TY  - JOUR
A1  - Festman, Julia
T1  - Language control abilities of late bilinguals
JF  - Bilingualism : language and cognition.
N2  - Although all bilinguals encounter cross-language interference (CLI), some bilinguals are more susceptible to interference than others. Here, we report on language performance of late bilinguals (Russian/German) on two bilingual tasks (interview, verbal fluency), their language use and switching habits. The only between-group difference was CLI: one group consistently produced significantly more errors of CLI on both tasks than the other (thereby replicating our findings from a bilingual picture naming task). This striking group difference in language control ability can only be explained by differences in cognitive control, not in language proficiency or language mode.
KW  - language control
KW  - language proficiency
KW  - interference
KW  - error analysis
KW  - language mode
KW  - switching attitude
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728911000344
SN  - 1366-7289
VL  - 15
IS  - 3
SP  - 580
EP  - 593
PB  - Cambridge Univ. Press
CY  - New York
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Festman, Julia
A1  - Muente, Thomas F.
T1  - Cognitive control in Russian-German bilinguals
JF  - Frontiers in psychology
N2  - Bilingual speakers are faced with the problem to keep their languages apart, but do so with interindividually varying success. Cognitive control abilities might be an important factor to explain such interindividual differences. Here we compare two late, balanced and highly proficient bilingual groups (mean age 24 years, L1 Russian, L2 German) which were established according to their language control abilities on a bilingual picture-naming task. One group had difficulties to remain in the instructed target language and switched unintentionally to the non-target language ("switchers"), whereas the other group rarely switched unintentionally ("non-switchers"). This group-specific behavior could not be explained by language background, socio-cultural, or demographic variables. Rather, the non-switchers also demonstrated a faster and better performance on four cognitive control tests (Tower of Hanoi, Ruff Figural Fluency Test, Divided Attention, Go/Nogo). Here, we focus on two additional executive function tasks, theWisconsin Card SortingTest (WCST) and the Flanker task requiring conflict monitoring and conflict resolution. Non-switchers outperformed switchers with regard to speed and accuracy, and were better at finding and applying the correct rules in the WCST. Similarly, in the Flanker task non-switchers performed faster and better on conflict trials and had a higher correction rate following an error. Event-related potential recordings furthermore revealed a smaller error-related negativity in the non-switchers, taken as evidence for a more efficient self-monitoring system. We conclude that bilingual language performance, in particular switching behavior, is related to performance on cognitive control tasks. Better cognitive control, including conflict monitoring, results in decreased unintentional switching.
KW  - Flanker task
KW  - ERN
KW  - Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
KW  - conflict monitoring
KW  - inhibition
KW  - late bilinguals
KW  - cognitive control
KW  - executive function
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00115
SN  - 1664-1078
VL  - 3
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  -