The “work” of being a bilingual: Exploring effects of forced language switching on language production and stress level in a real-world setting

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Research using single-word paradigms has established that forced language switching incurs processing costs for some bilinguals, yet, less research has addressed this phenomenon at the utterance level or considered real-world applications. The current study examined the impacts of forced language switching on spoken output and stress using a simulated virtual meeting. Twenty Spanish–English heritage bilinguals responded to general work-oriented questions in monolingual English (control) or language-switching (experimental) conditions. Responses were analyzed for mean length of utterance (MLU) and type-token-ratio (TTR). Multilevel modeling revealed an interaction effect of Condition (control vs. experimental) and question order on MLU, such that participants in the experimental condition produced significantly shorter utterances by the end of the task. Participants also had significantly lower lexical variation (TTR) overall in the experimental than the control condition. A 2 × 2 ANOVA revealed a significant effect of Condition and an interaction of Task (pre- vs. posttask) and Condition, such that participants in the control condition reported significantly lower stress after the activity. Results demonstrated the impact of a forced switching condition on production at the utterance level. Findings have implications for theory and scenarios in which heritage bilinguals are asked to use multiple languages in the workplace.</jats:p>

Disfluencies in English Speech Produced by Spanish-English Bilinguals

“…The participants attended 2 testing sessions of approximately 1 h each as part of a larger study [39], and they were given a battery of background assessments on language (Spanish and English vocabulary, self-reported daily use) and cognition (executive function, working memory, and nonverbal problem solving) to ensure that they were typically developing, of a comparable language background, and eligible to participate (i.e., heritage Spanish-English bilinguals with comparable language and education history). Eligible participants returned to complete the experiment activity in the second session.…”

Multilingualism at the Market: A Pre-registered Immersive Virtual Reality Study of Bilingual Language Switching

“…Second, other studies have therefore enhanced the ecological validity of the cue that signals which language bilingual participants need to respond with ( Blanco-Elorrieta & Pylkkänen, 2015 ; Hartsuiker, 2015 ; Liu et al, 2019 ; Martin et al, 2016 ; Molnar et al, 2015 ; Peeters, 2020 ; Peeters & Dijkstra, 2018 ; Smith et al, 2020 ; Timmer et al, 2017 ; 2019 ; Woumans et al, 2015 ; Zhang et al, 2015 ). An important cue to language in everyday life may be the face of a familiar interlocutor.…”