Language Contact in Bilingual Brains: Formal Features in the Mental Representation of English–Spanish Bilingual Children

We combine formal linguistic approaches, where formal features are at stake, and psycholinguistic approaches to explore the processing mechanisms involved in language coactivation. In particular, we use linguistic codeswitching as a laboratory condition where the two languages of the bilingual are forced to be activated in order to explore how the properties of the two languages interact. We take English–Spanish switched determiner phrases (i.e., a switch between the determiner and the noun) to formally explore the directionality of the switch (la/el house vs. the casa) and the gender agreement mechanisms in Spanish determiner switches (la house vs. la book). We have elicited data via an eye tracking during reading experiment from simultaneous English–Spanish bilingual children who come from two language-contact contexts (Gibraltar and Sotogrande) and who have been grouped in terms of their language dominance: balanced and English-dominant bilinguals. Data have been analyzed using the first fixation duration measure on the noun and the regressions to the determiner. Results show that regressions to the English determiner are significantly higher than those to the Spanish determiner. This may suggest an economy of derivation as gender features need not be valued, something that would entail a delay in processing. The same patterns have been found in both bilingual groups, pointing to the necessity to tone down the importance of language dominance in language processing.