| Popis: |
Code-switching occurs regularly in the input to bilingual children. Yet, the effect of code-switched input on language development is unclear. To test whether word learning would be affected by code-switching, Spanish-English bilingual children (N=45, 19 boys, Mean(Age)=5.05 years; Ethnicity: 37 Hispanic/Latino, 6 Non-Hispanic/Latino, 2 Unreported) were taught English-like novel words in two conditions. In the English-only condition, definitions for novel words were provided entirely in English. In the Code-Switch condition, definitions for novel words were provided in English and Spanish, incorporating code-switches. Children required fewer exposures to retain novel words in the Code-Switch than the English-only condition and this effect was not moderated by children’s language ability or exposure to code-switching, suggesting that code-switched input does not pose word-learning risks to bilingual children, including children with lower levels of language ability. |
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