Code-Switching During Narratives by Bilingual Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder.

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Child Language Acquisition
• Clinical Linguistics

Background:

• Bilingual children frequently engage in code-switching (CS), the alternation between two languages within discourse.
• Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) can impact various aspects of language, including the complex linguistic behaviors of bilingual children.
• Understanding CS patterns in bilingual children with DLD is crucial for accurate language assessment and intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the frequency, direction, and structural characteristics of code-switching (CS) in Spanish-English bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD).
• To determine if children with DLD exhibit unique CS features that can inform clinical decision-making.
• To analyze the relationship between CS patterns and morphosyntactic proficiency in both languages.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of Spanish-English bilingual children aged 4;0-6;11, with DLD (n=33) and typical language development (TLD; n=33), participated.
• Participants completed narrative retell and story generation tasks in both Spanish and English.
• Code-switching instances were classified (between-utterance vs. within-utterance), and within-utterance CS was analyzed for grammatical structure. Morphosyntactic proficiency was assessed using the Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment.

Main Results:

• Children with DLD were more likely to use between-utterance CS (producing whole utterances in English during a Spanish narrative) compared to TLD peers.
• Within-utterance CS was linked to lower morphosyntax scores in the target language, but DLD status did not significantly affect this.
• Noun insertions were the most common within-utterance CS type for both groups; however, children with DLD showed more determiner/verb insertions and congruent lexicalization.

Conclusions:

• Code-switching, especially within-utterance CS, is a normal bilingual behavior, even in single-language contexts.
• Specific CS patterns, including between-utterance and certain within-utterance structures, may indicate language difficulties associated with DLD.
• Analyzing CS patterns provides valuable insights into the dual-language skills of children, contributing to a more comprehensive assessment profile.