Voluntary Language Switching in the Context of Bilingual Aphasia

Abstract

As studies of bilingual language control (BLC) seek to explore the underpinnings of bilinguals’ abilities to juggle two languages, different types of language switching tasks have been used to uncover switching and mixing effects and thereby reveal what proactive and reactive control mechanisms are involved in language switching. Voluntary language switching tasks, where a bilingual participant can switch freely between their languages while naming, are being utilized more often due to their greater ecological validity compared to cued switching paradigms. Because this type of task had not yet been applied to language switching in bilingual patients, our study sought to explore voluntary switching in bilinguals with aphasia (BWAs) as well as in healthy bilinguals. In Experiment 1, we replicated previously reported results of switch costs and mixing benefits within our own bilingual population of Catalan-Spanish bilinguals. With Experiment 2, we compared both the performances of BWAs as a group and as individuals against control group performance. Results illustrated a complex picture of language control abilities, indicating varying degrees of association and dissociation between factors of BLC. Given the diversity of impairments in BWAs’ language control mechanisms, we highlight the need to examine BLC at the individual level and through the lens of theoretical cognitive control frameworks in order to further parse out how bilinguals regulate their language switching.

Language switching in different contexts and modalities: Response-stimulus interval influences cued-naming but not voluntary-naming or comprehension language-switching costs

“…Freely using two languages might be less demanding than cued language use, as suggested by the faster responses in voluntary than cued picture-naming tasks (e.g., de Bruin, Samuel & Duñabeitia, 2018). Furthermore, freely using two languages might require less (proactive) language control than using one language in single-language contexts (a mixing benefit observed in e.g., de Bruin et al, 2018;Grunden, Piazza, García-Sánchez & Calabria, 2020;and partially in e.g., Gollan & Ferreira, 2009).…”

Processing of semantic and grammatical gender in Spanish speakers with aphasia

“…Consistently, Grunden et al (2020) explored voluntary language switching in bilingual aphasia and demonstrated that PWA with the same aphasia diagnosis have varied and sometimes even opposite types of language control issues. We compared PWA's performance to non-braindamaged controls and showed that, in most cases, PWA performance was in line with that of the control participants (see Fig.…”

Processing of semantic and grammatical gender in Spanish speakers with aphasia

“…Consistently, Grunden et al (2020) explored voluntary language switching in bilingual aphasia and demonstrated that PWA with the same aphasia diagnosis have varied and sometimes even opposite types of language control issues. We compared PWA's performance to non-braindamaged controls and showed that, in most cases, PWA performance was in line with that of the control participants (see Fig.2 and Fig.5).…”