A psycholinguistic investigation of code-switching among bilingual Igbo–English speakers

Abstract

This non-experimental study examines the psycholinguistic mechanisms that drive code-switching among bilingual Igbo–English speakers, focusing on how cognitive control and linguistic processing influence the alternation between the two languages. The central objective is to investigate how bilingual speakers mentally manage and regulate code-switching during spontaneous communication without external manipulation or experimental intervention. The study is anchored on two major theories: the Inhibitory Control Model (Green, 1998), which explains how bilinguals suppress one language while activating another, and the Matrix Language Frame Model (Myers-Scotton, 1993), which accounts for the structural and grammatical organization of code-switched utterances. Data were collected through naturalistic observations and recorded conversational interactions among 50 bilingual Igbo–English speakers drawn from different educational and occupational backgrounds. The conversations were transcribed and analyzed for patterns of inter-sentential, intra-sentential, and tag-switching, while qualitative interpretation explored cognitive and contextual motivations behind language alternation. Findings reveal that code-switching is a deliberate and cognitively managed process, reflecting bilinguals’ ability to flexibly navigate two linguistic systems to achieve communicative efficiency, emphasize meaning, and express social identity. The study concludes that code-switching among Igbo–English bilinguals is not a sign of linguistic deficiency but a sophisticated cognitive strategy shaped by mental control, contextual cues, and linguistic competence. These insights advance psycholinguistic theory and have implications for bilingual education, cognitive linguistics, and sociolinguistic research in multilingual societies