Implication of Studies on Bilingualism for SLA

Abstract

Language intermixing refers to whether an experiment contains exclusively items that belong to one language (block presentation) or items from two languages (mixed presentation). [...]1) lexical codes from different languages are activated in parallel on the basis of an input string; (2) selection of the lexical candidate that is identified appears to take place rather late in the recognition process; and (3) several factors affect the ultimately arising result patterns, the most important of which are a participant's L2 proficiency level, the requirements of task, and the blocked or mixed presentation of items from different languages. According to Baker (2002, p.230), there are four major priorities that are associated with the survival and strengthening of a minority language: "Language reproduction in the family"-when families do not use the minority language at home, language will decline; "Language production from preschool education through formal schooling to adult education"-most education is done through standard language; "using the minority language for economic purpose"-when there is no real value in the employment market for minority language; "social, cultural, and leisure participation through the minority language." [...]although English speakers learning French in French immersion schools were praised for their efforts in learning French, they know that learning French for them was not a social goal but an instrumental one. [...]minority children in dual language programs are expected to acquire high levels of English, the language of power, business, and education. [...]biliteracy is presented as a set of skills in two languages, but native language skills are valued only to the extent that they enable students to perform well on dominant-language standardized tests. Language intermixing refers to whether an experiment contains exclusively items that belong to one language (block presentation) or items from two languages (mixed presentation). [...]1) lexical codes from different languages are activated in parallel on the basis of an input string; (2) selection of the lexical candidate that is identified appears to take place rather late in the recognition process; and (3) several factors affect the ultimately arising result patterns, the most important of which are a participant's L2 proficiency level, the requirements of task, and the blocked or mixed presentation of items from different languages.