The Effect of Accented Speech on Word Recognition During Bilingual Code-Switching

• Naomi Lara-Medina, Cognitive Science, University of Delaware

• Giovanna Morini, Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Delaware

Language alternation, or code-switching (CS), is commonly used in multilingual households where children are present. This means that bilingual children are often exposed to this type of speech. Previous research suggests that bilingual children’s word recognition accuracy is significantly better when target words are presented in a single language sentence compared to a sentence containing CS, or a single word. However, this work only examined the role of CS using sentences that did not include a foreign accent  (i.e., native American-accented English speech for the English portions, and native Spanish for the Spanish). In the present study, we examined both English and Spanish dominant bilingual toddlers’ ability to identify target words in three conditions of same language sentences, mixed language sentences and single word conditions presented in Spanish-accented English speech. This is important given that young children are frequently exposed to non-native accented language in everyday speech. Findings to date suggest that children successfully identified the target words across conditions. However, children’s word recognition was most accurate when listening to a sentence that contained CS. The children’s word recognition accuracy in mixed language sentences are comparable to results as if they were recognizing single language sentences in their dominant language. This indicates that bilingual children recognize CS words more accurately in context, especially when the words are part of a sentence rather than presented in isolation. The accented speech of the languages used influence the ability to recognize the target words whether both English or in Spanish in this study.