Jeff MacSwan Homepage

Third-person Bio

Jeff MacSwan is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Education at Arizona State University. He received his Ph.D. form UCLA in 1997. His research focuses on the linguistic study of bilingualism (codeswitching and language contact, in particular), on the role of language in theories of academic achievement differences among language minority students, and education policy related to English Language Learners in U.S. schools. Dr. MacSwan has served as Associate Editor of the Bilingual Research Journal, and currently serves on five editorial boards. He has published a book as well as several articles and book chapters. Examples of his work appear in Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Bilingual Research Journal, Teachers College Record, Education Policy Analysis Archives, and in edited collections. In 2003, he was selected as a National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow. MacSwan has given numerous invited talks in the U.S. and abroad, and has served as a Visiting Scholar in the Linguistics Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and as Gastwissenschaftler (Guest Scientist) at the Center for the Study of Multilingualism at the University of Hamburg. He delivered the plenary address at the 2008 annual meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society for the special session on codeswitching.

MacSwan is a member of the ASU graduate faculties of Applied Linguistics, Language and Literacy (C&I), English, Speech and Hearing Science, and Education Leadership and Policy Studies. He is the Program Director for ASU’s university-wide Applied Linguistics Ph.D. Program.

His full vita is available here.

Research and Publications

Codeswitching

My codeswitching research began with my doctoral dissertation, revised and published in Garland’s Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics book series in 1999. The work developed a model of intrasentential codeswitching which explored consequences of Chomsky’s Minimalist Program, the current instantiation of generative grammar, for the data of language mixing, and included an original corpus of Spanish-Nahuatl codeswitching data which I collected in Tehuacan, Mexico. Drawing upon Minimalist assumptions in syntactic theory, I postulated that items may be drawn from the lexicon of either language to introduce features into the lexical array which must then be checked for convergence in the same way as monolingual features must be checked, with no special mechanisms permitted. An extensive analysis of my own data as well as those of previously published research shows that these conclusions are sustained empirically over a wide range of language pairs. The dissertation is available online here, and the book version, which has some revised content, can be purchased from Amazon. Jan Jake, Carole Myers-Scotton and Steve Gross (2002) wrote a critique of my codeswitching work which resulted in a spirited debate in Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. Some representative papers on codeswitching follow.

  • van Gelderen, E. & MacSwan, J. (2008). Interface conditions and code-switching: Pronouns, lexical DPs, and checking theory. Lingua, 118(6), 765-776. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J. (2005). Codeswitching and generative grammar: A critique of the MLF model and some remarks on “modified minimalism.” Bilingualism: Language and Congition, 8(1), 1-22. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J. (2005). Comments on Jake, Myers-Scotton and Gross’s response: There is no “matrix language.” Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 8(2), 277-284. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J. (2005). Précis of a Minimalist Approach to Intrasentential Code Switching. Italian Journal of Linguistics, 17(1), 55-92.

  • MacSwan, J. (2004). Code switching and linguistic theory. In T. K. Bhatia & W. Ritchie (Eds.), Handbook of Bilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell.

  • MacSwan, J. (2000). The architecture of the bilingual language faculty: Evidence from codeswitching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 3(1), 37-54. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J. (1999). A Minimalist Approach to Intrasentential Code Switching. New York: Garland. (Learn more.)
Language Minority Education

Another aspect of my research, much of it conducted with my colleague Kellie Rolstad, is focused on conceptions of language in the context of theories of academic achievement differences among English Language Learners and other minority students. We have been critical of language tests and other mechanisms which label children as “non-non’s,” that is, as children who know no language natively, and of views of language which are biased by traditional prescriptivism. We have focused our criticism on mainstream and widely accepted views of language among bilinguals such as the BICS/CALP distinction and the Threshold Hypothesis. A few examples:

  • MacSwan, J. & Mahoney, K. (2008). Academic bias in language testing: A construct validity critique of the IPT I Oral Grades K-6 Spanish Second Edition. Journal of Educational Research and Policy Studies, 8(2), 85-100.

  • MacSwan, J., & Rolstad, K. (2008). Semilingualism: Theory and critique, pp. 737-739. In J. Gonzalez (ed.), Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishers.

  • Rolstad, K., & MacSwan, J. (2008). BICS/CALP: Theory and critique, pp. 62-65. In J. Gonzalez (ed.), Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishers.

  • MacSwan, J., & Rolstad, K. (2006). How language tests mislead us about children’s abilities: Implications for special education placements. Teachers College Record, 108(11), 2304–2328. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J. & Rolstad, K. (2005). Modularity and the facilitation effect: Psychological mechanisms of transfer in bilingual students. Hispanic Journal of the Behavorial Sciences, 27(2), 224-243. (Download.)

  • Mahoney, K. S., & MacSwan, J. (2005). Re-examining identification and reclassification of English Language Learners: A critical discussion of select state practices. Bilingual Research Journal, 29(1), 31-42. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J., & Rolstad, K. (2003). Linguistic diversity, schooling, and social class: Rethinking our conception of language proficiency in language minority education, pp. 329-340. In C. B. Paulston & R. Tucker (Eds.), Sociolinguistics: The Essential Readings. Oxford: Blackwell. (Download.)

  • Valadez, C., MacSwan, J., & Martínez, C. (2002). Toward a new view of low achieving bilinguals: A study of linguistic competence in designated “semilinguals.” Bilingual Review, 25(3), 238-248.

  • MacSwan, J., Rolstad, K., & Glass, G. V. (2002). Do some school-age children have no language? Some problems of construct validity in the Pre-LAS Español. Bilingual Research Journal, 26(2), 213-238. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J. (2000). The Threshold Hypothesis, semilingualism, and other contributions to a deficit view of linguistic minorities. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 22(1), 3-45. (Download.)
Education Policy for English Language Learners

A final current in my research is education policy for English Language Learners, especially with regard to national and local (Arizona and California) attempts to restrict program options for immigrant children in school. Some examples:

  • Krashen, S., Rolstad, K., & MacSwan, J. (2007). Review of “Research summary and bibliography for Structured English Immersion programs” of the Arizona English Language Learners Task Force. Takoma Park, MD: Institute for Language Education and Policy. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J. (2006). Review of Lexington Institute Report "Immersion, Not Submersion, Vol III: Can a New Strategy for Teaching English Outperform Old Excuses? Lessons from Eight California School Districts." Think Tank Review Project, Education Policy Studies Laboratory, Education Policy Research Unit, Arizona State University. Pp. 1-12. (Download.)

  • Mahoney, K., MacSwan, J., & Thompson, M. (2005). The condition of English Language Learners in Arizona: 2005, pp. 1-24. In D. Garcia & A. Molnar (Eds.), The Condition of PreK-12 Education in Arizona, 2005. Tempe, AZ: Education Policy Research Laboratory, Arizona State University. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J., & Pray, L. (2005). Learning English bilingually: Age of onset of exposure and rate of acquisition of English among children in a bilingual education program. Bilingual Research Journal, 29(3), 687-712. (Download.)

  • Mahoney, K., Thompson, M., & MacSwan, J. (2004). The condition of English Language Learners in Arizona, 2004, pp. 1-27. In A. Molnar (Ed.), The Condition of PreK-12 Education in Arizona, 2004. Tempe, AZ: Education Policy Research Laboratory, Arizona State University. (Download.)

  • Thompson, M. S., DiCerbo, K., Mahoney, K. S., & MacSwan, J. (2002). ¿Éxito en California? A validity critique of language program evaluations and analysis of English learner test scores. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10(7), entire issue. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J. (2001). Implications of the New York City Schools research report for program-restrictionist legislation in the U.S. NABE News, 24(4), 4-8, 16.
Other

And a couple other things:

  • Cohen, J., McAlister, K., Rolstad, K., & MacSwan, J. (Eds.) (2005). ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism. Vols. 1-5. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. Xxiv+2,455 pages. (Learn more.)

  • Curtiss, S., MacSwan, J., Schaeffer, J., Kural, M., & Sano, T. (2004). GCS: A grammatical coding system for natural language data. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 34(3), 459-480. (Download.)

  • MacSwan, J. (1999). The argument status of NPs in Southeast Puebla Nahuatl: Comments on the Polysynthesis Parameter. Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 17(2), 101-114. (Download.)

  • Grinstead, J., MacSwan, J. Curtiss, S., & Gelman, R. (1998). The autonomy of number and grammar in development. In A. Greenhill, M. Hughes, H. Littlefield, & H. Walsh (Eds.), BUCLD 22: Proceedings of the 22nd Boston University Conference on Language Development. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. (Download.)
Contact

Jeff MacSwan
Arizona State University
PO Box 872011
Tempe, AZ 85287-2011
USA
(480) 965-4967 (voice)
(480) 965-4942 (fax)
Note: Do not send materials for the Applied Linguistics Ph.D. program to this address; please see directions here.

Jeff MacSwan (circa 1972)
Bell Gardens Elementary School
Bell Gardens, California