ERIC Number: EJ1461066
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jan
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1522-7227
EISSN: EISSN-1522-7219
Available Date: 2025-02-04
Learning in Dos Idiomas: The Impact of Codeswitching on Children's Noun and Verb Learning
Emma Libersky1; Caitlyn Slawny1; Margarita Kaushanskaya1
Infant and Child Development, v34 n1 e2568 2025
Codeswitching is a common feature of bilingual language practices, yet its impact on word learning is poorly understood. Critically, processing costs associated with codeswitching may extend to learning. Moreover, verbs tend to be more difficult to learn than nouns, and the challenges of learning verbs could compound with processing costs associated with codeswitching. In two Experiments, we taught 4-5-year-old bilingual children verbs (Experiment 1, N = 25, 13 girls, 69% white, 83% Hispanic) and nouns (Experiment 2, N = 29, 12 girls, 72% white, 68% Hispanic) within English-only and Spanish-English codeswitched learning contexts. Children's language ability across Spanish and English was modeled continuously, allowing us to test the impact of language ability on learning. Children learned novel words successfully in both experiments, with no difference between conditions. However, children with higher language ability demonstrated steeper learning rates l in the English-only condition relative to the codeswitched condition in both Experiment 1 (standardized coefficient of 0.19) and Experiment 2 (standardized coefficient of 0.14). Our findings indicate that bilingual children can successfully learn both verbs and nouns in codeswitched contexts but learning is modulated by a child's language skills as well as the number of learning opportunities they have had.
Descriptors: Nouns, Verbs, Language Acquisition, Vocabulary Development, Preschool Children, Bilingualism, Spanish, English (Second Language), Native Language, Second Language Learning, Language Processing, Code Switching (Language), Language Skills, Learning Processes, Child Language, Psycholinguistics
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH); National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) (DHHS/NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: U54HD090256; R01DC016015; F31DC021386; R01DC020447
Author Affiliations: 1Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, USA