Doctoral Dissertation Research: Processing code-switching in bilinguals: effects of language use and semantic expectancy

大多数双语者都有一定程度的语码转换，即在同一话语中从一种语言转换到另一种语言。美国的人口日益多样化，其中包括越来越多的双语移民，他们在相互交流时既使用英语，也使用其他语言。代码转换经常被认为是学习语言的一种缺陷。然而，代码转换经常发生在精通两种语言的人身上，他们完全能够单独说两种语言。不要谴责代码转换，代码转换应该被视为一种认知上的绝技。调查双语者如何组织和选择他们所知道的语言，他们如何处理混合语言，以及是什么因素决定了这一点，因此将提供对人类认知和社会功能的见解。先前关于语言转换的心理语言学研究表明，语言之间的转换是困难的或昂贵的。这些研究大多忽略了双语者的日常转换习惯。目前的研究以阿尔及利亚的多语种为例，对定期转换语码的语言使用者进行测试，挑战了语码转换总是代价高昂的观点。这些人口经常在阿尔及利亚-阿拉伯语和法语之间转换；然而，在标准阿拉伯语和法语之间切换并不常见。这使得这个群体成为研究在两种语言之间切换而不是另一种语言之间切换的习惯是否会影响切换的期望，从而潜在地最小化甚至消除成本的理想选择。特别是，拟议的研究将测试转换成本在多大程度上取决于(1)句子中特定单词的语义期望；(2)与其他语言对相比，每天在某些语言对之间切换的频率。重要的是，本研究将使用口语，这比以往研究中使用的只读范式更自然。此外，听力研究的结果将与研究中双语者的语言习惯以及他们对语码转换的感知和态度的调查结果有关。因此，该项目的研究结果将有助于深入了解驱动语码转换的语言和非语言因素。

Most bilinguals code-switch to some extent, that is, they move from one language to the other within the same utterance. The United States has an increasingly heterogeneous population, which includes a growing number of bilingual immigrants who use both English and their other language when communicating among each other. Code switching is often stigmatized and sometimes perceived as a deficiency in learning languages. However, code switching often occurs among highly-proficient bilinguals who are perfectly able to speak each language separately. Instead of condemning code switching, code switching should be seen as a cognitive tour de force. Investigating how bilingual speakers organize and select among the languages they know, how they process mixed languages, and what factors determine this, will therefore provide insight in human cognitive and social functioning in general. Previous psycholinguistic research on language switching has reported that switching between languages is difficult or costly. These studies have mostly ignored the bilingual's daily switching habits. The current study challenges the view that code switching is always costly by testing language users who code-switch on a regular basis, using multilinguals in Algeria as a case study. This population switches frequently between Algerian-Arabic and French; however, switching between Standard-Arabic and French is not common. This makes this population ideal to investigate whether the habit of switching between a pair of languages rather than another pair affects the expectation of switching, thus potentially minimizing or even eliminating the costs. In particular, the proposed research will test to what extent the switch costs depend on (1) the semantic expectancy of a particular word in a sentence; and (2) the daily frequency of switching between certain language pairs compared to others. Importantly, the current study will use spoken language, which is more naturalistic than the reading-only paradigms used in previous studies. In addition, the outcomes of the listening study will be related to the results from a survey on the language habits of the bilinguals in the study and their perception of and attitudes towards code switching. Findings from this project will therefore provide insight into the linguistic and non-linguistic factors that drive code-switching.