Shifting Gear in the Study of the Bilingual Advantage: Language Switching Examined as a Possible Moderator
The bilingual advantage is a heavily debated topic in research on bilingualism. The current study further investigated one specific aspect of bilingualism proposed to be a determining factor for the bilingual advantage, namely language switching behaviour. We investigated whether a bilingual advanta...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-08-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/9/8/86 |
| _version_ | 1819082218202464256 |
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| author | Evy Woumans Shauni Van Herck Esli Struys |
| author_facet | Evy Woumans Shauni Van Herck Esli Struys |
| author_sort | Evy Woumans |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The bilingual advantage is a heavily debated topic in research on bilingualism. The current study further investigated one specific aspect of bilingualism proposed to be a determining factor for the bilingual advantage, namely language switching behaviour. We investigated whether a bilingual advantage can be detected in the executive functions of inhibition and shifting by comparing monolingual and bilingual participants on a Simon task and a colour−shape switching task. Furthermore, we examined the relation between these executive functions and language switching proficiency, as measured by a semantic verbal fluency task. In addition, the current study set out to investigate the convergence of self-reported language switching estimates and actual language switching proficiency. Results revealed a bilingual advantage for shifting, but not for inhibition. However, this bilingual advantage for shifting was not related to language switching behaviour. Additionally, we were unable to identify a relation between objective and subjective measures of switching abilities. These findings seem to confirm the existence of a bilingual advantage, but also once again validate its elusiveness, as demonstrated by the absence of bilingual benefits on our measure of inhibition. It furthermore questions the validity of switching measures employed in previous studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T20:13:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-417e84f01497499e9ac0650ce92fa71b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T20:13:10Z |
| publishDate | 2019-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-417e84f01497499e9ac0650ce92fa71b2022-12-21T18:51:42ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2019-08-01988610.3390/bs9080086bs9080086Shifting Gear in the Study of the Bilingual Advantage: Language Switching Examined as a Possible ModeratorEvy Woumans0Shauni Van Herck1Esli Struys2Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumOnderzoeksgroep Experimentele Oto-rino-laryngologie, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, BelgiumBrussels Institute for Applied Linguistics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, BelgiumThe bilingual advantage is a heavily debated topic in research on bilingualism. The current study further investigated one specific aspect of bilingualism proposed to be a determining factor for the bilingual advantage, namely language switching behaviour. We investigated whether a bilingual advantage can be detected in the executive functions of inhibition and shifting by comparing monolingual and bilingual participants on a Simon task and a colour−shape switching task. Furthermore, we examined the relation between these executive functions and language switching proficiency, as measured by a semantic verbal fluency task. In addition, the current study set out to investigate the convergence of self-reported language switching estimates and actual language switching proficiency. Results revealed a bilingual advantage for shifting, but not for inhibition. However, this bilingual advantage for shifting was not related to language switching behaviour. Additionally, we were unable to identify a relation between objective and subjective measures of switching abilities. These findings seem to confirm the existence of a bilingual advantage, but also once again validate its elusiveness, as demonstrated by the absence of bilingual benefits on our measure of inhibition. It furthermore questions the validity of switching measures employed in previous studies.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/9/8/86bilingual advantageexecutive controllanguage switchingshiftinginhibitionself-reports |
| spellingShingle | Evy Woumans Shauni Van Herck Esli Struys Shifting Gear in the Study of the Bilingual Advantage: Language Switching Examined as a Possible Moderator Behavioral Sciences bilingual advantage executive control language switching shifting inhibition self-reports |
| title | Shifting Gear in the Study of the Bilingual Advantage: Language Switching Examined as a Possible Moderator |
| title_full | Shifting Gear in the Study of the Bilingual Advantage: Language Switching Examined as a Possible Moderator |
| title_fullStr | Shifting Gear in the Study of the Bilingual Advantage: Language Switching Examined as a Possible Moderator |
| title_full_unstemmed | Shifting Gear in the Study of the Bilingual Advantage: Language Switching Examined as a Possible Moderator |
| title_short | Shifting Gear in the Study of the Bilingual Advantage: Language Switching Examined as a Possible Moderator |
| title_sort | shifting gear in the study of the bilingual advantage language switching examined as a possible moderator |
| topic | bilingual advantage executive control language switching shifting inhibition self-reports |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/9/8/86 |
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