Cognitive Demands of Code-Swtiching

Code-switching by the nature of its definition requires an individual to alternate from one linguistic pattern, language, or style to another. Being capable of code-switching requires knowledge of the linguistic system one is switching to and how to effectively execute the switch, which implies at the least learning said linguistic system. Code-switching is definitely not formally taught in most if not all schools, and most researchers (Garcia, 1993; Green & Walker, 2005) assume it is a skill that is commonly learned at home.  Greene and Walker (2005) have asserted that this is a learning demand that many minorities arguably juggle while learning other concepts in school with little support. Other researchers (Garcia, 1993; Ogbu, 2005) have suggested that there is a salient American school culture that perceives non-white linguistic styles and non-English languages as inferior.  In unison the pressure of learning to code-switch while learning academic content and a pervasive conceptualization of minority linguistics as sub-standard a variety of stressors and cognitive demands seem evident for the minority learner. Not only are many minorities faced with learning two unrelated skills or topics at the same damn time*said w/ Future voice*, but they also could be faced with a teacher who is using linguistic style they are unfamiliar with.  Even more a teacher who is apart of a culture that devalues the linguistic style of the minority student is likely reluctant to mediate the students learning process.  Finally, as the student gets older it is likely learning how to code-switch becomes more difficult. I make this deduction based on well-substantiated research that the ease of language acquisition has been shown to decline as humans age (Johnson & Newport, 1989).  I’m not suggesting learning to code-switch is always equivalent to language acquisition there are however common themes within both tasks, therefore it would seem rational to assume that learning how to code-switch would become increasingly difficult as learners age.