Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Metalinguistic Filters Within the Bilingual Language Faculty: A Study of Young English-Chinese Bilinguals

  • Published:
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study reports two metalinguistic parameters that constitute the schematic control of lateral inhibitory links between translation equivalents within the bilingual lexico-semantic system of Green’s (Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1:67–81, 1998a, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1:100–104, 1998b, The bilingualism reader, Routledge, London, 2007) inhibitory control (IC) model. Building on Green’s postulation that the bilingual lexico-semantic system is controlled by a hierarchy of schemas under a supervisory attentional system, the bilingual unconsciously filters activated lemmas during fluent spontaneous codeswitching, such that lemmas that are semantico-syntactically versatile or morphosyntactically transparent are likely to reach a threshold of activation first while other lemmas are inhibited. To investigate the issue, we collected code-paired naturalistic and elicited data with a focus on code-switched determiner phrases from 140 Mandarin-English simultaneous bilinguals who were post-secondary students in Singapore. We found that the semantico-syntactic and morpho-syntactic dissimilarities between Mandarin and English activated both filters. As most Mandarin determiners are economical vis-à-vis their English counterparts, their lemmas were selected frequently while English lemmas were largely inhibited. It was also found that our participants preferred English nouns in filling the lexical category for their interpretable feature of number, a feature that is normally absent in Mandarin nouns.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abutalebi J., Green D. W. (2007) The neurocognition of bilingual speech production. Journal of Neurolinguistics 20: 242–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abutalebi J., Green D. W. (2008) Control mechanisms in bilingual language production: Neural evidence from language switching studies. Language and Cognitive Processes 23: 557–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bialystok E. (1988) Levels of bilingualism and levels of linguistic awareness. Developmental Psychology 88: 560–567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bialystok E., Majumder S. (1998) The relationship between bilingualism and the development of cognitive processes in problem-solving. Applied Psycholinguistics 19: 69–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bussman, H. (1996). Routledge dictionary of language and linguistics (3rd ed., G. P. Trauth & K. Kazzazi, Trans.). London: Routledge.

  • Chao Y. R. (1948) Mandarin primer: An intensive course in spoken Chinese. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Chao Y. R. (1968) A grammar of spoken Chinese. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, J. J. (1992). Lun xin jia po hua yu zhong yu ma jia za xian xiang (Code-mixing in Singapore Mandarin). Unpublished B.A. (Honors) thesis, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

  • Cheng L., Sybesma R. (1999) Bare and not-so-bare nouns and the structure of NP. Linguistic Inquiry 30: 509–542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chong, H. M. (2001). Xin jia po hua yu yu ma jia za zhong de dan ci (Code-mixed single words in Singapore Mandarin conversation). Unpublished B.A. (Honors) thesis, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

  • Chu C. C. (1983) A reference grammar of Mandarin Chinese for English speakers. Peter Lang, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Clyne M. (1991) Community languages: The Australian experience. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Codó E. (2008) Interviews and questionnaires. In: Li W., Moyer M. G. (eds) The Blackwell guide to research methods in bilingualism and multilingualism. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp 158–176

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Colomé A. (2001) Lexical activation in bilinguals’ speech production: Language-specific or language-independent?. Journal of Memory and Language 45: 721–735

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creswell J. W. (2003) Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. (2nd ed.) Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummins J. (2000) Language, power and pedagogy. Multilingual Matters, Clevedon

    Google Scholar 

  • de Bot K. (2007) A bilingual production model: Levelt’s “speaking” model adapted. In: Li W. (eds) The bilingualism reader. Routledge, London, pp 84–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Statistics. (2001). Census of population 2000 statistical release 2: Education, language and religion. Singapore: Ministry of Trade and Industry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards M., Gardner-Chloros P. (2007) Compound verbs in code-switching: Bilinguals making do?. International Journal of Bilingualism 11: 73–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faersch C., Kasper G. (1984) Two ways of defining communication strategies. Language Learning 34: 45–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis N. (2004) The components of bilingual proficiency. International Journal of Bilingualism 8: 167–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao Q. (1994) Chinese NP structure. Linguistics 32: 475–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green D. W. (1998a) Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1: 67–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green D. W. (1998b) Schemas, tags and inhibition: Reply to commentators. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1: 100–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green D. W. (2007) Control, activation and resource: A framework and a model for the control of speech in bilinguals. In: Li W. (eds) The bilingualism reader. Routledge, London, pp 371–383

    Google Scholar 

  • Green D. W., Crinion J., Price C. J. (2006) Convergence, degeneracy and control. Language Learning 56(Special Issue 1): 99–125

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grosjean F. (1997) Processing mixed languages: Issues, findings and models. In: de Groot A., Kroll J. F. (eds) Tutorials in bilingualism: Psycholinguistic perspectives. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah NJ, pp 225–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Grosjean F. (2001) The bilingual’s language modes. In: Nicol J. (eds) One mind, two languages. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Gupta A. F. (1994) The step tongue: Children’s English in Singapore. Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirst G. (1999) What exactly are lexical concepts?. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22: 45–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jay T. B. (2003) The psychology of language. Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamwangamalu N. M., Lee C. L. (1991) Chinese-English code-mixing: A case of matrix language assignment. World Englishes 10: 247–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krifka M. (1995) Common nouns: A contrastive analysis of Chinese and English. In: Carlson G., Pellertier J. (eds) The generic book. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 398–411

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuo L., Anderson R. C. (2007) Conceptual and methodological issues in comparing metalinguistic awareness across languages. In: Koda K., Zehler A. M. (eds) Learning to read across languages: Cross-linguistic relationships in first and second-language literacy development. Routledge, New York, pp 39–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C. C. P. (2005). The role of code-switching in a communications skills classroom. Unpublished M.A. (Applied Linguistics) thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

  • Lee C. L. (2003) Motivations of code-switching in multilingual Singapore. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 31: 145–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Levelt W. J. M., Roeflofs A., Meyer A. S. (1999) A theory of lexical access in speech production. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22: 1–76

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li C. N., Thompson S. A. (1981) Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference grammar. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Li D. G. S. (1996) Issues in bilingualism and biculturalism: A Hong Kong case study. Peter Lang Publishing, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Li P. (1998) Mental control, language tags, and language nodes in bilingual lexical processing. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1: 92–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Liceras J., Fuertes R. F., Perales S., Pérez-Tattam R., Spradlin K. T. (2008) Gender and gender agreement in bilingual native and non-native grammars: A view from child and adult functional-lexical mixings. Lingua 118: 827–851

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liceras J., Martinez C., Pérez-Tattam R., Perales S. (2006) L2 acquisition as a process of creolization: Insights from child and adult code-mixing. In: Lefebvre C., White L., Jourdan C. (eds) L2 acquisition and creole genesis: Dialogues. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, pp 113–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Liceras J., Spradlin K. T., Fuertes R. (2005) Bilingual functional-lexical mixing and the activation of formal features. International Journal of Bilingualism 9: 227–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin H. (2001) A grammar of Mandarin Chinese. Lincom Europa, Muenchen

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu J., Tindall E., Nisbet D. (2006) Chinese learners and English plural forms. The Linguistics Journal 1: 127–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu J. Y. (1991) Code-switching between Mandarin and English. World Englishes 10: 139–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacSwan J. (1999) A minimalist approach to intrasentential code switching. Garland, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • MacSwan J. (2000) The architecture of the bilingual language faculty: Evidence from intrasentential code-switching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 3: 3–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers-Scotton C. (2002) Contact linguistics. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Myers-Scotton C. (2005) Duelling languages: Grammatical structure in codeswitching. Oxford University Press, Oxford UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Poh, L. K. (2003). A comparative study of commonly used noun classifiers in Singapore Mandarin and Putonghua. Unpublished B.A. (Honors) thesis, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

  • Pulvermüller F. (1999) Lexical access as a brain mechanism. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22: 52–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricciardelli L.A. (1992) Bilingualism and cognitive development in relation to threshold theory. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 21: 301–316

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Fornells A., De Diego Balaguer R., Münte T. F. (2006) Executive control in bilingual language processing. Language Learning 56: 133–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saravanan V. (1999) Bilingual Chinese, Malay and Tamil children’s language choices in a multi-lingual society. Early Child Development and Care 152: 43–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schreuder R., Hermans D. (1998) Mental control and language selection. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1: 96–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan P. T. (1988) A description of patterns of code-mixing and code-switching in a multilingual household. In: Foley J. A. (eds) New Englishes: The case of Singapore. Singapore University Press, Singapore, pp 70–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, Z. L. (2004). Xin jia po hua xiao xue sheng yu ma hun yong ge an yan jiu (A case study of code-mixing among Chinese primary school students in Singapore). Unpublished B.A. (Honors) thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

  • Teo, E. H. (2000). Xin jia po hua yu hui hua zhong yu ma jia za mo shi de ya jiu (Patterns of code-mixing in Singapore Mandarin conversation: A case study). Unpublished B.A. (Honors) thesis, National University of Singapore, Singapore

  • Trefflers-Daller J. (1998) The IC model and code-switching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1: 98–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei L. (2002) The bilingual mental lexicon and speech production process. Brain and Language 81: 691–707

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wheatley T., Wegner D. M. (2001) Automaticity of action, psychology of. In: Smelser N. J., Baltes P. B. (eds) International encyclopedia of behavioral sciences. Elsevier, 1nd ed. New York, pp 991–993

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson H. R. (1947) Teach yourself Chinese. English Universities Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu D., Chew C. H., Chen S. (1998) Language use and language attitudes in the Singapore Chinese community. In: Gopinathan S., Pakir A., Ho W. K., Saravanan V. (eds) Language, society and education in Singapore. 2nd ed., Eastern Universities Press, Singapore, pp 133–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang L. J. (2002) Metamorphological awareness and EFL students’ memory, retention, and retrieval of English adjectival lexicons. Perceptual and Motor Skills 95: 934–944

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Language and Communication Centre, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637332, Singapore

    Kenneth Keng Wee Ong

  2. English Language and Literature Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore, 637616, Singapore

    Lawrence Jun Zhang

Authors
  1. Kenneth Keng Wee Ong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lawrence Jun Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenneth Keng Wee Ong.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ong, K.K.W., Zhang, L.J. Metalinguistic Filters Within the Bilingual Language Faculty: A Study of Young English-Chinese Bilinguals. J Psycholinguist Res 39, 243–272 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-009-9137-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-009-9137-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation