Can bilingual two-year-olds code-switch?

TLDR

Sociolinguists have studied code‑switching in bilingual children three years old and older, yet language mixing in two‑year‑olds has traditionally been viewed as a sign of insufficient language differentiation. This study applies sociolinguistic perspectives to examine the language mixing of a bilingual two‑year‑old acquiring Norwegian and English in Norway. Monthly recordings of the child's spontaneous speech with parents were collected from age 2;0 to 2;7. The analysis reveals that the child contextually differentiates her language use, demonstrating true code‑switching, and underscores the need to consider dominance and context in early bilingual mixing.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sociolinguists have investigated language mixing as code-switching in the speech of bilingual children three years old and older. Language mixing by bilingual two-year-olds, however, has generally been interpreted in the child language literature as a sign of the child's lack of language differentiation. The present study applies perspectives from sociolinguistics to investigate the language mixing of a bilingual two-year-old acquiring Norwegian and English simultaneously in Norway. Monthly recordings of the child's spontaneous speech in interactions with her parents were made from the age of 2;0 to 2;7. An investigation into the formal aspects of the child's mixing and the context of the mixing reveals that she does differentiate her language use in con-textually sensitive ways, hence that she can code-switch. This investigation stresses the need to examine more carefully the roles of dominance and context in the language mixing of young bilingual children.