Does Code-Switching Represent Linguistic Inability? A Comprehensive Study of Mandarin-English Dual Language Learning Children in the United States

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Language, Identity, and Learning in Chinese-Mandarin Bi-/Multilingual Education (Table 1)

Abstract

Code-switching is one of the translanguaging phenomena that is often seen in bilinguals. This study sought to examine the relationship between code-switching and linguistic competency in Mandarin-English dual language learning preschoolers in the US. Forty-three children aged 3.5 to 5.5 years of age were recruited from two private preschools in California. Children were tested on their Mandarin and English receptive skills respectively, and were told to speak Mandarin to the investigator while participating in the recording. The percentage of their code-switching frequency and the Mean length of Utterances were calculated. Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses support the argument that code-switching does not indicate linguistic incompetence among children with balanced dual language proficiency.

Author

• Yifei Wang, University of California - Los Angeles