1. Code-Switched Insertions in the Speech of a Bilingual Child
- Subjects
child bilingualism ,russian language ,english language ,matrix language ,guest language ,bilingualism ,children’s speech ,speech development. ,Philology. Linguistics ,P1-1091 - Abstract
The article deals with insertions viewed as a sub-type of intrasententional code switches within utterances of a child who simultaneously acquires Russian and English in a Russian family in Russia. Longitudinal studies of bilingual children’s speech activities are among the topical research phenomena since they can provide insight into the essential characteristics of early childhood bilingualism development. The bilingualism under observation is developed according to the principle “one person – one language” in a Russian monoethnic family, with mother speaking her native language and father speaking English, his non-native language, with their child. The authors’aim is to find out structural characteristics of insertions and their use in mixed utterances of the child during five years of his bilingual development (at the age period between three and eight years old). The data are oral utterances of the child that have been obtained with the help of participant observation fixed by videotaping and written notes. Structural analysis of insertions is based on the theoretical assumptions of the Matrix Frame Model elaborated by an American linguist C. Myers-Scotton. Two opposite trends act in the observed case: on the one hand, English language competence of the child is increasing; on the other hand, Russian as a dominant language has been more and more actively used as the Matrix language in mixed utterances, which subdues English insertions and limits their morphosyntactic significance. The results of the research show how different kinds of insertions reveal the dynamics of childhood bilingualism developed within a family or in a kindergarten.
- Published
- 2020
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