Bilingual Language Switching in Naming: Asymmetrical Costs of Language Selection

The goal of this study was to determine how trilinguals select the language they intend to use in a language switching context. Two accounts are examined: (a) a language-specific account, according to which language selection considers the activation level of words of the intended language only (i.e., language co-activation without language competition), and (b) a language non-specific account, where activated words from both the intended and non-intended languages compete for selection (i.e., language co-activation with language competition). Results showed that, in both groups, all three languages competed for selection and that selection was achieved by inhibiting the currently non-relevant languages. Moreover, extending findings from previous research, the study reveals that, in both Experiments 1 and 2, the amount of inhibition was influenced not only by language proficiency but also by the typological similarity between languages. Overall, the study shows that language switching performance can be accounted for by a strategic and flexible inhibitory account. In particular, the controlling system is “strategic” in the sense that it aims at preventing potential conflicting situations, such as typological closeness between languages, and it is “flexible” in that it adjusts languages’ activation levels, depending on the conflict to be solved.

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Bilingual language switching and the frontal lobes: Modulatory control in language selection

International Journal of Bilingualism ◽

10.1177/13670069020060020101 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 109-124 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Renata F. I. Meuter ◽

Glyn W. Humphreys ◽

Raffaella I. Rumiati

Keyword(s):

Frontal Lobes ◽

Language Switching ◽

Language Selection

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Whole-Language and Item-Specific Inhibition in Bilingual Language Switching: The Role of Domain–General Inhibitory Control

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci10080517 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 517

Author(s):

Judy D. Zhu ◽

Paul F. Sowman

Keyword(s):

Inhibitory Control ◽

Whole Language ◽

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Brain Network ◽

Specific Inhibition ◽

Language Switching ◽

Specific Level ◽

Language Selection ◽

Language Control

A prominent theory of bilingual speech production holds that appropriate language selection is achieved via inhibitory control. Such inhibition may operate on the whole-language and/or item-specific level. In this study, we examined these two levels of control in parallel, by introducing a novel element into the traditional cued language switching paradigm: half of the stimuli were univalent (each required naming in the same language every time it appeared), and the other half were bivalent (each required naming in different languages on different trials). Contrasting switch and stay trials provided an index for whole-language inhibition, while contrasting bivalent and univalent stimuli provided an index for item-specific inhibition. We then investigated the involvement of domain-general brain mechanisms in these two levels of language control. Neuroimaging studies report activation of the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), a key region in the executive control brain network, during language switching tasks. However, it is unclear whether or not the pre-SMA plays a causal role in language control, and at which level it exerts control. Using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to transiently disrupt the pre-SMA, we observed an essential role of this brain region in general speech execution, while evidence for its specific involvement in each level of inhibition remains inconclusive.

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The gradient effect of context on language switching and lexical access in bilingual production

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716415000223 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

pp. 725-756 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

DANIEL J. OLSON

Keyword(s):

Switching Costs ◽

Fixed Ratio ◽

Language Switching ◽

Dominant Language ◽

Language Dominance ◽

Switch Costs ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Inhibitory Mechanisms ◽

Language Selection ◽

Language Context

ABSTRACTPrevious research on bilingual language switching costs has demonstrated asymmetrical switch costs, driven primarily by language dominance, such that switches into a more dominant language incur significantly greater reaction time delays than switches into a less dominant language. While such studies have generally relied on a fixed ratio of switch to nonswitch tokens, it is clear that bilinguals operate not in a fixed ratio, but along a naturally occurring bilingual continuum of modes or contexts. Bridging the concepts of language switching and language context, the current study examines language switching costs through a cued picture-naming study with variable contexts or modes. The results demonstrate that switch costs are dependent upon both language dominance and language context, with asymmetrical costs found in more monolingual modes and symmetrical costs found in bilingual modes. Implications are discussed with respect to language mode and gradient inhibitory mechanisms of language selection.

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Examining the effectiveness of language-switching practice for reducing cross-language competition in L2 grammatical processing

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728920000218 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 167-184 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kevin McManus

Keyword(s):

Linguistic Knowledge ◽

Language Switching ◽

Language Competition ◽

Language Selection ◽

L2 Learning ◽

Viewpoint Aspect ◽

English Speaking ◽

Crosslinguistic Influence ◽

Cross Language ◽

L1 And L2

AbstractThis study examined the extent to which language-switching practice enhanced L2 learners’ L2 grammatical processing by improving language selection abilities. Thirty-six English-speaking learners of French completed the same language-switching practice of L1 and L2 sentences, but received different types of pre-practice explicit information (EI) designed to address L2 learning difficulties resulting from crosslinguistic influence: one group (n = 17) received EI about English–French differences for viewpoint aspect, and a second group (n = 19) received EI about viewpoint aspect in French only. This design investigated the extent to which pre-practice linguistic knowledge moderated the effectiveness of the language-switching practice. Longitudinal analyses showed that increasing amounts of practice improved language selection abilities (increased accuracy, reduced reaction time costs), but only for learners who received EI about L1-L2 differences. These findings that language-switching was moderated by type of pre-practice EI have important implications for theories of L2 learning and instruction.

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Examining the effectiveness of language-switching practice for reducing cross-language competition in L2 grammatical processing

10.31219/osf.io/bv2yx ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kevin McManus

Keyword(s):

Linguistic Knowledge ◽

Language Switching ◽

Language Competition ◽

Language Selection ◽

L2 Learning ◽

Viewpoint Aspect ◽

English Speaking ◽

Crosslinguistic Influence ◽

Cross Language ◽

L1 And L2

This study examined the extent to which language-switching practice enhanced L2 learners’ L2 grammatical processing by improving language selection abilities. Thirty-six English-speaking learners of French completed the same language-switching practice of L1 and L2 sentences, but received different types of pre-practice explicit information (EI) designed to address L2 learning difficulties resulting from crosslinguistic influence: one group (n = 17) received EI about English-French differences for viewpoint aspect, and a second group (n = 19) received EI about viewpoint aspect in French only. This design investigated the extent to which pre-practice linguistic knowledge moderated the effectiveness of the language-switching practice. Longitudinal analyses showed that increasing amounts of practice improved language selection abilities (increased accuracy, reduced reaction time costs), but only for learners who received EI about L1-L2 differences. These findings that language-switching was moderated by type of pre-practice EI have important implications for theories of L2 learning and instruction

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