Language switching in bilingual speech production

Abstract

Recent research on language production suggests that bilinguals shift from using inhibitory control mechanisms to a language-specific selective mechanism during development (Costa, Santesteban, & Ivanova, 2006). Costa et al. argue that the robustness of the L2 lexical representations may be critical to the functionality of a language-specific selective mechanism. Accordingly, in the present study we measured the lexical robustness of a group of 54 English dominant learners of Spanish using a verbal fluency task and investigated its effect on their performance in a picture-naming task with language switches. The results suggest that L2 lexical robustness predicts the shift to a language-specific selective mechanism during speech production. Moreover, we demonstrate a specific threshold of lexical robustness necessary to engage the mechanism.

A review of control processes and their locus in language switching

“…This finding is in line with Filippi et al (2014), who found that asymmetrical switch costs were negatively correlated with L2 proficiency in a word naming task, and Schwieter and Sunderman (2008), who found that switch costs get symmetrical at a certain L2 proficiency threshold (measured by verbal fluency). These studies indicate the importance of language proficiency in language switching and more specifically with regard to asymmetrical switch costs.…”

“…These findings led to acknowledge that some inhibition might be required during bilingual language production of highly proficient bilinguals. Yet, this was only the case in very distinct contexts (see also Schwieter & Sunderman, 2008).…”

“…This specification is theoretically important because several models have assumed that, contrary to second language learners, highly proficient bilinguals require very little to no inhibition (Costa & Santesteban, 2004;Schwieter & Sunderman, 2008). The selection by proficiency model of Schwieter and Sunderman (2008), for example, assumes that language control occurs similarly as the ICM for second language learners, but not for highly proficient bilinguals (see also Costa & Santesteban, 2004). In this model, highly proficient bilinguals rely on language cues, which posit the target language at the concept stage (see also La Heij, 2005).…”

“…Yet, there seems to be a divide among these models with respect to the functional locus or loci that they propose. Some models assume that the functional locus of language control can be found at the concept level (La Heij, 2005;Poulisse & Bongaerts, 1994; see also Schwieter & Sunderman (2008) with highly proficient bilinguals). La Heij (2005), for example, assumed that language cues at the concept stage allow for additional activation of the target representation in the correct language.…”

Cognate effect and lexical processing in English-Spanish and Spanish-English bilinguals

“…These studies demonstrate how two (or more) mental lexicons may be stimulated at one time within different processes of language processing. The process of inhibitory control (a process which effectively blocks a non-target language, theorized to occur at less proficient levels of language use -see Schwieter & Sunderman, 2008;Schwieter & Sunderman, 2011;Schwieter, 2013), and language-specific mechanisms models (Schwieter & Sunderman, 2008) have been explored, but research is nowhere near conclusive in this area (Finkbeiner, Almeida, Janssen & Caramazza, 2006). While results are not completely consistent, cognates have served as a useful tool for investigating cross-linguistic influence, and considerable headway has been made in this area of linguistics.…”