1. The Development of Bilingual Behavior: Language Choice and Social Context.
- Author
-
Fantini, Alvino E.
- Abstract
All speakers alter language stylistically in response to particular social circumstances at the moment of speech. Additionally, bilingual speakers switch codes. In fact, language differentiation and code switching are fundamental to behaving bilingually. This article examines how language differentiation and code switching developed in a young child exposed to two languages. It is concluded that linguistic separation is triggered by various factors in the social environment that cue the speaker. In the young child, awareness of the factors that call for one language or another develops gradually over time as the child's social world expands. Moreover, these factors emerge in order of significance as perceived by the child. The development of bilingual behavior is clearly a sociolinguistic phenomenon in which the child learns not only two linguistic systems but also the circumstances in which to use each. A 10-item bibliography is included. (Author/MSE)
- Published
- 1987