investigated whether code switching predicted child productive vocabulary.

Children heard more Spanish (M = 59%; SD = 20%) than English (M = 41%; SD: 20%), but child productive vocabulary size in English and Spanish was not significantly different (English: M = 130; SD = 153; range = 0-521; Spanish: M = 142; SD = 157; range = 5-564). Mothers code switched most (M = 19.3; SD = 14.0), followed by fathers (M = 7.6; SD = 10.5), then children (M = 6.9; SD = 8.4). Father and child code switching frequency were significantly correlated (p = .002) but mother and child code switching frequency were not (p = .112). Furthermore, children’s own code switching positively predicted vocabulary scores in both English (r = .75, p = .003) and Spanish (r = .74, p = .004). Similarly, fathers' code switching—unlike that of mothers—emerged as a significant predictor of children's vocabulary in both languages (English: r = .5; p = .005) and (Spanish: r = .41, p = .002).

Findings suggest that code switching may play a meaningful and supportive role in bilingual language development. Moreover, the unique contribution of fathers' code switching underscores the need to consider household linguistic input broadly within culturally informed frameworks (Ferjan Ramirez et al., 2022; Wilson, 2021). This work not only highlights the role of family dynamics in bilingual development but also frames code switching as a communicative strength that helps young bilinguals navigate and enrich their dual-language environments.

Authors

• Amy Pace, University of Washington

• Ines Juhee Sohn, University of Washington

• Sara Kover, University of Washington

• Bonnie Lau, University of Washington