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

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 725-756 ◽  
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.

Language switch costs in sentence comprehension depend on language dominance: Evidence from self-paced reading

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
SYBRINE BULTENA ◽  
TON DIJKSTRA ◽  
JANET G. VAN HELL
Keyword(s):  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Co Activation ◽  
Main Verb

This study investigated two prominent issues in the comprehension of language switches. First, how does language switching direction affect switch costs in sentence context? Second, are switch costs modulated by L2 proficiency and cross-linguistic activation? We conducted a self-paced reading task involving sentences that switched between participants’ L1 Dutch and L2 English. The cognate status of the main verb was manipulated to examine the influence of co-activation on intra-sentential switch costs. The reading times indicated the influence of switch direction: a cost was observed for switches into L2 but not for switches into L1, and the magnitude of the costs was correlated with L2 proficiency, indicating that switch costs in language comprehension depend on language dominance. Verb cognates did not yield a cognate facilitation effect nor did they influence the magnitude of switch costs in either direction. The results are interpreted in terms of an activation account explaining lexical comprehension based on L2 proficiency.

scholarly journals Good Language-Switchers are Good Task-Switchers: Evidence from Spanish–English and Mandarin–English Bilinguals

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 682-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anat Prior ◽  
Tamar H. Gollan
Keyword(s):  
Parent Education ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Switching Costs ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Dominant Language

AbstractBilingual advantages in executive control tasks are well documented, but it is not yet clear what degree or type of bilingualism leads to these advantages. To investigate this issue, we compared the performance of two bilingual groups and monolingual speakers in task-switching and language-switching paradigms. Spanish–English bilinguals, who reported switching between languages frequently in daily life, exhibited smaller task-switching costs than monolinguals after controlling for between-group differences in speed and parent education level. By contrast, Mandarin–English bilinguals, who reported switching languages less frequently than Spanish–English bilinguals, did not exhibit a task-switching advantage relative to monolinguals. Comparing the two bilingual groups in language-switching, Spanish–English bilinguals exhibited smaller costs than Mandarin–English bilinguals, even after matching for fluency in the non-dominant language. These results demonstrate an explicit link between language-switching and bilingual advantages in task-switching, while also illustrating some limitations on bilingual advantages. (JINS, 2011, 17, 682–691)

Inter-sentential Code-switching and Language Dominance in Cantonese–English Bilingual Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-105
Author(s):  
Chit Fung Lam ◽  
Stephen Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Code Switching ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Hong Kong Cantonese ◽  
Measurement Variance ◽  
Language Context ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Gradient Measurement

This paper examines the relationship between language dominance and the under-investigated topic of inter-sentential code-switching in Hong Kong Cantonese–English bilingual children. Longitudinal data for six children showing different dominance patterns were analysed. MLU differentials (Yip & Matthews, 2006) were adopted to measure dominance based on five criteria: methodological compatibility, typological comparability, gradient measurement, variance validity, and multifaceted compatibility. Our results showed that bilingual children produced more inter-sentential code-switching in the context of their non-dominant language and less in their dominant-language context. We account for this asymmetry in relation to mechanisms of inhibitory control (Gross & Kaushanskaya, 2015). Further, we propose that intrasentential and inter-sentential code-switching each have a different status in bilingual children’s developing grammar, underlining the methodological importance of separating the two constructs in future investigations. We also suggest that, in societies where intra-sentential code-switching is a social norm, inter-sentential code-switching could serve as signs of early bilinguals’ dominance status.

scholarly journals On the flexibility of bilingual language control: The effect of language context

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
KALINKA TIMMER ◽  
INGRID K. CHRISTOFFELS ◽  
ALBERT COSTA
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Linguistic Context ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Switching Patterns ◽  
Language Control ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Naming Latencies ◽  
The Way

How flexible is bilingual language control and how does it adapt to the linguistic context of a conversation? We address this by looking at the pattern of switch costs in contexts involving mostly the use of a dominant or non-dominant language. This linguistic context affected switching patterns: switching was equally costly for both languages in a dominant (L1) context, while switching was harder for the weaker language in the non-dominant (L2) context. Also, naming latencies for each language were affected by the linguistic contexts: only the dominant L1 context led to slower latencies for the dominant language. This latter finding was also present when looking at the LPC component, which may reveal differences in the way inhibitory control is applied depending on the linguistic context. These results reveal that the bilingual language control system is flexible and that it adapts to the linguistic context in which the speaker is placed.

scholarly journals Effect of Language Switching On the Response Latency in the Cued Picture-Naming Paradigm among Hindi Dominant and Balanced Bilinguals

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mishra K. A ◽  
Asthana, H. S. ◽  
Singh, I. L.
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Processing Time ◽  
Control Model ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Time Required

Language dominance has long been considered an important factor in determining the processing time associated with language switching. It is evident that when an unbalanced bilingual switch from ones non-dominant to dominant language (backward switching), s/he requires more reaction time in comparison to when s/he switches from dominant language to non-dominant language (forward switching). In this study, the researcher examined the effects of language dominance and switching on the response time in the cued picture-naming paradigm. Results indicate that the overall response time required by balanced bilingual is less than that of Hindi dominant bilinguals. It was also found that, Hindi dominant required more reaction time in backward switching in comparison to forward switching. For balanced bilinguals, the difference between forward and backward switching was not found to be significant. The results of this study have been discussed in light of the concept of ‘reactive inhibition’ of the Inhibitory Control Model (ICM).

scholarly journals Language Dominance and Sociolinguistic Experience Are Related to Language Control and Domain-General Monitoring Control: An Investigation in Bilinguals Who Live in a Minority/Majority Sociolinguistic Setting

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruilin Wu ◽  
Esli Struys
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Domain Generality ◽  
Language Control

Bilingual language control in production tasks with language switches is supposed to be linked to domain-general cognitive control. In the present study, we investigated the role of language dominance, measured on a continuous scale, in the relationship between measures of language control elicited through language switching in a picture naming task and non-linguistic cognitive control induced by stimulus-response interference in a Simon task. In our sample of bilinguals who speak both a minority and majority language (language pair of Uyghur-Chinese), the results showed that as bilinguals were more L2-dominant, a pattern of reversed asymmetry switch costs in language control, i.e., larger L2 than L1 switch costs, was observed. Furthermore, the findings showed that recent exposure to the L1 minority language was associated with the change in language switch costs in terms of both response latencies and accuracy rates. This suggests a role for sociolinguistic context in bilingual language control. Concerning cross-domain generality, globally sustained language control was found to be correlated with domain-general monitoring control in response latencies for all bilingual participants. It lends support to the idea that bilinguals tap into monitoring control in the context of language switching. Additionally, the cross-domain overlap was found between two non-equivalent measures (global language control vs. cognitive inhibitory control) in response latencies, specifically for L1-dominant bilinguals. This suggests that language dominance may have an impact on cross-domain generality in language-switching processes.

scholarly journals Assessing the evidence for asymmetrical language switch costs and reversed language dominance effects - a meta analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Gade
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Dominance Effect ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Language Control

Two seemingly counterintuitive phenomena – asymmetrical language switch costs and the reversed language dominance effect – prove to be particularly controversial in the literature on language control. Asymmetrical language switch costs refer to the larger costs for switching into the dominant language compared to switching into the less dominant language, both relative to staying in either one language. The reversed language dominance effect refers to longer reaction times when in the more dominant of the two languages in situations that require frequent language switching (i.e., mixed-language blocks). The asymmetrical language switch costs are commonly taken as an index for processes of transient, reactive inhibitory language control, whereas the reversed language dominance effect is taken as an index for sustained, proactive inhibitory language control. In the present meta-analysis, we set out to establish the empirical evidence for these two phenomena using a Bayesian linear mixed effects modelling approach. Despite the observation of both phenomena in some studies, our results suggest that overall, there is little evidence for the generality and robustness of these two effects, and this holds true even when conditions – such as language proficiency and preparation time manipulations – were included as moderators of these phenomena. We conclude that asymmetrical switch costs and the reversed language dominance effect are important for theory development, but their utility for theory testing is limited due to their lack of robustness and the absence of confirmed moderatory variables.

The influenced factors of bilinguals' language switching costs

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 1469
Author(s):  
Xin CHANG ◽  
He BAI ◽  
Pei WANG
Keyword(s):  
Switching Costs ◽  
Language Switching

A Psychometric Approach to Heritage Language Studies

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-210
Author(s):  
Irina Sekerina
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Standardized Assessment ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
The Core ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Language Studies ◽  
Ultimate Attainment ◽  
Effect Of Age

The central goal of the heritage language (HL) curriculum is to facilitate ultimate attainment of the language by advanced speakers. However, the field of HL studies faces a problem in how to accurately and efficiently identify and measure weaknesses and strengths of advanced HL speakers on their way to ultimate attainment. So far, only the age of arrival to the country where the dominant language is spoken has been formally investigated as the most critical factor that influences full professional proficiency and ultimate attainment of the HL. The field of HL studies needs to embrace a formal psychometric approach that will allow us to go beyond the effect of age of arrival to uncover contributions of other naturally occurring factors, i.e., genetic, physiological, cognitive, developmental and environmental. At the core of this approach lies a comprehensive standardized assessment of (a) proficiency in HL and (b) general cognitive abilities.

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