ERIC Number: EJ1468720
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1479-0718
EISSN: EISSN-1747-7530
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Language Choice and Code-Switching in Bilingual Children's Interaction under Multilingual Contexts: Evidence from Mandarin-English Bilingual Preschoolers
Haijing Zhang1; Fangwei Huang2; Cong Wang1
International Journal of Multilingualism, v22 n2 p860-884 2025
Language choice and code-switching are commonplaces for peer interaction among bilingual children from various language backgrounds in Hong Kong. However, few studies concern these linguistic practices of immigrant children proficient in Mandarin and English. This study adopted a qualitative research approach to investigate three Mandarin-English preschoolers' language choice and code-switching by analyzing their conversations in interaction with a Cantonese-English bilingual peer under the framework of translanguaging. The findings reveal that these Mandarin-English preschoolers' priority language for interaction is English, indicating that choosing a shared language is an essential communicative strategy for integrating with their Cantonese-English peers. The factors for those language choices include social environment, interlocutor's ability, and sense of identity and belonging. Both inter-sentential and intra-sentential code-switching are adopted in verbal interaction. However, intra-sentential code-switching occurs more frequently and with greater diversity in Mandarin-based sentences, where nouns are the most easily switched component, followed by verbs and adjectives. This study enriches the study of bilingual children in Hong Kong, extends the application of translanguaging to peer interaction outside the classroom in multilingual contexts, and provides pedagogic implications.
Descriptors: Language Usage, Code Switching (Language), Bilingual Students, Multilingualism, Mandarin Chinese, Sino Tibetan Languages, Immigrants, English (Second Language), Social Environment, Interpersonal Communication, Self Concept, Sense of Belonging, Foreign Countries, Peer Relationship, Sentences
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hong Kong
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Department of Chinese Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Humanities, School of Chinese as a Second Language, Peking University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China