Code-switching costs from Chinese-English relative clauses processing.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The source of costs is a primary concern in code-switching, yet a consensus has not yet been reached. This study investigates whether code-switching during syntactic processing in Chinese-English dual languages results in a cost.

Methods

We use Chinese and English relative clauses in either object (Experiment 1) or subject (Experiment 2, which has a more complex structure) positions to test the costs in syntactic processing. Forty-seven Chinese-English bilinguals and 17 English-Chinese bilinguals participated in acceptability judgment tests and self-paced reading experiments.

Results

The statistical findings indicate that syntactic processing is a source of the costs incurred in code-switching, as evidenced by the code-switching costs observed in the head

SUBMITTER: Hu W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10249605 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature