Many phenomena in psycholinguistics have been studied using artificial paradigms due to laboratory limitations. Code-switching may be one of the phenomena experimentally studied with the most egregious disregard for the environment it appears in and purposes it serves. Our research group has emphasized the necessity of introducing these factors into the study of code-switching, it being a highly socially regulated practice. We include sociolinguistic and corpus observations on code-switch patterns and functions in its experimental study to provide a fresh, more complete picture of the processing of code-switched speech. One of the outstanding questions on code-switching is why bilinguals code-switch so frequently if it causes difficulties in processing. We conducted two studies using eye-tracking methodology to answer this question, illustrating the approach integrating experimental research and sociolinguistic and offline observations. We propose that code-switching may provide processing benefits in subsequent speech. The first study investigated whether hearing a code-switch provides benefits to bilinguals in terms of helping them predict less expected words. We found that processing a code-switch reverses the frequency bias, such that bilinguals expected the lower frequency item to come after it. The second study examined the effect of code-switching on the emotional reactivity to upcoming taboo words. We found that processing a code-switch decreased the emotional reactivity to subsequent emotional words. These studies show that code-switches provide benefits in the processing of the subsequent speech, which override potential code-switch processing costs. Our approach shifts the focus from the code-switch costs to the benefits it may provide downstream and it represents a promising venue for the study of code-switch processing. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]