This study addressed how bilingual speakers switch between their first and second language when speaking. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and naming latencies were measured while unbalanced German (L1)-Dutch (L2) speakers performed a picture-naming task. Participants named pictures either in their L1 or in their L2 (blocked language conditions), or participants switched between their first and second language unpredictably (mixed language condition). Furthermore, form similarity between translation equivalents (cognate status) was manipulated. A cognate facilitation effect was found for L1 and L2 indicating phonological activation of the non-response language in blocked and mixed language conditions. The ERP data also revealed small but reliable effects of cognate status.
IntroductionBilingual speakers show remarkable flexibility in their ability to control their language output. They can restrict their speech to one language only but also intentionally switch between languages in bilingual settings. The question arises how bilinguals select the intended language and what mechanisms they rely on when switching from one language to the other. Bilinguals vary in proficiency of their second language ranging from very high levels of proficiency (highly proficient bilinguals or balanced bilinguals) to low levels of proficiency (L2 learners and L2 attriters). Even highly proficient bilinguals usually have a dominant and a non-dominant language which is reflected, for instance, in faster picture-naming latencies for their first compared to their second language (e.g., Chen and Leung, 1989;Christoffels et al., 2006;Potter et al., 1984). However, under language switching conditions, this difference in naming latencies between L1 and L2 may disappear or even reverse, with shorter picture-naming latencies for the second than the first language (Costa and Santesteban, 2004;Costa et al., 2006;Meuter and Allport, 1999;Philipp et al., 2006; see also Kroll et al., 2006). Switching between languages may therefore profoundly affect production in the native tongue. In this study, we address intentional language switching and the impact of the bilingual switching context on distinguishing transient and sustained components of language control.