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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: [email protected]
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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
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

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