Trilinguals’ language switching
- The goal of this study was to determine how trilinguals select the language they intend to use in a language switching context. Two accounts are examined: (a) a language-specific account, according to which language selection considers the activation level of words of the intended language only (i.e., language co-activation without language competition), and (b) a language non-specific account, where activated words from both the intended and non-intended languages compete for selection (i.e., language co-activation with language competition). Results showed that, in both groups, all three languages competed for selection and that selection was achieved by inhibiting the currently non-relevant languages. Moreover, extending findings from previous research, the study reveals that, in both Experiments 1 and 2, the amount of inhibition was influenced not only by language proficiency but also by the typological similarity between languages. Overall, the study shows that language switching performance can be accounted for by a strategicThe goal of this study was to determine how trilinguals select the language they intend to use in a language switching context. Two accounts are examined: (a) a language-specific account, according to which language selection considers the activation level of words of the intended language only (i.e., language co-activation without language competition), and (b) a language non-specific account, where activated words from both the intended and non-intended languages compete for selection (i.e., language co-activation with language competition). Results showed that, in both groups, all three languages competed for selection and that selection was achieved by inhibiting the currently non-relevant languages. Moreover, extending findings from previous research, the study reveals that, in both Experiments 1 and 2, the amount of inhibition was influenced not only by language proficiency but also by the typological similarity between languages. Overall, the study shows that language switching performance can be accounted for by a strategic and flexible inhibitory account. In particular, the controlling system is “strategic” in the sense that it aims at preventing potential conflicting situations, such as typological closeness between languages, and it is “flexible” in that it adjusts languages’ activation levels, depending on the conflict to be solved.…
Author details: | Michela MoscaORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021818763537 |
ISSN: | 1747-0218 |
ISSN: | 1747-0226 |
Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29471709 |
Title of parent work (English): | The quarterly journal of experimental psychology |
Subtitle (English): | A strategic and flexible account |
Publisher: | Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |
Place of publishing: | Abingdon |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2018/03/21 |
Publication year: | 2018 |
Release date: | 2021/03/10 |
Tag: | Language switching; inhibition; language selection; language typology; trilingualism |
Volume: | 72 |
Issue: | 4 |
Number of pages: | 24 |
First page: | 693 |
Last Page: | 716 |
Funding institution: | Erasmus-Mundus Joint Doctoral scheme for "International Doctorate for Experimental Approaches to Language and Brain" (IDEALAB) by the European Commission [2012-0025/2013-1458-EMII EMJD] |
Organizational units: | Zentrale und wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen / Potsdam Research Institute for Multilingualism (PRIM) |
DDC classification: | 4 Sprache / 41 Linguistik / 410 Linguistik |
Peer review: | Referiert |