Discusses and criticizes the monolingual view of bilingualism, which holds that the bilingual is two monolinguals in one person. Proposes, instead, a view which holds that a bilingual has a unique, specific linguistic configuration. Examines a number of areas in bilingual research that are affected by this different view. (SED)

Discusses the reported patterns of address of first language and second language Welsh-speaking children. Concludes that it's possible that by adjusting their speech to accommodate the interlanguage of the L2 speakers, the L1 speakers lessen the need for the L2 speakers to go beyond a certain level of competence. (SED)

Investigates the language choice and code switching behavior of the councilors and officials in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong during 1991-95, within the context of the upcoming transfer of sovereignty in 1997 and the challenges to the old political power relationship. Points out that code switching behavior is part of the negotiation…

Discusses the major language shift in Singapore from the familial use of varieties of Chinese other than Mandarin towards the languages of education, English and Mandarin. An ethnographic study is presented of a Singaporean Chinese family that has moved from Cantonese to English, and the underlying pressures leading to this shift are examined. (19…

Using Scotton's model of codeswitching based on markedness theory, this paper examines a type of register variation known as "babytalk," defined as ambiguous talk of babies or young children and talk to babies or young children. It is argued that babytalk and the voice of authority are motivated by Chinese cultural assumptions about…

Preliminary results from a large research project on the use of Frisian and Dutch in the official domain in Friesland focuses on language use in contacts between civil servants and customers in service encounters. Language patterns observed include convergence, neutrality, switching, and asymmetry. (CB)

Describes the language development of two children, now aged 5 and 8, who acquired two languages--Spanish and German--simultaneously from birth and a third--English--when very young. Focuses on the following factors: patterns of interference, code switching, language dominance, the role of parents, the social environment, and the child's…

Presents a study of foreigner talk (FT) in a minority language (Welsh) in a bilingual community and describes some of the most prominent features of Welsh FT. FT is defined as a simple form of a language used by native speakers to communicate with non-proficient speakers of the language. (SED)

Examines, through a matched-guise technique, the conflict in attitudes and behavior toward the use of a mixture of Cantonese and English (MIX) among English-Cantonese bilingual students in Hong Kong. Results indicate hostility toward MIX but produce evidence that it is a useful, culturally neutral choice and that it may have covert status in the…

Describes Jacobson's New Concurrent Approach to bilingual instruction, which systematically incorporates intersentential code-switching to teach content to limited English proficient children raised in a bilingual environment, and how such incorporation and adaptation contributes to the balanced distribution of the two codes in question. (24…

Examines patterns of language choice and code-switching behavior in the discourse of 10 families whose primary home language is Mandarin Chinese. Study results are interpreted with respect to parents' and children's differential tendencies to accommodate their speech to their interlocutor, and implications for the maintenance of minority home…

Analyzes code-switched utterances in English-as-a-Second-Language classes in Sri Lanka. The study shows some useful functions code-switching serves for classroom management and transmission of lesson content. The negotiation of values, identities, and roles in the classroom prepares students for their sociolinguistic life outside. (24 references)…

Examines how an understanding of the meaning of bilingual code-switching can be achieved and how speakers with very different abilities in (and attitudes toward) the languages communicate with each other in close and informal encounters. Particular attention is given to the marking of preference organization in bilingual cross-generational family…

Code switching is analyzed as part of a "familylect," which is code switching as it occurs in the spoken language of a multilingual family with four members. Seven different language codes are involved. Through a linguistic and extra-linguistic analysis, an attempt is made to answer three questions connected with code switching: when,…

This paper investigates the verbal construction of emotions in a bilingual/bicultural setting, the target languages and cultures being American English and Cypriot Greek. To examine whether bilingual speakers express different emotions in their respective languages, a study was carried out with 10 bilingual/bicultural professionals. A scenario was…