Investigates the potential interference between the grammars of French-English bilingual children, ages two to three years. The study examined their acquisition of functional categories, specifically the properties of INFL (finiteness and agreement) and negation. Results indicate that these children evidence no transfer, acceleration, or delay in…

This paper examines the step show or code-switching involving two dialects of English, Standard American English (SAE) and Black English Vernacular (BEV) at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The data point to a reversal of dominant institutional language and literacy practices at the university under focus. The conscious and…

This paper considers what early years practitioners need to know about bilingual acquisition. It argues that bilingualism is not only an asset in the classroom and the community, but also an individual and family achievement that requires commitment and determination. The different contexts of bilingual acquisition are considered, along with the…

This paper proposes to overcome the traditional essentialist and dichotomous ways of conceptualising language and language pedagogies, i.e. to go beyond linguistic purist perspectives. Analysing bilingual teaching practices in a science lesson, the paper proposes that practical bilingual pedagogies can be developed to help students in bilingual…

A study investigated the attitudes of bilinguals toward each language and toward language mixing (codeswitching), expressions of identity, and how this relates to linguistic behavior. Subjects were 15 undergraduate students of Spanish-English interpreting and translation at an Australian university whose age (19-53), language proficiency, and…

This study examines natural language use in the bilingual, early childhood classroom in the context of: (1) functional patterns of requests and turn allocators used by Spanish-speaking children; (2) formal patterns of requests and turn allocators used by Spanish-speaking children; (3) the use of language alternation to make requests and allocate…

The first part of these findings is a report on a study of the characteristics of 120 Spanish-English bilingual children's speech over a two-year period in the classroom, on the playground, and at home. Three types of language measures were used as well as audiotaped speech samples taken in the three communication settings. Preliminary findings…

A group of Mexican-American children living in a small Illinois town were observed to study the acquisition of communicative competence. The children's spontaneous and elicited narratives showed combinations of Spanish and English. If three stories represented here are considered syntactically, none involves random alternation of codes. Almost all…

Mexican American high school students from Texas (50) and California (80) registered reactions to four varieties of Spanish: code switching, ungrammatical, dialectical, "standard" Mexican Spanish. The last rated higher than the other three varieties, the two "non-standard" varieties higher than code switching. Judgements were…

Presents evidence of a study of speakers of English as a Second Language that cross-language transfer effects interact with developmental effects in the construction of second language (L2) syllable structures. Argues that the optimality theory provides a more explicit account than the minimal sonority distance parameter setting model regarding…

Examines the historical and socioeconomic context of classroom code switching in Hong Kong. Empirical analyses of actual instances of classroom code switching reveal this action to be the teachers' and students' local pragmatic response to the symbolic domination of English. The article concludes with a cost-benefit analysis of the Hong Kong…

Examines language practices in secondary classrooms in Malta, showing how teachers and students switch between Maltese and English to construct knowledge, interact with monolingual English texts, and interrelate. The article places these practices against the island's historical and social background to reveal that teachers use English to appear…

Illustrates how women from the frontier of Laredo, Texas, use, describe, and view the hybrid of Spanish and English spoken at the borderlands as a result of culture and language contact among Mexicans of various backgrounds and Anglos. Categorizes the attitudes toward language choice into intraethnic and interethnic classifications. (32…

Examines the relationship of codes across languages, with particular reference to written language and to English in relation to Japanese and Chinese. Reviews language contact and language learning effects related to reading, writing, cognition and linguistic creativity as various types of cross-language effects in biliteracy. (42 references)…

Interviews with 61 fourth-grade English language learners (ELLs) and native English speakers in an English-only California school district found that compared with weaker ELL readers, ELLs who read English well expressed more confidence about their own primary-language abilities and about others' perceptions of their primary language and…