Bilingual children and code switching

Abstract

In this dissertation I have examined bilingual families’ attitudes towards their children’s bilingualism and code switching. My research questions are how and when the informants’ children mix between their languages and if the parents have positive or negative attitudes towards their children’s language mixture. I have also asked what the bilingual families feel about bilingualism. As a method I have chosen to make qualitative interviews with my informants. Three families have been interviewed with different languages and backgrounds. 
\nThe results indicate that bilingualism confers an increased interest for language and increased language awareness. Some of the informants state that their children often switch between the languages while others do not mix at all. The informants have a very positive attitude towards bilingualism and they do not see a problem in their children’s code switching
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\nMother tongue, code switching, consecutive and sequential bilingualism, majority and minority language