Browsing by Subject "Codeswitching"

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A comparison of frequencies and patterns of codeswitching in Spanish-English bilingual children at high and low risk for specific language impairment
(2011-05) Silva, Bertha Alicia; Bedore, Lisa M.; Elizabeth, Peña D.
Theories of bilingual language production suggest that codeswitching is either a characteristic of limited language or a productive characteristic suggesting enhanced executive control and language proficiency. Since codeswitching patterns of typically developing and language impaired bilingual children are not thoroughly understood, utterances with codeswitches may be disregarded during language evaluations. Codeswitching frequency and types of codeswitches were analyzed in language samples of 12 bilingual children at high and 12 at low risk for specific language impairment (SLI). Results indicated that the frequency of codeswitching was similar for both risk groups in Spanish, but not in English. In English, the high risk group codeswitched significantly more than the typically developing group (18.76% vs 7.20%, p<.05). The types of codeswitches most often produced also differed by language and risk group. In Spanish, single-word lexical codeswitches were preferred significantly more than syntactical or lexical-syntactical, but no differences were found between risk groups. In English, syntactical codeswitches were preferred significantly more than lexical or lexical- syntactical. That the children at high risk for SLI codeswitched more in their second language and that their patterns were similar to the typically developing group might suggest that codeswitching in bilingual children with SLI might be used as a productive strategy to fill in linguistic ‘gaps’ and that codeswitching should be recognized and given credit for in language evaluations.
Imagining the Shala-Kazakh : codeswitching and satire in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan
(2017-05) Foster, Hannah Lofton; Webster, Anthony K., 1969-
This report addresses Russian-Kazakh codeswitching in Kazakhstan through a study of satirical skits called Shala-Kazakh Language Lessons that were broadcast on the sketch comedy show Nasha KZasha (‘Our Kazakh’). Using the theoretical frameworks of heteroglossia, language ideologies, satire, role alignment and publics, I analyze the performances as socially recognizable characterizations of speakers who codeswitch and the reflexive relationship between these satires and their subjects. Shala-Kazakhs, literally “‘half’-Kazakhs,” are typically described as young, urban, Russified Kazakhs who are unable to speak Kazakh or are semi-speakers of Kazakh. The term is employed by linguistic authorities to critique the public use of language that they deem “impure.” However, I find that the term is often used in the skits to characterize any language variety or speaker that is perceived as heavily influenced by Russian language and culture or does not fit into a binary classification. I trace the history of this ideology of linguistic purism through Soviet models of ethnolinguistic categories and analyze the ways that Kazakhstanis in the present day use the circulating, satirical portraits to negotiate the complex social environment shaped by these ideologies. Through the use of heteroglossic language, or language that pulls all associations of a word into each use, speakers who codeswitch create fluidity in the clearly-defined categories. Through this analysis, I contribute to the body of work that addresses how language mixing disrupts the ideology of linguistic purism and how ordinary speakers shape their speech practices in relation to easily recognizable portraits of speakers through social interaction. In this way, heterglossic speech draws attention to the heterogeneous nature of language that is often erased through the language policies, education system, and cultural programs of elite, government authorities. By refocusing on the permeable boundaries between these categories and the criticisms the comedians make of purist language ideologies, I address the speakers and languages that are otherwise erased through ideology.
¿Puedo tener un code-switching? Codeswitching en estudiantes de doctorado enseñando cursos de español lengua extranjera
(2010-08) Vacas-Matos, Marta; Salaberry, M. Rafael; Hensey, Frederick G.
Este trabajo presenta los resultados de una investigación sobre el uso del inglés (la lengua materna de los estudiantes) por los profesores en la clase de segundo semestre de español a nivel de universidad. Los resultados mostraron que las profesoras escogían conscientemente la lengua que utilizaban así como cuándo y cómo la empleaban en clase. Parece que la experiencia de las profesoras como instructoras hacía que el inglés fuera menos usado por las que tenían más práctica como instructoras o un mejor domino de su L2, ya fuera ésta el inglés o el español. Sin embargo, los usos más discutidos y esperados del inglés en clase (logístico y pedagógico) no fueron en ningún caso el más común. La razón principal por la que las profesoras usaban el inglés era por cuestiones de relación de comunicación con sus estudiantes, es decir, el uso social de la lengua. This paper presents the results of a study centered on the use of English (L1 of the students) by teachers in the second-semester college level Spanish class. The results show that instructors consciously choose when and how they use English or Spanish and that the more experienced teachers, as well as those that have a better dominance of their L2, use less English in class. My research adds to that from previous investigations through the analysis of the social, logistical and pedagogical use of the students’ L1. My study shows that educators use English socially in order to establish rapport with their students far more often than for logistical or pedagogical reasons.