Almeida Jacqueline Toribio

The Cambridge handbook of linguistic code-switching

1. Themes in the study of code-switching Barbara E. Bullock and Almeida Jacqueline Toribio Part I. Conceptual and Methodological Considerations in Code-switching Research: 2. Research techniques for the study of code-switching Marianne Gullberg, Peter Indefrey and Pieter Muysken 3. On the notions of congruence and convergence in code-switching Mark Sebba 4. Code-switching and transfer: an exploration of similarities and differences Jeanine Treffers-Daller 5. Loan translations versus code-switching Ad Backus and Margreet Dorleijn Part II. Social Aspects of Code-switching: 6. Sociolinguistic factors in code-switching Penelope Gardner-Chloros 7. The Conversation Analytic model of code-switching Joseph Gafaranga 8. Code-switching and the internet Margreet Dorleijn and Jacomine Nortier 9. Phonetic accommodation in childrens code-switching Ghada Khattab Part III. The Structural Implications of Code-switching: 10. Phonetic reflexes of code-switching Barbara E. Bullock 11. Code-switching between typologically distinct languages Brian Hok-Shing Chan 12. Language mixing in bilingual children: code-switching? Natascha Muller and Katja Francesca Cantone 13. Code-switching between sign languages David Quinto-Pozos Part IV. Psycholinguistics and Code-switching: 14. Code-switching and language disorders in bilingual children Adele W. Miccio, Carol Scheffner Hammer and Barbara Rodriguez 15. Code-switching, imperfect acquisition, and attrition Agnes Bolonyai 16. Code-switching and the bilingual mental lexicon Longxing Wei 17. Code-switching and the brain Marta Kutas, Eva Moreno and Nicole Wicha Part V. Formal Models of Code-switching: 18. Generative approaches to code-switching Jeff MacSwan 19. A universal model of code-switching and bilingual language processing and production Carol Myers-Scotton and Janice Jake.

Setting parametric limits on dialectal variation in Spanish

Abstract The present investigation departs from the perspective that dialects of languages may exemplify typological distinctions, and as such, may be defined within parametric limits. More specifically, this synchronic study focuses on the inter- and intra-dialectal variation attested within the Spanish language, heretofore exempted from the scrutiny that has characterized syntactic studies of other Romance languages. The analysis of said variability, which centers on the licensing of null and overt subjects, reveals intralingual differences that serve to bolster syntactic-theoretical argumentation and corroborate the structures and principles of the Minimalist Program.

On the emergence of bilingual code-switching competence

Code-switching among proficient adult bilinguals has been extensively studied, and it is by now universally concluded that intra-sentential code alternations are rule-governed and systematic, displaying dependency relations that reflect the operation of underlying syntactic principles. The central, guiding question to be addressed herein is whether and, if so, how second language learners acquire the knowledge that defines structural coherence and allows them to render well-formedness judgments for code-switched forms. This exploration takes on particular significance given that learners receive no evidence which could guide them in rendering such judgments, and therefore results consistent with those observed among competent bilinguals could be imputed to unconscious, abstract linguistic knowledge. The investigation thus proves doubly fruitful, in the discovery of developmental patterns and in the evaluation of linguistic-theoretical methodologies and constructs.

Introduction: Convergence as an emergent property in bilingual speech

In introducing this special issue of Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , we feel it is critical to clarify what we understand ‘linguistic convergence’ to mean in the context of bilingualism, since ‘convergence’ is a technical term more readily associated with the field of language contact than with the field of bilingualism (for recent discussions of the role of convergence in contact see Thomason and Kaufman, 1988; Thomason, 2001; Myers-Scotton, 2002; Clyne, 2003; Winford, 2003). Within the language contact literature, the term invites a variety of uses. Some researchers adopt a definition of convergence that requires that all languages in a contact situation change, sometimes to the extent that the source of a given linguistic feature cannot be determined (see April McMahons commentary in this issue). For others, convergence may be more broadly defined to also apply to situations in which one language has undergone structural incursions of various sorts from contact with another.

Contact and contracting Spanish

This investigation is inspired by an interest in the contact/contracting grammars of heritage speakers of Spanish who have experienced prolonged exposure to English in the United States and, in particular, what their linguistic performance reveals of their knowledge of lexical subclasses and discursive properties associated with ordering of sentential constituents in the Spanish language. Analysis of data obtained for 24 participants on diverse measures of interpretation and production of unergative and unaccusative predicates and Topicalization and Clitic Left Dislocation constructions indicate that while properties of the core syntax (e.g., properties of TP, AgrS, and AgrO) remain robust, properties of the lexico- and discursive-semantic interface may be vulnerable to attrition or respecification.

Accessing bilingual code-switching competence*

The present work is inspired by an interest in the syntactic regularities that underlie language alternation s in Spanish-English bilingual speech, and the methodolog ies that may prove most reliable and informative in this exploration. Accordingly, it attends to the conceptual and methodological issues that must be addressed and surmounted, and taking account of these concerns, presents new methodologies for gathering codeswitching data. The robust findings attest to the validity of the methodologies and of the elicited data, affording a valuable source of facts for further research.The present work is inspired by an interest in the syntactic regularities that underlie language alternations in Spanish-English bilingual speech, and the methodologies that may prove most reliable and informative in this exploration. Accordingly, it attends to the conceptual and methodological issues that must be addressed and surmounted, and taking account of these concerns, presents new methodologies for gathering codeswitching data. The robust findings attest to the validity of the methodologies and of the elicited data, affording a valuable source of facts for further research.

PROPER GOVERNMENT IN SPANISH SUBJECT RELATIVIZATION

In this paper, we consider the syntax of subject relativization in Spanish, devoting special attention to the role of proper government in restricting the form of such extractions. In particular, we claim that traces of subject relativization may obey the ECP by virtue of being lexically governed by the complementizer que, which inherits the agreement features required to allow it to serve äs a lexical governor by coindexation with the head of the relative construction, that is, through A-agreement, in the typology of complementizers put forward by Rizzi (1990). Thus, for example, only the A-agreeing que renders a well-formed representation, äs in (1), while the A-bar-agreeing null complementizer, which can inherit its licensing features by Specifier-head agreement with the relative pronoun in SpecC, is insufficient to license the subject trace, and hence (2) is ru\ed oux.

Spanish/English Speech Practices: Bringing Chaos to Order.

This paper presents a linguistic analysis of Spanish-English bilingual speech for scholars and practitioners of bilingualism. More specifically, the study surveys several outcomes of language contact, among these, inter-lingual transference, codeswitching, and convergence, as evidenced in the speech practices of heritage Spanish speakers in the United States. The emergent assessment is linguistically informed, thereby illuminating our understanding of bilingual speech forms, and encourages perspectives and pedagogies that validate bilingual speech practices.

The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Code-switching: Sociolinguistic factors in code-switching

Book synopsis: Code-switching - the alternating use of two languages in the same stretch of discourse by a bilingual speaker - is a dominant topic in the study of bilingualism and a phenomenon that generates a great deal of pointed discussion in the public domain. This handbook provides the most comprehensive guide to this bilingual phenomenon to date. Drawing on empirical data from a wide-range of language pairings, the leading researchers in the study of bilingualism examine the linguistic, social and cognitive implications of code-switching in up-to-date and accessible survey chapters. The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Code-Switching will serve as a vital resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as a wide-ranging overview for linguists, psychologists and speech scientists, and as an informative guide for educators interested in bilingual speech practices.

Correcting the record on Dominican [s]-hypercorrection

Theoretical linguistic treatments of Dominican [s]-hypercorrection all assume the hypotheses, advanced by Terrell (1986), that lexical forms in popular Dominican Spanish no longer contain any trace of coda or final /s/ and, thus, speakers randomly insert them into syllable- and word-final position (Terrell 1986; Nunez-Cedeno 1988, 1989, 1994; Harris 2002; Bradley 2006; Vaux 2001, 2002). We demonstrate that Terrell’s premises ensue from an inadequate description of Dominican [s]-insertion and, as a consequence, phonological theories based on them cannot account for the range of actual, as opposed to hypothesized, exemplars that occur in Dominican speech. Using natural data, we argue that [s]-hypercorrection is inaccurately described as a rule that targets the syllable coda and is instead much more complex.