An electro-encephalography study on Dutch-Papiamento code-switching production

Intra-sentential code-switching in Dutch-Papiamento bilingualism may create a conflict within the determiner phrase, because in Dutch the adjective precedes the noun (1), whereas in Papiamento the adjective follows the noun (2). 1.Het rode huis [Dutch]. 2.E kas kòrá [Papiamento]. “The red house”. The Matrix Language Framework (MLF – Myers-Scotton, 1993) suggests that the matrix language will provide the grammatical frame and that the embedded language will supply some content elements. The matrix language will thus determine the word order in a code-switched determiner phrase. In the case of Dutch-Papiamento intra-sentential code-switching, the MLF will predict an [adjective-noun] order when the matrix language is Dutch, and the MLF will predict a [noun-adjective] order when the matrix language is Papiamento. However, the MLF does not make a prediction about the origin of the adjective or the noun. Thus, when the matrix language is Dutch, both combinations of [Dutch adjective...Show moreIntra-sentential code-switching in Dutch-Papiamento bilingualism may create a conflict within the determiner phrase, because in Dutch the adjective precedes the noun (1), whereas in Papiamento the adjective follows the noun (2). 1.Het rode huis [Dutch]. 2.E kas kòrá [Papiamento]. “The red house”. The Matrix Language Framework (MLF – Myers-Scotton, 1993) suggests that the matrix language will provide the grammatical frame and that the embedded language will supply some content elements. The matrix language will thus determine the word order in a code-switched determiner phrase. In the case of Dutch-Papiamento intra-sentential code-switching, the MLF will predict an [adjective-noun] order when the matrix language is Dutch, and the MLF will predict a [noun-adjective] order when the matrix language is Papiamento. However, the MLF does not make a prediction about the origin of the adjective or the noun. Thus, when the matrix language is Dutch, both combinations of [Dutch adjective-Papiamento noun] and [Papiamento adjective-Dutch noun] would be possible according to the MLF. The same principle applies for Papiamento as the matrix language, both language combinations [Papiamento noun-Dutch adjective] and [Dutch noun-Papiamento adjective] would be possible according to the MLF. The aim of the present study is to test the predictions of the MLF in Dutch-Papiamento code-switching production. The four code-switching patterns mentioned above were used as conditions that match the predictions of the MLF (“MLF+ conditions”). Another four conditions were created by reversing the order of the adjective and the noun in both matrix language paradigms, to create a violation of the predictions of the MLF (“MLF- conditions”). A total of eight conditions were used in this study. The MLF predictions were tested by using an advanced psycholinguistic method, namely electro-encephalography (EEG). The integration of a psycholinguistic method in a code-switching experiment is an innovative way of testing the predictions of a theoretical model. In this study, an EEG signal was recorded while Dutch-Papiamento bilingual speakers conducted a modified picture naming task. The conditions were analysed by looking at naming latencies and by looking at the part of the EEG signal following target presentation. Based on results of previous picture naming tasks (Christoffels, Firk & Schiller, 2007; Rodriguez-Fornells, Van Der Lugt, Rotte, Britti, Heinze & Münte, 2005; Misra, Guo, Bobb & Kroll, 2012), I expected slower naming latencies and a more negative waveform for the conditions that violate the predictions of the MLF. The expected slower naming latencies were observed in two MLF- conditions: Papiamento adjective followed by a Dutch noun (Papiamento matrix language) and Papiamento noun followed by a Dutch adjective (Dutch matrix language). The expected negative waveform was observed in only one MLF- condition: Papiamento adjective followed by a Dutch noun (Papiamento matrix language). Furthermore, a P300 (with an early peak in the frontal/central area and a later peak in the occipital area) and a late positive component seem to be elicited in code-switching production. The amplitude of the P300 peak was higher in the conditions that contain a violation of the MLF, which could be explained by the higher complexity of the MLF- conditions. The occurrence of the P300 could be explained in terms of the context-updating theory (Donchin, 1981; Donchin & Coles, 1988) or the neural inhibition theory (Polich, 2007). On the whole, the results do not provide conclusive support for the predictions of the MLF.Show less

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An electro-encephalography study on Dutch-Papiamento code-switching production