Code-Switching in Singaporean English- Mandarin 5-6 year ...

Code-Switching in Singaporean English-

Mandarin 5-6 year-olds Reveals Grammatical

Interaction

Carissa Kang, Yow Wei Quin, Nan Li, & Barbara Lust

10th International Symposium on Bilingualism Rutgers, NJ

Code-Switching

Code-Switching• “The alternation of two languages

within a single discourse, sentence or constituent”

(Poplack, 1980, p.583)

• Here, we use the terms code-switching (CS) and code-mixing (i.e., insertion of words form another language) synonymously

Leading Questions

Leading Questions1. Are there differences between child and adult CS?

Need for a more continuous approach (Gardner-Chloros, 2009) Research on CS in these 2 populations are rarely

referenced togetherUnderestimates insights that can be gleaned

from such comparative studies

Leading Questions1. Are there differences between child and adult CS?

Need for a more continuous approach (Gardner-Chloros, 2009) Research on CS in these 2 populations are rarely

referenced togetherUnderestimates insights that can be gleaned

from such comparative studies

2. What is the nature of grammatical interaction between both languages in children? Are children deficited grammatically compared to

adults in their CS?

Background: Singapore

Background: Singapore• Multilingual, multi-racial/ethnic country in

Southeast AsiaSeveral dominant languages coexist CS prevalent (David & Mclellan, 2007)

Department of Statistics Singapore (2014)

• English is the official medium of instructionLearned at first language (L1) level

• “Mother Tongue” assigned based on an individual’s father’s ethnicityLearned at second language (L2) level

• Home language environmentPredominantly English + some Mandarin +

Dialect

Background: Singapore English/Singlish

• In Singapore, two “varieties” of English existHigh = Standard EnglishLow = Singapore Colloquial English (SCE) (Gupta,

• Singapore Colloquial English/Singlish:Creole = Product of language contact between

English and several other languagesChinese, Hokkien, Cantonese, Malay, Tamil (Bao & Wee, 1999; Chua, 2011; Platt & Ho, 1989)

• Singapore Colloquial English/Singlish:Creole = Product of language contact between

English and several other languagesChinese, Hokkien, Cantonese, Malay, Tamil (Bao & Wee, 1999; Chua, 2011; Platt & Ho, 1989)

Determiner/Noun Phrasesin CS utterances

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

• Ong & Zhang (2010, 2012): CS occurs within Determiner (Det) + Noun (N)

phrase:

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

phrase:

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

phrase:

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

phrase:

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

phrase:

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

phrase:

Mandarin Det + English N

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

phrase:

Mandarin Det Mandarin Det + English N

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

phrase:

Mandarin Det Demonstrative

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

phrase:

Mandarin Det DemonstrativeClassifier

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

phrase:

Mandarin Det + English NDemonstrativeClassifier

(Tan, 1988, p. 85)

• These Mandarin Det + English N pairs were widely found in naturalistic CS corpora of studies of Mandarin-English CS in Singaporean adult bilinguals and older children (7-12)

(Chen 1992; Chong 2001; Kamwangamalu and Lee 1991; Lee 2003; Lee, 2005;

Ong & Zhang, 2010, 2012; Tan 2004)

• Participants in previous studies:o Primary school children [7-12] (Tan, 2004)o Polytechnic students [17] (Lee, 2005; Ong & Zhang,

• For adults, Mandarin D + English N pattern holds across:Language dominance• Predominantly Mandarin verbatim

transcripts (Kamwangamalu and Lee 1991; Chen 1992; Chong 2001; Lee 2003; Tan 2004)• Predominantly English verbatim transcripts

(Lee, 2005)Pragmatic intention

• For adults, Mandarin D + English N pattern holds across:Language dominance• Predominantly Mandarin verbatim

transcripts (Kamwangamalu and Lee 1991; Chen 1992; Chong 2001; Lee 2003; Tan 2004)• Predominantly English verbatim transcripts

(Lee, 2005)Pragmatic intention

• Interestingly, no evidence of English D +

Our Study

Our Study• Present new analyses of productive CS by

Mandarin-English children (5-6 years old) in SingaporeComparison to results from previous studies

conducted on adult Mandarin-English bilinguals in Singapore (Determiner/Noun Phrases)

(Ong & Zhang, 2010, 2012)Findings revealing competent grammatical

interaction between both languages Determiner/Noun Phrases in CS utterances Subject/object ellipsis, wh-in situ, tense

Our Study

• Main Argument:There are similarities and differences between

adult and child CS However, differences in child CS do NOT

reflect the lack of grammatical competence on children’s part

Our Study

Our Study:Research Question

• Motivated by previous work on this Mandarin Det + English N patternsWill we find a similar pattern in younger

children’s speech? (5-6 year olds)Any differences?

• Other interesting patterns revealing grammatical interaction between both languages: E.g., Subject/Object ellipsis, Wh-in-situ, tense

Methodology• Part of a study on the influences of CS on

bilingual children’s language development

(Yow, Flynn, & Patrycia, in press)

• Audio and video naturalistic recordings were conducted during school-time in a Singapore kindergarten

• Daily lessons in English and Mandarin

Methodology• Random sample of 5 sessions

Range: 7 – 30 minContext: Natural interactions over 5-

day periodSubjects: 9 children (5-6 year olds)Each session involved 4 – 8 children

• Analysis of over 1000 utterances

Summary of Data

Session No. Total Utterances

(Child)

Inter-sentential switches

Intra-sententialswitches

1 490 14 (2.9%) 118 (24.1%)2 364 7 (1.9%) 17 (4.7%)3 94 4 (4.3%) 26 (27.7%)4 390 20 (5.1%) 77 (19.7%)

5 183 10 (5.5%) 27 (14.8%)MEAN (SD) 304.2

(161.5)4.1% (1.6) 18.2% (9.0)

Inter-sentential switch• Juxtapose 2 languages/dialects in a conversational

discourseIntra-sentential switch• Elements from 1 language are inserted/mixed into

another (Meisel, 1989; Muysken, 2000; Nicoladis & Genesee, 1997; Poplack, 2001)

Inter-Sentential Switch

Inter-Sentential Switch• C1: look, we find two pets .

• C1: 邓凯, 你看我们有什么 .

Inter-sentential switch from English to Chinese Occurs IMMEDIATELY after the same

subject’s sentence/phrase

• A1: 有 [//] 你看有些窗户有 curtains 关住的嘞.

• A1: 你看有些窗户是有 curtain 关住的 .

Intra-sentential switches

Intra-Sentential Switch

4 Examples of Grammatical Interactions

1. Determiner/Noun Phrases2. Subject/Object Ellipsis3. Wh-in-situ4. Tense

1. Det/Noun PhrasesOverall Summary

• Out of 9 children, over 5 sessions

Mean (SD) RangeMandarin Det + Eng N

16.7% 0 – 55.3%

English Det +Mandarin N

1.8% 0 – 10/5%

16.7% 0 – 55.3%

1.8% 0 – 10/5%

Mandarin Det + Mandarin N

25.3% 3.6% – 36.8%

English Det +Eng N

56.7% 0 – 100%

16.7% 0 – 55.3%

1.8% 0 – 10/5%

Mandarin Det + Mandarin N

25.3% 3.6% – 36.8%

English Det +Eng N

56.7% 0 – 100%

1. Det/Noun Phrases:a) Mandarin Det + English N

Det: Determiner, N: Noun, CL: Classifier, CL.PL: Plural classifier

English NEnglish N-s +s

Mandarin Singular Det

一个 roller KEN3 one CL

那个 pilot ISW1 that CL

一个 red ones DYZ1 one CL

Mandarin Plural Det

一些 game DYZ2

one CL.PL

两个 soldier THA5 two CL

这些 blocks ERI5 This CL.PL

1. Det/Noun Phrases:a) Mandarin Det + English N

Det: Determiner, N: Noun, CL: Classifier, CL.PL: Plural classifier

• not many 柱子 DYZ5 pole

• the 飞龙 SEA3 flying dragon

• your 大哥哥 SEA3 big brother

1. Det/Noun Phrases:b) English Det + Mandarin N

ExampleDem + Cl + N 一个名字 YJY4

one CL name这个打结 ALY3

This CL knotNum + Cl + N 一团肉 ERI2

one CL meat两根绳子 DYZ4

two CL ropePron + Poss +

N你的眼睛 KEN3

You PRT eye

Dem: Demonstrative, Cl: Classifier, Num: Numeral, N: Noun, Pron: Pronoun, Poss: Possessive

1. Det/Noun Phrases:

c) Mandarin Det + Mandarin N

ExampleDet + N the bad guy THA1

a water gun KEN3

Num + N Three big clays DYZ4

Two pets YJY1

Poss Pron + N your idea NIU3

my cube YJY4

Det: Determiner, Num: Numeral, N: Noun, Poss Pron: Possessive pronoun

1. Det/Noun Phrases:d) English Det + English N

Conclusion

ConclusionAdult CS

(Ong & Zhang, 2012)Child CS

Our Study

Similarities Adult bilinguals prefer Mandarin Det + English N > English Det + Mandarin N

We also find more instances of Mandarin Det + English N than English Det + Mandarin N

Differences Adults consistently add English plural morphemes to plural noun phrases

Most children do not inflect English nouns in these utterances

e.g.s, 两个 soldier

一个 roller K3那个pilot I1

一个 red ones D1

Mandarin Plural Det

一些 game D2两个soldier T5

这些 blocks E5

Conclusion

一个 red ones D1

Mandarin Plural Det

这些 blocks E5

Conclusion

一个 red ones D1

Mandarin Plural Det

这些 blocks E5

Conclusion

• In Mandarin Det + English N phrases, children do not add plural morpheme on English Nouns Incompetent English grammar?

Verify this in “English Det + English N” context

ExampleDet + N the bad guy T1

a water gun K3

Num + N Three big clays D4

Two pets Y1

Poss Pron + N your idea N3

my cube Y4

a water gun K3

Two pets Y1

my cube Y4

English plural morphemes were added to ALL plural noun phrases

a water gun K3

Two pets Y1

my cube Y4

English plural morphemes were added to ALL plural noun phrases

Suggests children know about plural inflection of nouns

Conclusion

Conclusion• Children are not omitting plural inflections on nouns

in their Mandarin Det + English N utterances because of lack of grammatical competence For children, syntactic context of Det/Noun phrase is

Chinese Chinese nouns do not inflect for plurality Consulting this to determine what to do with the

nouns (more so than adults) Influence of Chinese grammar greater for

children?

Other phenomenon revealing mutual grammatical

influence

2. Subject/Object Ellipsis

• Competent language interactions occurred in other CS utterances like N ellipsis (allowed in Mandarin but not English)Occurred more frequently in mixed utterances

compared to English-only utterancesSuggests syntactic context of the code-

switched utterance is relevant

2. Subject/Object EllipsisExample Object Ellipsis in a Mandarin utterance:

2. Subject/Object EllipsisExample Object Ellipsis in a Mandarin utterance:这个 brown color 的我有点讨厌但是是好的

2. Subject/Object EllipsisExample Object Ellipsis in a Mandarin utterance:这个 brown color 的我有点讨厌但是是好的This CL PRT I have little hate but is good PRT

所以我还要用(它)。(D1)

so I still want use it

I hate this brown color (block) a little, but it’s a good one, so I still want to use*(it).

• Here, 我还要用 (它) is an example of Object N ellipsis

Subject ellipsis in a mixed utterance

If you stay together then (the house) 这么大? I1

so big?

• Subject N ellipsis: the house

Object ellipsis in a mixed utterance:

刚才我, I drop (it) 然后可以弄出来

刚才我, I drop (it) 然后可以弄出来 Earlier, I dropped it, then can take it out

• Object ellipsis: “it”

• Object ellipsis: “it”• Also did not inflect for tense: “dropped”

Influence of Mandarin grammar Uninflected language; concept of time isn’t conveyed through use

In fact, the influence of one language’s grammar on the other was observed even in

non-code-switched

Object Ellipsis in an English utterance:

you can use *(it) anywhere you want D1

• English structure Cannot be directly translated this into Mandarin

• Yet, speaker dropped object of the verb (“use”) because Mandarin grammar allows object ellipsis Influence of Mandarin grammar in English

sentence

• Chinese grammar influencing syntactic structure of the code-switched utterance as well as pure English utterances

Conclusion

3. Wh-in-situ

• Wh-in-situ English: For Wh questions, we move Wh to the

front (e.g., “How many did we lose?”) Chinese: Wh words stay in their position

we lost how many ? S2

3. Wh-in-situ

• Wh-in-situ English: For Wh questions, we move Wh to the

front (e.g., “How many did we lose?”) Chinese: Wh words stay in their position

we lost how many ? S2

• Again, this shows that children are consulting Mandarin context/grammar to determine what to do with their utterances

3. Wh-in-situ

4. Tense

4. Tense• How tense works in Mandarin:

你找到什么？你找到了什么？Both could be asking what someone found in

the past

你 found out 什么东西, ah ?

the past

你 found out 什么东西, ah ? You what thing PRT

If child was following Mandarin grammar (literal translation), child could just say “你find out什么东西”

the past

你 found out 什么东西, ah ? You what thing PRT

If child was following Mandarin grammar (literal translation), child could just say “你find out什么东西”

• But child used the past form of “find” “found out”

Conclusion

Conclusion• Examples from different linguistic areas revealing

that syntactic context of 1 language determines nature of code-switched utterance

• Children are integrating competent grammatical knowledge Also using accurate structural components

from both languages

Conclusion

Conclusion• Similarities and differences between child

and adult CSChildren don’t differ qualitatively, but may

reveal heightened ‘sensitivity’ to syntactic context More creative grammatical interaction

between systems? Characteristic of language development

Acknowledgments• Prof. W. Quin Yow (Singapore University of

Technology and Design)o Language and Social Cognition Labo Ferninda Patrycia, Yvonne Yong, Li

Xiaoqian, Hung Wan-yu, Yap Oixuan, Wei Xing Toh

• Cornell University Cognitive Science & ISB 10 travel grants

References• David, M.K. (2008). Language Policies - Impact on Language Maintenance

and Teaching. Focus on Malaysia, Singapore and The Philippines. In T. de Graaf, N. Ostler & R. Salverda (Eds). Endangered Languages and Language Learning. Bath & Leeuwarden: F.E.L. & Fryske Akademy. (79-86)

• Gardner-Chloros, P. (ed.) (2009). Code-switching. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.

• Lanza, E. (2000). In “Cross-linguistic structures in simultaneous bilingualism” (Eds Dopke, S. 2000). Concluding Remarks: Language contact – A dilemma for the bilingual child or for the linguist? (pp 227- 245).

• Myers-Scotton, C. (1993). Social Motivations for Code-switching: Evidence from Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Ong, K. K. W., & Zhang, L.J. (2010). Metalinguistic filters within the bilingual language faculty: A study of young English-Chinese bilinguals. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 39, 243-272.

• Ong, K. K. W. & Zhang, L. J. (2012). Code-switching in Singaporean classroom discourse. In R. Barnard & J. McLellan (Eds.), Codeswitching in university English language classes: Case studies and perspectives from Asian contexts. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Appendix

• (Ong & Zhang): Det + N

• Ours: [ Num/Dem. + CL] + N

• English: Det + N (the + table)• Chinese: Dem. + CL + N 这/那个桌子 This/that CL table

• English: the tables• Chinese: plurality indicated on classifier 这/那些桌子 this/that CL.PL table

Our Classification

Definite NPs

• English: Det + N ( a + table)• Chinese: Num. + CL + N 一张桌子 One CL table

• English: some tables• Chinese: yi + CL.PL + N 一些桌子 one CL.PL table• Note: In this case, we can only use “yi” (one)

Our Classification

Indefinite NPs

ALL D S I Y T E A N K

# of transcripts

4 2 3 2 4 2 1 1 1

38(20.2%)

0 21(55.3%)

3(9.7%)

10(16.7%)

6(27.3%)

6(21.4%)

English Det + Mandarin

1(0.6%)

2(10.5%)

Mandarin Det + Mandarin

53(28.2%)

5(26.3%)

14(36.8%)

9(29%)

16(26.7%)

16(72.7%)

1(4.5%)

1(3.6%)

English Det + English N

96(51.0%)

12(63.2%)

3(7.9%)

19(61.3%)

34(56.7%)

21(95.5%)

12(100%)

21(75%)

TOTAL 188 19 38 31 60 22 22 12 28

Why?Mandarin Det + English N

• Some Mandarin Det play multiple functional roles Mandarin doesn’t have articles like English

(e.g., the, a, an) denoting definiteness and indefiniteness

• But, Dem + Cl and Num + Cl can multifunctionDenote definiteness and indefiniteness

respectively (Li & Thompson, 1981)

• “Num + Cl” (一个; yī gè)

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