This contribution discusses findings and hypotheses from empirical data of naturally-occurring codeswitching. The discussion is framed by some comparisons of the approaches of contact linguists and psycholinguists to bilingual production data. However, it emphasizes the relevance of naturally-occurring codeswitching to the theoretical questions…

Introduces this special issue of the journal and reports on new directions in the research that began with code switching, but increasingly has come to include other types of language contact phenomena. The articles in the issue report on analyses and explanations for a variety of outcomes in bilingual production. (Author/VWL)

Deals with two compromise strategies: (1) embedded language islands (EL Islands), and (2) "bare forms" in code switching (CS) within the projection of complementizer. These elements are discussed within the framework of the Matrix Language Frame Model. Shows how this model provides an explanatory account for the occurrence of both EL…

Discusses the Matrix Language Frame model. Analysis of noun phrases in a Spanish-English corpus illustrates this compatibility and shows how recent minimalist proposals can explain the distribution of nouns and determiners in the data if they adopt the notion of matrix language as bilingual instantiation of structural uniformity in a CP.…

Argues that specific patterns of code switching indicate how language is both an index of identity and a tool of communication in South Africa. Suggests speakers exhibit strong loyalty to their first language by the codeswitching patterns they use. (Author/VWL)

Provides that in bilingual conversation, the unmarked choice can be identified via a frequency-based criterion. Data come from a Malawian family temporarily living in the United States. Both parents and children engage in code switching, but how the two languages are employed and their frequency within the overall codeswitching pattern shows that…

Comments on an article that argues that the compartmentalism of structures observed in mixed languages is the result of the cumulative effect of different contact mechanisms. Discusses problems in three areas of the analyses. (Author/VWL)

Examines the extent to which material from a donor language (Embedded Language or EL) appearing in a recipient language (Matrix Language) shows internal differentiation. It is suggested that models of structural aspects of codeswitching must provide a unified account for all EL material in codeswitching utterances. (Author/LB)

Examines a specific type of code switching that occurs when bilingual peers make relevant their dual and simultaneous membership in the two groups symbolized by the two linguistic varieties involved in the switching pattern. Structural constraints and switching are discussed across code-switching types. (31 references) (Author/OD)