The Differential Role of Executive Functions in the Cognitive Control of Language Switching

Jared A Linck,Gretchen Sunderman,John W Schwieter

doi:10.3390/languages5020019

Jared A Linck, Gretchen Sunderman + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/languages5020019

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Abstract

Studies of bilingual speech production suggest that different executive functions (EFs) contribute to the cognitive control of language production. However, no study has simultaneously examined the relationship between different EFs and language control during online speech production. The current study examined individual differences in three EFs (working memory updating, inhibitory control, and task-set switching) and their relationship with performance in a trilingual language-switching task for a group of forty-seven native English (L1) speakers learning French (L2) and Spanish (L3). Analyses indicate complex interactions between EFs and language switching: better inhibitory control was related to smaller L1 switch costs, whereas better working memory was related to larger L1 switch costs. Working memory was also related to larger L2 switch costs, but only when switching from L1. These results support theories of cognitive control that implicate both global and local control mechanisms, and suggest unique contributions of each EF to both global and local cognitive control during language switching. Finally, we discuss the implications for theories of multilingual language control.

Highlights

Speech production is inherently guided by top-down control processes—the speech act is initiated by the speaker’s intention to communicate, and speakers monitor their output to ensure alignment with their interlocutors (Levelt 1989).1 during speech, numerous possibilities arise for conflict between competing representations, both within a language (Andrews 1997) and, in the case of multilinguals, between languages (Costa et al 1999; Hermans 2000; Hermans et al 1998; Kroll et al 2006; Schwieter and Sunderman 2009)
Preliminary analyses indicated that the standard Simon effect scores (incongruent trial mean response times (RTs) minus congruent trial mean Response times (RTs)) and task-switching switch cost scores were not normally distributed for this sample
The working memory (WM) and inhibitory control (IC) results of the current study suggest that language switching may reflect at least two components: a repetition benefit, and a switch cost

Summary

Introduction

Speech production is inherently guided by top-down control processes—the speech act is initiated by the speaker’s intention to communicate, and speakers monitor their output to ensure alignment with their interlocutors (Levelt 1989). during speech, numerous possibilities arise for conflict between competing representations, both within a language (Andrews 1997) and, in the case of multilinguals, between languages (Costa et al 1999; Hermans 2000; Hermans et al 1998; Kroll et al 2006; Schwieter and Sunderman 2009). Speech production is inherently guided by top-down control processes—the speech act is initiated by the speaker’s intention to communicate, and speakers monitor their output to ensure alignment with their interlocutors (Levelt 1989).. At multiple levels within the language system, there is a need for cognitive control mechanisms to support multilingual speech production. The extent to which language control for bilinguals overlaps with other non-linguistic processing has been debated for years (e.g., Branzi et al 2016; Calabria et al 2019; Declerck et al 2017; Segal et al 2019). For further reading on speech acts, the reader may wish to consult Austin (1975); Jakobson (1960); Searle (1969); Lotman (1990); Vygotsky (1962), for foundational linguistic, philosophical, and semiotic perspectives; and Levinson (2017, 2018) for cognitive and neurophysiological perspectives.

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