Hostname: page-component-7f64f4797f-bnl7t Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-04T08:18:07.176Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of language mixing on bilingual children's word learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2021

Krista Byers-Heinlein Open the ORCID record for Krista Byers-Heinlein [Opens in a new window] ,
Amel Jardak ,
Eva Fourakis  and
Casey Lew-Williams
Krista Byers-Heinlein*
Affiliation:
Concordia University, Department of Psychology, Montreal, Canada
Amel Jardak
Affiliation:
Concordia University, Department of Psychology, Montreal, Canada
Eva Fourakis
Affiliation:
Princeton University, Department of Psychology, Princeton, USA
Casey Lew-Williams
Affiliation:
Princeton University, Department of Psychology, Princeton, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Krista Byers-Heinlein L-PY 170-10 Psychology Building, 7141 Sherbrooke W. Email: K.Byers@concordia.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Language mixing is common in bilingual children's learning environments. Here, we investigated effects of language mixing on children's learning of new words. We tested two groups of 3-year-old bilinguals: French–English (Experiment 1) and Spanish–English (Experiment 2). Children were taught two novel words, one in single-language sentences (“Look! Do you see the dog on the teelo?”) and one in mixed-language sentences with a mid-sentence language switch (“Look! Do you see the chien/perro on the walem?”). During the learning phase, children correctly identified novel targets when hearing both single-language and mixed-language sentences. However, at test, French–English bilinguals did not successfully recognize the word encountered in mixed-language sentences. Spanish–English bilinguals failed to recognize either word, which underscores the importance of examining multiple bilingual populations. This research suggests that language mixing may sometimes hinder children's encoding of novel words that occur downstream, but leaves open several possible underlying mechanisms.

Keywords

word learningbilingualismchildrenlanguage mixingcode switching

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 2022 , pp. 55 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Altarriba, J, Kroll, JF, Sholl, A, & Rayner, K (1996). The influence of lexical and conceptual constraints on reading mixed-language sentences: Evidence from eye fixations and naming times. Memory & Cognition, 24(4), 477–492. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200936CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bail, A, Morini, G, & Newman, RS (2015). Look at the gato! Code-switching in speech to toddlers. Journal of Child Language, 42(5), 1073–1101. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000914000695CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergmann, C, Tsuji, S, Piccinini, PE, Lewis, ML, Braginsky, M, Frank, MC, & Cristia, A (2018). Promoting replicability in developmental research through meta-analyses: Insights from language acquisition research. Child Development, 89(6), 1996–2009. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13079CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bion, RAH, Borovsky, A, & Fernald, A (2013). Fast mapping, slow learning: Disambiguation of novel word–object mappings in relation to vocabulary learning at 18, 24, and 30 months. Cognition, 126(1), 39–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2012.08.008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birch, SA, Vauthier, SA, & Bloom, P (2008). Three-and four-year-olds spontaneously use others’ past performance to guide their learning. Cognition, 107(3), 1018–1034. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2007.12.008CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boudreault, M-C, Cabirol, A-A, Trudeau, N, Poulin-Dubois, D, & Sutton, A (2007). Les inventaires MacArthur du développement de la communication: Validité et données normatives préliminaires. / MacArthur communicative development inventories: Validity and preliminary normative data. Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 31(1), 27–37.Google Scholar
Buac, M, Tauzin-Larché, A, Weisberg, E, & Kaushanskaya, M (2019). Effect of speaker certainty on novel word learning in monolingual and bilingual children. Bilingualism, 22(4), 883–895. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728918000536CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers-Heinlein, K (2013). Parental language mixing: Its measurement and the relation of mixed input to young bilingual children's vocabulary size. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 16(1), 32–48. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728912000120CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers-Heinlein, K (2014). Languages as categories: Reframing the “one language or two” question in early bilingual development. Language Learning, 64(s2), 184–201. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12055CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers-Heinlein, K, Bergmann, C, & Savalei, V (2021). Six solutions for more reliable infant research. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/u37fyCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byers-Heinlein, K, Morin-Lessard, E, & Lew-Williams, C (2017). Bilingual infants control their languages as they listen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(34), 9032–9037. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1703220114CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byers-Heinlein, K, Tsui, A, Bergmann, C, Black, AK, Brown, A, Carbajal, MJ, … Wermelinger, S (2020). A multi-lab study of bilingual infants: Exploring the preference for infant-directed speech. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/sqh9dGoogle Scholar
Carbajal, MJ, & Peperkamp, S (2020). Dual language input and the impact of language separation on early lexical development. Infancy, 25(1), 22–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12315CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carey, S, & Bartlett, E (1978). Acquiring a single new word. Proceedings of the Stanford Child Language Conference, 15, 17–29.Google Scholar
Champely, S (2020). Pwr: Basic functions for power analysis. Retrieved from https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=pwrGoogle Scholar
Chan, M-C, Chau, HLH, & Hoosain, R (1983). Input/output switch in bilingual code switching. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 12(4), 407–416. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067622CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curtin, S, Byers-Heinlein, K, & Werker, JF (2011). Bilingual beginnings as a lens for theory development: PRIMIR in focus. Journal of Phonetics, 39(4), 492–504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2010.12.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeAnda, S, Hendrickson, K, Zesiger, P, Poulin-dubois, D, & Friend, M (2018). Lexical access in the second year: A study of monolingual and bilingual vocabulary development. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21(2), 314–327. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000220CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dink, J, & Ferguson, B (2015). eyetrackingR: An R Library for Eye-tracking Data Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.eyetrackingr.comGoogle Scholar
Dunn, LM, & Dunn, DM (2007). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-IV. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Dunn, LM, Dunn, LM, & Thériault-Whalen, CM (1993). Échelle de vocabulaire en images Peabody (EVIP). Toronto: PSYCAN.Google Scholar
Dunn, LM, Padilla, ER, Lugo, DE, & Dunn, LM (1986). Test de vocabulario en imagenes Peabody: TVIP: Adaptacion hispanoamericana (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test: PPVT: Hispanic-American Adaptation). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service (AGS), Inc.Google Scholar
Ervin-Tripp, S, & Reyes, I (2005). Child codeswitching and adult content contrasts. International Journal of Bilingualism, 9(1), 85–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069050090010601CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenson, L, Marchman, VA, Thal, DJ, Dale, PS, Steven Reznick, J, & Bates, E (2007). MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (2nd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Brookes.Google Scholar
Fernald, A, Perfors, A, & Marchman, VA (2006). Picking up speed in understanding: Speech processing efficiency and vocabulary growth across the 2nd year. Developmental Psychology, 42(1), 98–116. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.1.98CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fernald, A, Marchman, V, & Hurtado, N (2008). Input affects uptake: How early language experience influences processing efficiency and vocabulary learning. https://doi.org/10.1109/DEVLRN.2008.4640802CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernald, A, & Marchman, VA (2012). Individual differences in lexical processing at 18 months predict vocabulary growth in typically developing and late-talking toddlers. Child Development, 83(1), 203–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01692.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fernald, A, Marchman, VA, & Weisleder, A (2013). SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science, 16(2), 234–248. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12019CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frank, MC, Braginsky, M, Yurovsky, D, & Marchman, VA (2017). Wordbank: An open repository for developmental vocabulary data. Journal of Child Language, 44(3), 677–694. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000916000209CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilkerson, J, Richards, JA, Warren, SF, Montgomery, JK, Greenwood, CR, Kimbrough Oller, D, … Paul, TD (2017). Mapping the early language environment using all-day recordings and automated analysis. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 26(2), 248–265. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_AJSLP-15-0169CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, JC, McDonough, L, & Brown, NB (1998). The role of semantic context and memory in the acquisition of novel nouns. Child Development, 69(5), 1330–1344. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06215.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodz, NS (1989). Parental language mixing in bilingual families. Infant Mental Health Journal, 10(1), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0355(198921)10:1<25::AID-IMHJ2280100104>3.0.CO;2-R3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grainger, J, & Beauvillain, C (1988). Associative priming in bilinguals: Some limits of interlingual facilitation effects. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie, 42(3), 261–273. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0084193CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosjean, F (1982). Life with two languages: An introduction to bilingualism. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hart, B, & Risley, T (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Heredia, RR, & Altarriba, J (2001). Bilingual language mixing: Why do bilinguals code-switch? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(5), 164–168. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00140CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horst, JS, & Samuelson, LK (2008). Fast mapping but poor retention by 24-month-old infants. Infancy, 13(2), 128–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/15250000701795598CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurtado, N, Grüter, T, Marchman, VA, & Fernald, A (2014). Relative language exposure, processing efficiency and vocabulary in Spanish–English bilingual toddlers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17(1), 189–202. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136672891300014XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kircher, R (2014). Thirty years after Bill 101: A contemporary perspective on attitudes towards English and French in Montreal. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17(1), 20–50.Google Scholar
Koo, TK, & Li, MY (2016). A guideline of selecting and reporting intraclass correlation coefficients for reliability research. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 15(2), 155–163. https://doi.org/https://doi.org10.1016/j.jcm.2016.02.012CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kremin, LV, Alves, J, Orena, AJ, Polka, L, & Byers-Heinlein, K (2020). Code-switching in parents’ everyday speech to bilingual infants. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/rk2ahCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kroff, JRV, Dussias, PE, Gerfen, C, Perrotti, L, & Bajo, MT (2017). Experience with code-switching modulates the use of grammatical gender during sentence processing. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 7(2), 163–198. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.15010.valCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lany, J (2018). Lexical-processing efficiency leverages novel word learning in infants and toddlers. Developmental Science, 21(3), e12569. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12569CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Legacy, J, Zesiger, P, Friend, M, & Poulin-Dubois, D (2016). Vocabulary size and speed of word recognition in very young French–English bilinguals: A longitudinal study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728916000833Google ScholarPubMed
Lew-Williams, C, & Fernald, A (2007). Young children learning Spanish make rapid use of grammatical gender in spoken word recognition. Psychological Science, 18(3), 193–198. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01871.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Libertus, ME, Odic, D, Feigenson, L, & Halberda, J (2015). A developmental vocabulary assessment for parents (DVAP): Validating parental report of vocabulary size in 2- to 7-year-old children. Journal of Cognition and Development, 16(3), 442–454. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2013.835312CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macnamara, J, & Kushnir, SL (1971). Linguistic independence of bilinguals: The input switch. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 10(5), 480–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(71)80018-XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchman, VA, Fernald, A, & Hurtado, N (2010). How vocabulary size in two languages relates to efficiency in spoken word recognition by young Spanish–English bilinguals. Journal of Child Language, 37(4), 817–840. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000909990055CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marian, V, Blumenfeld, HK, & Kaushanskaya, M (2007). The language experience and proficiency questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Assessing language profiles in bilinguals and multilinguals. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50(4), 940–967. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2007/067)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meuter, RFI, & Allport, A (1999). Bilingual language switching in naming: Asymmetrical costs of language selection. Journal of Memory and Language, 40(1), 25–40. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1998.2602CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moreno, EM, Federmeier, KD, & Kutas, M (2002). Switching languages, switching palabras (words): An electrophysiological study of code switching. Brain and Language, 80(2), 188–207. https://doi.org/10.1006/brln.2001.2588CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morini, G, & Newman, RS (2019). Dónde está la ball? Examining the effect of code switching on bilingual children's word recognition. Journal of Child Language, 46(6), 1238–1248. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000919000400CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Connell, L, Poulin-Dubois, D, Demke, T, & Guay, A (2009). Can infants use a nonhuman agent's gaze direction to establish word–object relations? Infancy, 14(4), 414–438. https://doi.org/10.1080/15250000902994073CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Orena, AJ, Byers-Heinlein, K, & Polka, L (2020). What do bilingual infants actually hear? Evaluating measures of language input to bilingual-learning 10-month-olds. Developmental Science, e12901. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12901Google ScholarPubMed
Place, S, & Hoff, E (2011). Properties of dual language exposure that influence 2-year-olds’ bilingual proficiency. Child Development, 82(6), 1834–1849. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01660.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Place, S, & Hoff, E (2016). Effects and noneffects of input in bilingual environments on dual language skills in 2 ½-year-olds. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(5), 1023–1041. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728915000322CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, CE, Fourakis, E, Morin-Lessard, E, Byers-Heinlein, K, & Lew-Williams, C (2018). Bilingual infants process mixed sentences differently in their two languages. In Proceedings of the 40th annual meeting of the cognitive science society.Google Scholar
Potter, CE, Fourakis, E, Morin-Lessard, E, Byers-Heinlein, K, & Lew-Williams, C (2019). Bilingual toddlers’ comprehension of mixed sentences is asymmetrical across their two languages. Developmental Science, 22(4), e12794. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12794CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Price, CJ, Green, DW, & von Studnitz, R (1999). A functional imaging study of translation and language switching. Brain, 122(12), 2221–2235. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/122.12.2221CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Proverbio, AM, Leoni, G, & Zani, A (2004). Language switching mechanisms in simultaneous interpreters: An ERP study. Neuropsychologia, 42(12), 1636–1656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2004.04.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
R Core Team. (2018). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Retrieved from https://www.R-project.org/Google Scholar
Read, K, Contreras, PD, Rodriguez, B, & Jara, J (2020). ¿Read Conmigo?: The Effect of Code-switching Storybooks on Dual-Language Learners’ Retention of New Vocabulary. Early Education and Development, 0(0), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1780090Google Scholar
Revelle, W (2021). Psych: Procedures for psychological, psychometric, and personality research. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University. Retrieved from https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=psychGoogle Scholar
Samuelson, LK, & McMurray, B (2017). What does it take to learn a word? Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 8(1–2), e1421. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1421Google ScholarPubMed
Singh, L, Fu, C, Tay, Z, & Golinkoff, R (2018). Novel word learning in bilingual and monolingual infants: Evidence for a bilingual advantage. Child Development, 89, e183–e198. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12747CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Soares, C, & Grosjean, F (1984). Bilinguals in a monolingual and a bilingual speech mode: The effect on lexical access. Memory & Cognition, 12(4), 380–386. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198298CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sridhar, SN, & Sridhar, KK (1980). The syntax and psycholinguistics of bilingual code mixing. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie, 34(4), 407. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0081105CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swingley, D (2012). The looking-while-listening procedure. Research Methods in Child Language: A Practical Guide, 29–42. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444344035.ch3Google Scholar
Thomas, MSC, & Allport, A (2000). Language switching costs in bilingual visual word recognition. Journal of Memory and Language, 43(1), 44–66. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1999.2700CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Venker, CE, Pomper, R, Mahr, T, Edwards, J, Saffran, J, & Weismer, SE (2020). Comparing Automatic Eye Tracking and Manual Gaze Coding Methods in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Research, 13(2), 271–283. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2225CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed