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Article published In: Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Vol. 14:3 (2024) ► pp.310–339

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Subject pronouns in Spanish-English code-switching

A test of two models

ORCiD logo with link | University of Delaware
ORCiD logo with link | Florida State University
 | Florida State University
Published online: 6 September 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.21058.bus
Abstract
While the Minimalist Program argues that Spanish-English code-switches between pronominal subjects and finite verbs are ungrammatical (Van Gelderen, E., & MacSwan, J. (2008). Interface conditions and code-switching: Pronouns, lexical DPs, and checking theory. Lingua, 1181, 765–776. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), the MLF/4-M models (Myers-Scotton, C. M. (1993). Dueling languages: Grammatical structure in code-switching. Clarendon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Myers-Scotton, C. M., & Jake, J. L. (2000). Testing the 4-M model: An introduction. International Journal of Bilingualism, 4(1), 1–8. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) predict their grammaticality when overt pronouns are obligatory in both languages (e.g., contrastive focus). In this study, we test the contrary predictions of these models using a code-switching production task. Thirty-eight Spanish-English bilinguals (31 female; Age: 18–23 years) completed a concurrent memory-loaded repetition task where visual primes forced broad or contrastive focus interpretations. We also examined the effects of switch direction, code-switching frequency, and language dominance. The results showed that code-switches between a Spanish overt pronoun and an English inflected verb were more accurately produced in the contrastive focus than the broad focus condition, lending support for the MLF/4-M models. No effect of code-switching frequency was found. Finally, higher Spanish dominance resulted in more accurate production of these code-switches.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The present study
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Materials
    • 3.3Task and procedure
    • 3.4Unilingual Spanish
    • 3.5Analysis and results
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (60)
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