Modeling Language Mixing by Bilingual Navajo-English Speaking Children

Corinne Hutchinson

The primary goal of this project is to examine the patterns and linguistic constraints on language mixing, or ?code-mixing?, in the speech of bilingual Navajo-English speaking 3 to 7 year-old children. This goal can be broken down into the following main sub-goals: (a) to provide a clear, theory-neutral description of code-mixing in the speech of young bilingual Navajo-English speaking children, (b) to determine whether the existing theoretical models of code-mixing accurately predict the Navajo-English child code-mixing data (or whether these models require modification), and (c) to determine whether the code-mixing behavior varies according to a speaker?s age, language proficiency, home language exposure, or school-based language experience. High levels of culturally supported code-mixing may challenge the assumptions of tribal Navajo immersion schools, which currently target language separation rather than the use of a mixed code.

About Corinne Hutchinson

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