The relative balance between languages predicts the degree of engagement of global language control

Casado, Alba; Szewczyk, Jakub; Wolna, Agata; Wodniecka, Zofia

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105169

Cited by 11 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…We are unsure why we did not see effects of global inhibition as detected in prior studies (Casado et al, 2022;Degani et al, 2020;Kreiner & Degani, 2015;Wodniecka et al, 2020). It could be that the engagement of global control is stronger with a greater imbalance between the languages (Casado et al, 2022) -and for most of our participants, it is common in daily life to use both languages. Our methodology may also not have been sensitive enough to detect (the likely more subtle) global effects.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

The temporal dynamics of bilingual language control

et al. 2022

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Bilinguals need to control interference from the nontarget language, to avoid saying words in the wrong language. This study investigates how often bilinguals apply such control in a dual-language mode, when speaking one language after the other when the two languages cannot be used interchangeably: over and over (every time they say a word), or only once (the first time they use a word or language after a language switch). Three groups of Spanish-English bilinguals named pictures first in their dominant, then in their nondominant, and then again in their dominant language; a fourth control group of bilinguals named pictures in their dominant language throughout. The study targeted language control aftereffects on the dominant language after nondominant naming, typically assumed to reflect recovery from previously applied inhibition. If the dominant language is inhibited every time a nondominant word is produced, subsequent dominant-language naming latencies should increase in proportion to the number of pictures previously named in the nondominant language. We found, however, that the number of nondominant picture-naming trials did not affect subsequent naming latencies in the dominant language, despite ample statistical power to detect such effects if they existed. The results suggest that, in a dual-language mode, bilingual (inhibitory) control is applied over a word’s translation upon the word’s first mention but not over and over with subsequent repetitions. This conclusion holds true equally for inhibitory and non-inhibitory language control mechanisms. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.3758/s13423-022-02168-z.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

The temporal dynamics of bilingual language control

et al. 2022

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“…While these accounts provide plausible explanations of this effect, no univocal evidence in favor or against these interpretations has been provided (Casado et al, 2022; Wodniecka, Szewczyk, et al, 2020; Declerck & Koch, 2022). All available accounts of the L2 after-effect build on a common theoretical assumption that the difficulty in producing words in L1 after using L2 is a consequence of a control mechanism that changes the balance between the relative activation of L1 and L2 representations (Casado et al, 2022; for a discussion see Declerck & Koch, 2022). Importantly, according to these accounts the change in L1-L2 balance results in increased interference between the two languages that persists for some time after the speaker switches back to speaking in L1 (Casado et al, 2022), which, in turn, increases the difficulty of access and selection of (a) lexico-semantic representations (e.g., Casado et al, 2022) and/or (b) phonological representations and articulatory programs of L1 (e.g., Guo et al, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…second, to zoom in to the specific process that may underlie difficulties in L1 production following L2 use, namely lexical retrieval difficulty (Casado et al, 2022), articulatory difficulty (Guo et al, 2011), and increased interference between languages (Branzi et al, 2014). We addressed these questions by using fMRI and a set of functional localizers, which -to the best of our knowledge -is an approach that has not been used before in studies exploring the mechanisms of language control in bilinguals.…”

Section: Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To address the limitations of experimental designs previously used to measure the L2 after-effect, we used a within-participant design that carefully controlled for the effects of the preceding language context as well as for possible effects of task order and fatigue. The exact paradigm used in the current study was also tested in a series of behavioral studies (for a discussion see: Casado et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracking components of bilingual language control in speech production: an fMRI study using functional localizers

Wolna

Szewczyk

Diaz

et al. 2023

Preprint

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When bilingual speakers switch back to speaking in their native language (L1) after having used their second language (L2), they often experience difficulty in retrieving words in their L1: this phenomenon is referred to as the L2 after-effect. We used the L2 after-effect as a lens to explore the neural bases of bilingual language control mechanisms. Our goal was twofold: first, to explore whether bilingual language control draws on domain-general or language-specific mechanisms; second, to investigate the precise mechanism(s) that drive the L2 after-effect. We used a precision fMRI approach based on functional localizers to measure the extent to which the brain activity that reflects the L2 after-effect overlaps with the language network (Fedorenko et al., 2010) and the domain-general Multiple Demand network (Duncan et al., 2010), as well as three task-specific networks that tap into interference resolution, lexical retrieval, and articulation. Forty-two Polish-English bilinguals participated in the study. Our results show that the L2 after-effect reflects increased engagement of domain-general but not language-specific resources. Furthermore, contrary to previously proposed interpretations, we did not find evidence that the effect reflects increased difficulty related to lexical access, articulation, and the resolution of lexical interference. We propose that difficulty in speech production - manifested as the L2 after-effect - reflects interference at a non-linguistic level of task schemas or a general increase of engagement of cognitive control in speech production in L1 after L2.

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“…However, acknowledging the reality of individual differences requires a shift in research focus away from asking whether group X (lacking variable Z) and Y (having some type of variable Z) are different to determining the conditions under which variable Z might have an effect on a gradientin what constitutes our domain of inquiry, determining the subset of bilinguals for which experience reaches a threshold where an effect should obtain (Grundy, 2020;Rothman, Bayram, DeLuca, Di Pisa, Duñabeitia, Gharibi, Hao, Kolb, Kubota, Kupisch, Laméris, Luque, A, van Osch, Pereira Soares, Prystauka, Tat, Tomić, Voits & Wulff, 2022). Indeed, recent work has shown the utility of treating bilingualism as a spectrum of individual dual language experiences whereby bilingual engagement itself associates with the very existence and degree of effects for individuals (e.g., Casado, Szewczyk, Wolna & Wodniecka, 2022;DeLuca, Rothman, Bialystok & Pliatsikas, 2019;Tiv, O'Regan & Titone, 2021;Treffers-Daller, Ongun, Hofweber & Korenar, 2020). Because existing meta-analyses have not (yet) been done with the above in mind, what can actually be concluded from them is not entirely clear (Leivada et al, 2021b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On trade-offs in bilingualism and moving beyond the Stacking the Deck fallacy

et al. 2022

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Despite a meteoric rise, results in the cognitive science of bilingualism present with significant inconsistency. In parallel, there is a striking absence of an ecologically valid theory within bilingualism research. How should one interpret the totality of available data that can pull in opposing directions? To proceed, we need to identify which practices impede progression. Hitherto, we bring to the fore an undiscussed practice, contextualizing how it impacts the ability to embed the available results into an overarching theory. We suggest that a stacking the deck fallacy – the tendency to engage differently with available evidence, directing focus to specific sub-samples – hampers theory formation. We put forth a proposal for making progress, building on the premise that what is lacking in the field is a unifying perspective that reconciles seemingly contradictory results. We suggest that the necessary shift of perspective towards progress crucially entails linking the notions of spectrum and trade-off.

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The relative balance between languages predicts the degree of engagement of global language control

Cited by 11 publications

References 47 publications

The temporal dynamics of bilingual language control

The temporal dynamics of bilingual language control

Tracking components of bilingual language control in speech production: an fMRI study using functional localizers

On trade-offs in bilingualism and moving beyond the Stacking the Deck fallacy

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