Mixing Languages

In Bilingual Life and Reality, the myth presented is that language mixing in children is a due to laziness. However, this is not the case.  "It is important to view within- and between-language mechanisms (overgeneralizations, simplifications, interferences, and so on) as strategies employed by children in their effort to use their weaker language" (193). Some other possible reasons include such as interference, filling in language gaps in the weaker language, and language mode (monolingual mode vs. bilingual mode). This helps to have an understanding as to why children may mix languages.