Dónde está la ball? Examining the effect of code switching on bilingual children's word recognition.
Giovanna Morini, Rochelle S Newman
PMID 31405393WHAT IT FOUND
Same-language sentences helped bilingual toddlers recognize words (63%), while code-switched sentences (57%) did not beat single words (54%).
Key findings
01Same-language sentences produced the highest word recognition accuracy (63%), followed by mixed-language sentences (57%) and isolated words (54%).
02Same-language sentences were significantly more accurate than isolated words and mixed-language sentences.
03Mixed-language sentences were not significantly more accurate than isolated words.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only 24 children completed the task, and 28 additional children were excluded, so the sample was small. The study tested only familiar object words in each child's dominant language, so it does not show what happens when a target word is heard in the non-dominant language. The mixed-language condition used a carrier sentence in the non-dominant language, so it does not test other switch directions. The task measured looking time for a short set of words, not everyday language learning or vocabulary growth. Children were not diagnosed with developmental or physiological conditions and were 18 to 24 months old, so the results do not extend to older children or children with diagnoses.
Declared interests
The supplied publication types list NIH extramural, non-U.S. government, and U.S. government non-P.H.S. research support. No author conflict declaration is included in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that code-switching harms bilingual toddlers' word recognition. The mixed-language sentences did not beat isolated words, but accuracy was still above chance.