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Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Prior research has put forward that asymmetrical switch costs in language switching do not occur when bilinguals are in a voluntary language-switching context. While several studies have provided evidence along these lines, two very recent studies have put this into question. This study further investigates the possibility that voluntary language switching abolishes asymmetrical switch costs. Design/methodology/approach: We presented German-English bilinguals (n = 79) with pictures that had to be named in either German or English, whichever they chose, by typing. Data and analysis: Reaction times (both the latency of the first keystroke and interkeystroke intervals) were analyzed using linear mixed-effects regression modeling with the factors Trial type (switch vs. repetition trial) and Language (German vs. English), whereas the error rates were analyzed using logistic mixed-effects regression modeling. Findings/conclusions: The onset latencies and inter-keystroke intervals both showed larger second-language (English) than first-language (German) switch costs (i.e., reversed asymmetrical switch costs). As switch costs were modulated by language dominance in a voluntary language-switching context, this study provides evidence that voluntary language switching is not a boundary condition for asymmetrical switch costs. Originality: In contrast to most previous language-switching studies, we used typed rather than vocal responses in a voluntary language-switching paradigm. In addition, our findings further support and generalize very recent findings of (reversed) asymmetrical switch costs in voluntary language switching. Significance/implications: Since asymmetrical switch costs, an important measure of bilingual inhibitory control, are not consistently observed throughout the language-switching literature, it is essential to understand its boundary conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speaking two or more languages shows bilingual flexibility, but flexible switching requires language control and often incurs performance costs. We examined inhibitory control assessing n − 2 repetition costs when switching three languages (L1 [German], L2 [English], L3 [French]). These costs denote worse performance in n − 2 repetitions (e.g., L2–L3–L2) than in n − 2 nonrepetitions (e.g., L1–L3–L2), indicating persisting inhibition. In two experiments (n = 28 in Experiment 1; n = 44 in Experiment 2), n − 2 repetition costs were observed, but only for L2. Looking into L2 trials specifically, we found n − 2 repetition costs when switching back to L2 from the still weaker L3 but not when returning from the stronger L1, suggesting that L2 is a strong competitor for L3 (requiring L2 inhibition) but less so for L1. Finding n − 2 repetition costs supports an inhibitory account of language control in general, but our study shows only partial evidence for the theoretically assumed more specific relation between language dominance and language inhibition (i.e., only for dominance relations with respect to L1 and L3 when switching back to L2). Taken together, the findings thus suggest the need for further refinement of the concept of language dominance and its relation to inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two grammatical decision experiments, we used fast-priming as a novel method for uncovering the syntactic processes involved in written sentence comprehension while limiting the influence of strategic processes. Targets were sequences of four words that could be grammatically correct or not. Targets (e.g. they see the moon) were preceded by the brief (170 ms) presentation of four types of prime: (1) same syntactic structure / same verb (you see a friend); (2) same structure / different verb (she writes a book); (3) different structure / same verb (he sees him now); or (4) different structure / different verb (stay in our hotel). Same structure primes facilitated decisions to grammatical targets in error rates, and this effect did not significantly interact with the facilitatory effect of a shared verb. These results provide evidence for structural priming of sentence reading in conditions that greatly limit any role for strategic processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several, but not all, models of language control assume that highly proficient bilinguals implement little to no inhibition during bilingual language production. In the current study, we tested this assumption with a less equivocal marker of inhibition (i.e., n-2 language repetition costs) than previous language switching studies have. N-2 language repetition costs denote worse performance when switching back to a recently abandoned language (i.e., worse performance in ABA language sequences than CBA sequences, where A, B, and C refer to different languages). Whereas this marker has solely been used to investigate second-language learners in prior studies, we examined highly proficient bilinguals. The results showed that substantial n-2 language repetition costs can be observed with highly proficient bilinguals. Moreover, this inhibition effect was substantial for all 3 languages, but larger for the 2 dominant languages (Turkish and German) relative to the less proficient language (English). These findings indicate that even highly proficient bilinguals implement inhibition to restrict language production to the target language.

The current study systematically examined the influence of sequential predictability of languages and concepts on language switching. To this end, 2 language switching paradigms were combined. To measure language switching with a random sequence of languages and/or concepts, we used a language switching paradigm that implements visual cues and stimuli. The other paradigm implements a fixed sequence of languages and/or concepts to measure predictable language switching. Four experiments that used these 2 paradigms showed that switch costs were smaller when both the language and concept were predictably known, whereas no overall switch cost reduction was found when just the language or concept was predictable. These results indicate that knowing both language and concept (i.e., response) can resolve language interference. However, interference resolution does not start solely based on the knowledge of which concept or language one has to produce. We discuss how existent models should be revised to accommodate these results.

To investigate bilingual language control, prior language switching studies presented visual objects, which had to be named in different languages, typically indicated by a visual cue. The present study examined language switching of predictable responses by introducing a novel sequence-based language switching paradigm. In 4 experiments, sequential responses (i.e., weekdays, numbers or new sequences) and an alternating language sequence (e.g., L1-L1-L2-L2) were implemented, both of which were memory based. Our data revealed switch costs, showing that a language switch is associated with worse performance compared with a language repetition, and mixing costs, which constitutes the performance difference between pure and mixed language blocks, even while producing entirely predictable responses (i.e., language and concept). Additionally, we found these switch costs with overlearned and new sequences and found that switch costs were reduced with longer preparation time. The obtained data are consistent with a proactive interference account, such as the inhibitory control model.

To achieve fluent language processing as a bilingual, a dominant theoretical framework assumes that the nontarget language is inhibited. This assumption is based on several empirical effects that are typically explained with inhibitory control. In the current article, we discuss four prominent effects linked to bilingual inhibition in language production (i.e., asymmetrical switch costs, n−2 language repetition costs, reversed language dominance, and the blocked language order effect). We argue that these effects require more empirical examination in order to arrive at a firmer basis for the assumption that inhibition plays a major role during bilingual language control. In particular, the empirical replicability of the phenomena themselves needs to be established more firmly, the underlying theoretical assumptions need further examination, and the alternative explanations of the empirical effects need to be scrutinized. In turn, we conclude that inhibitory control may provide a coherent framework for bilingual language production while outlining the challenges that the inhibition account still needs to face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]