Feroce, Nick and de Prada Pérez, Ana and Kennedy, Lillian (2021) What Can L2ers Tell Us about Codeswitching? Mood Selection in Spanish. Languages, 6 (4). p. 200. ISSN 2226-471X

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Abstract

An increasing amount of research shows that bilinguals that engage in codeswitching (CS) may show different patterns of usage and sensitivity to particular linguistic structures depending on community norms. Additionally, proficiency may play a different role in sensitivity to code-switched utterances depending on speaker background, as well as the structure investigated. In this study, we aim to examine how bilinguals not exposed to CS in the community rate CS vs. unilingual sentences involving mood selection in Spanish. In an online acceptability judgment task (AJT), 20 Spanish L2ers rated sentences containing verbs in the indicative and subjunctive mood in restrictive relative clauses manipulated for the specificity of the antecedent in two separate sessions: a Spanish monolingual mode and a CS session. The L2ers did not show evidence of a CS effect and maintained a mood distinction according to the specificity of the antecedent both in unilingual and codeswitched sentences. These results are in contrast with the results previously reported for Spanish heritage speakers (HSs), where a CS effect is attested in the loss of preference for the subjunctive in nonspecific relative clauses in the CS vs. the monolingual Spanish condition. Additionally, this distinction is found at both lower and higher proficiency levels. The differences between these speakers and HSs are consistent with data from previous research on CS effects on phonology and Det–N switches. We argue that exposure to community norms is necessary for the acquisition of patterns not related exclusively to the grammaticality of switch junctures (I-language).

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Cite as: Feroce N, de Prada Pérez A, Kennedy L. What Can L2ers Tell Us about Codeswitching? Mood Selection in Spanish. Languages. 2021; 6(4):200. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6040200
Keywords:	codeswitching; subjunctive; Spanish–English bilingualism; L2ers; relative clauses; mood selection;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures > Spanish
Item ID:	18017
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6040200
Depositing User:	Ana DePrada Perez
Date Deposited:	11 Jan 2024 13:51
Journal or Publication Title:	Languages
Publisher:	MDPI Journals
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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