li-haoyeh

Title of QTUG presentation:

Bilingual’s Attitude toward Code-Switching

List of Author and co-authors for QTUG presentation:

Li-Hao Yeh, , Ana B. Areas Da Luz Fontes, Hsin-Ju Chen, Marisela Gutiérrez, Osvaldo F. Morera

Abstract:

Code-switching can be defined as mixing two languages within one conversation. The present study investigated the relationship between bilinguals’ attitudes toward their own code switching and attitudes toward others who code switch to shed some light on this issue. In this study, three factors were hypothesized to underlie code switching: (1) social interactions, (2) personal interactions and (3) competence. Two 14 item measures of code-switching were developed, assessing self-coding switching and others who code-switched. Additionally, the influence of age of language acquisition, English/Spanish proficiency and frequency of communication in both languages was measured. Two-hundred and seven English-Spanish bilinguals completed all experimental measures. The results demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability for two measures were adequate (α = 0.82 and α = 0.68 for the self and others measures). A confirmatory factor analysis of the measures yielded mixed results of model fit. For the self-measure, the Tanaka GFI equaled 0.924 and the RMSEA fit statistic equaled 0.13. For the measure of others’ code-switching, the Tanaka GFI equaled .90 and the RMSEA statistic equaled .09. English proficiency and increased age of Spanish acquisition were also associated with increased positive attitudes of others’ code switching.