Frequency and function of codeswitching among German-English bilingual preschool children in Cape Town

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study reported on in this thesis focuses on six English-German bilingual preschool children in Cape Town. The thesis is interested in understanding the relation between codeswitching (the frequency, type and function thereof) in bilingual children and the duration of exposure that they have had to each of their languages.During the course of my training as a teacher, I have noticed differences in the codeswitching behaviour of different bilingual children. Most children seemed to switch between their two languages effortlessly. However, some children seemed to switch between codes more often than others, which may be a consequence of the duration of language exposure. It is therefore possible that bilingual children with different language backgrounds show differences in the frequency, type and function of their codeswitching behaviour.This thesis aims to investigate (i) the amount of codeswitching that is employed by bilingual children with different language backgrounds, (ii) the type of codeswitching that bilingual children employ and (iii) the function of the use of codeswitching by these children.The participants of the study were 5- and 6-year-olds who attend the German preschool in Cape Town, which is a predominantly German-speaking institution. Children who attend the school have a range of different proficiency levels in German and in English; they have acquired the two languages either simultaneously or successively.The language background, namely the duration of language exposure to both languages, was analysed with the help of parental questionnaires. In addition, the children themselves were asked to visually represent a biographic image of their language proficiency and their language preferences by colouring in a basic outline of a human body. By means of this analysis, the participants were categorised according to their type of bilingual acquisition and the input they receive at home and in other environments. In order to investigate whether children of different language types show differences in the frequency, type and function of their codeswitching behaviour, codeswitching behaviour in both formal and informal settings were audio recorded. The recordings were transcribed and annotated for frequency of switches. All instances of codeswitching found in the data were then classified based on the differentiation between intersentential codeswitching and intrasentential (including intraword) codeswitching.The qualitative analysis of the data was carried out in terms of Poplack‟s (1980) grammatical constraints. The codeswitches that were found in the data were further analysed according to the function of their use. The findings of the analysis were then categorised in relation to the type of bilingual exposure of the individual participants.The results have shown that there is indeed a difference in the codeswitching behaviour of children with different language backgrounds. Participants who have had less German input switched more often to their dominant language, namely English, than participants who have been exposed to equal input in both languages or those who speak German as mother tongue. Data analysis further showed that successive bilinguals not only switch more frequently but also make use of codeswitching (rather than other discourse strategies) in order to fill lexical gaps.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University