Learning in Dos Idiomas: The Impact of Codeswitching on Children's Noun and Verb Learning

Abstract

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% while, 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.