Language Control and Code-switching

Abstract

Analyses of corpus-based indices of conversational code-switching in bilingual speakers predict the occurrence of intra-sentential code-switches consistent with the joint activation of both languages. Yet most utterances contain no code-switches despite good evidence for the joint activation of both languages even in single language utterances. Varying language activation levels is an insufficient mechanism to explain the variety of language use. We need a model of code-switching, consistent with the joint activation of both languages, which permits the range of language use in bilingual speakers. I treat overt speech as the outcome of a number of competitive processes governed by a set of control processes external to the language networks. In a conversation, the speech of the other person may "trigger" code-switches consistent with bottom-up control. By contrast, the intentions of the speaker may act top-down to set the constraints on language use. Given this dual control perspective, the paper extends the control process model (Green and Wei 2014) to cover a plausible neurocomputational basis for the construction and execution of utterance plans in code-switching. Distinct control states mediate different types of language use with switching frequency as a key parameter in determining the control state for code-switches. The paper considers the nature of these states and their transitions.

Ecological Validity in Bilingualism Research and the Bilingual Advantage

“…Additionally, given the vast imbalance in the amount of research that has been devoted to externally cued language switching, as compared to naturally cued and voluntary switching, greater efforts need to be made to illuminate the latter types of language switching, crucial for obtaining a complete picture of the cognitive mechanisms enabling language switching more generally. In this regard, it is of particular relevance that we both unveil the potential executive demands that may be distributed over time in advance of a code-switch, which could account for speech rate decrease prior to such switches [107], and that we reveal how items from both languages may compete to bind to functional roles in the utterance plan [108].…”

Are All Code-Switches Processed Alike? Examining Semantic v. Language Unexpectancy

“…Over the last decade, interest in the psycholinguistic processes underlying the integration of code-switched speech, defined as the fluid alternation of both languages within the same conversation or in text (Poplack, 1980), has grown rapidly. There are now several reviews dedicated to this topic (Van Hell et al, 2015, 2018Beatty-Martínez et al, 2018;Valdés Kroff et al, 2018) building off of prior and more established work by sociolinguists and structural linguists (see Bullock and Toribio, 2009;Gardner-Chloros, 2009 for comprehensive reviews).…”

“…Specifically, bilinguals who came from environments with little code-switching experience (Spain) showed this early frontal positivity whereas bilinguals from code-switching environments (U.S.) did not. Beatty-Martínez and Dussias interpret the early positivity as indicating an attentional shift from a more competitive to a more cooperative state of bilingualism (see Green and Wei, 2014;Green, 2018 for a corresponding theoretical model).…”

Long-term cognitively challenging experiences modulate metabolite concentrations in the healthy brain: the case of bilingualism

“…As a result, both languages are continuously active at all times irrespective of apparent need or intent. This reality requires an efficient system of control for appropriate selection of one language for comprehension and production alongside simultaneous suppression of the irrelevant language to a low level of idle activation for whenever the other may become needed 28,29 . This constant competition taxes domain general executive control abilities and their underlying brain structures, leading to long-term adaptations in domain general cognition 30 , and in brain function 31 , structure 6 and metabolism 32 .…”