Youtube Exercise » English Grammar Homework

What the Bilingual Brain Can Teach Us About Code-Switching

New York University

16K views 5 years ago

Warm-up Questions

When (if ever) do you switch between languages or different ways of speaking in the same conversation?
What do you think the bilingual brain needs to do when a person code-switches?
What do you expect a video about “code-switching” to focus on: culture, the brain, or both?

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What the Bilingual Brain Can Teach Us About Code-Switching

Bilinguals as unique language users (00:00 – 00:36)

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1. According to the speaker, bilinguals are best described as…

two monolinguals inside one person
people who cannot produce language naturally
unique individuals who use multiple linguistic features
people who always keep languages completely separate

2. What is the main research question the speaker mentions about the brain?

Why children learn languages faster than adults
What the brain is doing at any given point when we listen or produce language
How many words bilinguals know in total
Whether accents can be removed through training

3. What area is the speaker studying?

language history in ancient societies
computer programming languages
speech therapy for hearing loss
bilingualism in relation to language processing

What the Bilingual Brain Can Teach Us About Code-Switching

Code-switching and why it matters (00:36 – 01:48)

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1. Which bilingual group is the study specifically looking at?

Spanish-English bilinguals
French-German bilinguals
Mandarin-Japanese bilinguals
Korean-English bilinguals

2. The speaker says code-switching in this context does NOT get…

readily researched
taught in schools
used in daily life
accepted by communities

3. What has much of the pre-existing neuroscience literature been interested in?

whether the brain exerts additional cognitive effort when bilinguals switch languages
whether bilinguals have stronger accents
whether bilinguals are better at math
whether bilinguals forget their first language over time

What the Bilingual Brain Can Teach Us About Code-Switching

Natural code-switching and social-cognitive opportunities (01:48 – 02:41)

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1. What is the central goal of the study described here?

to prove code-switching is always difficult
to see whether extra effort appears during more natural, day-to-day code-switching
to compare bilinguals and monolinguals on vocabulary size
to teach bilinguals how to avoid code-switching

2. How does the speaker describe language in general?

mostly a written skill
a simple process that the brain finds easy
mainly a private mental activity
inherently a social thing that we engage in

3. According to the speaker, knowing multiple languages can open up opportunities…

only for people who know exactly two languages
only cognitively, not socially
only socially, not cognitively
socially and potentially cognitively

What the Bilingual Brain Can Teach Us About Code-Switching

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1. Which idea best matches the speaker’s view of bilingualism?

Bilinguals usually lose accuracy in both languages over time.
Bilinguals are essentially two monolinguals sharing one brain.
Bilinguals keep two languages completely separate and never mix them.
Bilinguals use multiple linguistic features in a unique way depending on situation and context.

2. Why does the speaker criticize some earlier research tasks on switching languages?

They focused only on children.
They only tested reading, not speaking.
They were too easy to measure accurately.
They were not natural compared to what bilinguals typically do when they code-switch.

3. What is one reason the speaker gives for why studying natural code-switching is important?

Code-switching happens only in classrooms.
Language is social and the brain performs complex processes to support it.
Social factors do not affect language use.
Bilingualism has no connection to the brain.

Discussion Questions

Discuss the ideas from this video

What the Bilingual Brain Can Teach Us About Code-Switching

In your experience, what situations make people more likely to code-switch (family, work, online, emotions, humor, etc.)? Why?
Do you think code-switching should be seen as a skill, a problem, or simply a normal behavior? Explain.
Some studies look for a “cognitive cost” when switching languages. What kinds of tasks would feel natural to test this in real life?
How might knowing multiple languages (or varieties of a language) create social opportunities in your community?