LIN410 LIC.

MGC Task five: Deadline May 3 rd

READ CHAPTERS FIVE BY SPOLSKY: BILINGUALS AND BILINGUALISM
BILINGUALS and BILINGUALISM

1.- What is “baby talk”?

Or motherese, is a nonstandard form of speech use by adults in talking to young children or
infants. It is usually pronounced with a pattern of intonation, different from that of normal adult
speech. Baby talk is similar to what is use by people when they talk to their pets and between
adults as a form of affection or intimate.

2.- Describe “bilingualism”.

Is the ability to use two languages simultaneously. People who have native-like fluency in both
language so we can call them Balance bilinguals- basically those people who have a near equal
abilities in 2 languages. Bilingual is when you develop some knowledge and ability in a second
language, so you become a bilingual.

3.- What is “bilingual competence”?

It means how are the two languages organized in the bilingual brain.

4.- Explain the difference between “compound and co-ordinate bilinguals”.

COMPOUND BILINGUAL Is an individual who lean 2 lges in same environment, same time, same
context. So, she or he acquire one notion with 2 verbal expression. Ex: Child raised by bilingual
parents, both languages are use in the home. Language is not separate in child’s mind.
This bilinguals are called simultaneous bilinguals or compound bilinguals.

CO-ORDINATE BILINGUAL acquires two languages in different context. Ex: You move to a new
country where you acquire the local language in this social-cultural environment.
This situation is called coordinate bilingual. You speak one lge at home and the other at school or
university.

5.- What is “code switching”?

When a speaker alternate between two or more languages or varieties of language in a
conversation, often within one sentence. This is very common in bilingual and miltilingual peoppe.
• Reason why people use code switching:
 To express certain feelings and affictions or even to impress or persuade an audience.
 To distinguish themselves from a group.
To convey a message faster or with more precisión

Alternating between two or more languages or varieties of language in conversation.

Code-switching is the act of switching between one language or dialect to another, depending on
the social context or your environment.
Examples of code-switching include: A Spanish and English speaker saying, "Pero WHY do I have to
go a la casa?" Or, "But WHY do I have to go home?" A speaker of Black Vernacular English saying,
"We finna get to school on time today," instead of "we are going to get to school on time today."

6.- What is “code mixing”?

Code mixing is when someone uses one word or phrase from one language to another language
Is basically mixing language unconsiently. And this happen to young kids when they are learning
several languages simultaneously at a Young age.
• EX: in the video the mother ask her daugher “¿Donde esta tu hermano?” her daughter
answer “ esta gumpeando afuera”
• Here we have a code mixing, because she borrowed the word gump from another
language which is german, but in english will be jump and she transformed to one.
• Her Young brain mix these words and the only one who is able to understand what she
said is her mom, because if was another person probably Will say “the child is confuse, it
doesn’t know what it is saying!”.

7.- What do you understand by “metaphorical switching?

occurs when a change of the topic of the discourse requires a change in the language used. Thus, a
language used in a situation which is different from the one it is usually used in, because the topic
of the conversation is one that is associated with the situation it is usually used in.- For instance, a
language which is usually used at home is occasionally heard in a government office, because the
topic that the participants are discussing is associated with home.