Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T18:21:03.774Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Code-Switching patterns differentially shape cognitive control: Testing the predictions of the adaptive control hypothesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2021

Gilaine Ng
Affiliation:
Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore
Hwajin Yang*
Affiliation:
Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore
*
Address for correspondence: Hwajin Yang, E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Bilinguals engage in qualitatively different code-switching patterns (alternation, insertion, and congruent lexicalization) to different degrees, according to their engagement in different types of interactional contexts (single-language context, dual-language context, and dense code-switching context). Drawing on the adaptive control hypothesis, we examined whether bilinguals’ code-switching patterns would differentially shape multiple aspects of cognitive control (interference control, salient cue detection, and opportunistic planning). We found that a dense code-switching context, which predominantly involves insertion and congruent lexicalization, was positively associated with verbal opportunistic planning but negatively associated with interference control and salient cue detection. In contrast, a dual-language context, which predominantly involves alternation, was not associated with interference control or salient cue detection, but with significantly reduced response times for opportunistic planning. Our findings partially corroborate the theoretical predictions of the adaptive control hypothesis. Altogether, our study illustrates the importance of bilinguals’ disparate code-switching practices in shaping cognitive control outcomes.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adler, NE and Stewart, J (2007) The MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status. In Psychosocial Research Notebook. https://macses.ucsf.edu/research/psychosocial/subjective.phpGoogle Scholar
Aman, N, Vaish, V, Bohkorst-Heng, W, Jamaludeen, A, Durgadevi, P, Feng, YY, Khoo, BS, Mardiana, R, Appleyard, P and Tan, TK (2009) The Sociolinguistic Survey of Singapore 2006. Nanyang Institute of Education: Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice.Google Scholar
Backus, A (2015) A usage-based approach to codeswitching: The need for reconciling structure and function. Code-Switching Between Structural and Sociolinguistic Perspectives, 1937.Google Scholar
Backus, A, Extra, G and Verhoeven, L (1998) The intergenerational codeswitching continuum in an immigrant community. In Studies on Language Acquisition. Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Bentahila, A and Davies, EE (1992) Code-switching and Language Dominance. In Harris, RJ (ed.), Advances in Psychology (Vol. 83). North-Holland, pp. 443458. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4115(08)61510-1Google Scholar
Blumenfeld, HK and Marian, V (2013) Parallel language activation and cognitive control during spoken word recognition in bilinguals. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 25, 547567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burgess, P (1997) Theory and methodology in executive function research. In Methodology of Frontal and Executive Function (pp. 81116). Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Burgess, P and Shallice, T (1997) The Hayling and Brixton Tests. Thames Valley Test Company.Google Scholar
Costa, A and Santesteban, M (2004) Lexical access in bilingual speech production: Evidence from language switching in highly proficient bilinguals and L2 learners. Journal of Memory and Language 50, 491511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2004.02.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, JG, LaBoda, A and Mendes, N (2020) “I'm gonna Spanglish it on you”: Self-reported vs. oral production of Spanish–English codeswitching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 23, 446458. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728919000129Google Scholar
de Bruin, A, Bak, TH and Della Sala, S (2015) Examining the effects of active versus inactive bilingualism on executive control in a carefully matched non-immigrant sample. Journal of Memory and Language 85, 1526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dijkstra, T (2005) Bilingual visual word recognition and lexical access. In Kroll, JF & Groot, A. M. B. D. (eds.), Handbook of Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic Approaches. Oxford University Press, pp. 179201.Google Scholar
Fan, J, McCandliss, BD, Sommer, T, Raz, A and Posner, MI (2002) Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 14, 340347. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892902317361886CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedman, NP and Miyake, A (2004) The relations among inhibition and interference control functions: A latent-variable analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General 133, 101135. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.133.1.101CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goh, HH (2017) Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2225-8_3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, DW (1998) Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1, 6781. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728998000133CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, DW and Abutalebi, J (2013) Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 25, 515530. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2013.796377CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, DW and Wei, L (2014) A control process model of code-switching. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 29, 499511. https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2014.882515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hackman, DA, Gallop, R, Evans, GW and Farah, MJ (2015) Socioeconomic status and executive function: Developmental trajectories and mediation. Developmental Science 18, 686702. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartanto, A and Yang, H (2016) Disparate bilingual experiences modulate task-switching advantages: A diffusion-model analysis of the effects of interactional context on switch costs. Cognition 150, 1019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.01.016.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartanto, A and Yang, H (2019a) Does early active bilingualism enhance inhibitory control and monitoring? A propensity-matching analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition 45, 360378. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000581CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartanto, A and Yang, H (2019b) The role of bilingual interactional contexts in predicting interindividual variability in executive functions: A latent variable analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 149, 609633. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes-Roth, B and Hayes-Roth, F (1979) A cognitive model of planning. Cognitive Science 3, 275310. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0364-0213(79)80010-5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hermans, D, Bongaerts, T, De Bot, K and Schreuder, R (1998) Producing words in a foreign language: Can speakers prevent interference from their first language? | Bilingualism: Language and Cognition | Cambridge Core. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1, 213229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofweber, J, Marinis, T and Treffers-Daller, J (2016) Effects of dense code-switching on executive control. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 6, 648668. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.15052.hof.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofweber, J, Marinis, T and Treffers-Daller, J (2019) Predicting executive functions in bilinguals using ecologically valid measures of code-switching behavior. In Bilingualism, Executive Function, and Beyond: Questions and insights (No. 54; Issue 54). John Benjamins, pp. 181205. http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/81305/.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofweber, J, Marinis, T and Treffers-Daller, J (2020a) Experimentally induced language modes and regular code-switching habits boost bilinguals’ executive performance: Evidence from a within-subject paradigm. Frontiers in Psychology 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.542326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofweber, J, Marinis, T and Treffers-Daller, J (2020b) How different code-switching types modulate bilinguals’ executive functions: A dual control mode perspective. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 23, 909925. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728919000804.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huizinga, M, Dolan, CV and van der Molen, MW (2006) Age-related change in executive function: Developmental trends and a latent variable analysis. Neuropsychologia 44, 20172036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.01.010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ikeda, Y, Okuzumi, H and Kokubun, M (2014) Age-related trends of inhibitory control in Stroop-like big-small task in 3 to 12-year-old children and young adults. Frontiers in Psychology 5, 227. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kałamała, P, Szewczyk, J, Chuderski, A, Senderecka, M and Wodniecka, Z (2020) Patterns of bilingual language use and response inhibition: A test of the adaptive control hypothesis. Cognition 204, 104373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuzyk, O, Friend, M, Severdija, V, Zesiger, P and Poulin-Dubois, D (2019) Are there cognitive benefits of code-switching in bilingual children? A longitudinal study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 112. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728918001207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lai, G and O'Brien, BA (2020) Examining Language Switching and Cognitive Control Through the Adaptive Control Hypothesis. Frontiers in Psychology 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01171.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Last, BS, Lawson, GM, Breiner, K, Steinberg, L and Farah, MJ (2018) Childhood socioeconomic status and executive function in childhood and beyond. PLoS ONE 13. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202964.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leimgruber, JRE (2011) Singapore English. Language and Linguistics Compass 5, 4762. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2010.00262.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, P, Zhang, F, Tsai, E and Puls, B (2014) Language history questionnaire (LHQ 2.0): A new dynamic web-based research tool*. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 17, 673680. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728913000606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marian, V, Blumenfeld, HK and Kaushanskaya, M (2007) The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Assessing language profiles in bilinguals and multilinguals. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research: JSLHR 50, 940967. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2007/067).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marian, V and Spivey, M (2003) Competing activation in bilingual language processing: Within- and between-language competition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 6, 97115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miyake, A, Friedman, NP, Emerson, MJ, Witzki, AH, Howerter, A and Wager, TD (2000) The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology 41, 49100. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muysken, P (2000) Bilingual Speech: A Typology of Code-Mixing. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Paap, KR and Greenberg, ZI (2013) There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing. Cognitive Psychology 66, 232258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2012.12.002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pakir, A (1991) The range and depth of English-knowing bilinguals in Singapore. World Englishes 10, 167179. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.1991.tb00149.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pakir, A (1993) Two tongue tied: Bilingualism in Singapore. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 14, 7390. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.1993.9994521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poplack, S (1980) Sometimes I'll start a sentence in Spanish Y TERMINO EN ESPAÑOL: Toward a typology of code-switching1. Linguistics 18, 581618. https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1980.18.7-8.581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulisse, N and Bongaerts, T (1994) First Language Use in Second Language Production. Applied Linguistics 15, 3657. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/15.1.36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prior, A and Gollan, TH (2011) Good Language-Switchers are Good Task-Switchers: Evidence from Spanish–English and Mandarin–English Bilinguals. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 17, 682691.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roca, J, Castro, C, López-Ramón, MF and Lupiáñez, J (2011) Measuring vigilance while assessing the functioning of the three attentional networks: The ANTI-Vigilance task. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 198, 312324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2011.04.014.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sankoff, D and Mainville, S (1986) Code-switching of context-free grammars. Theoretical Linguistics 13, 7590. https://doi.org/10.1515/thli.1986.13.1-2.75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shouhui, Z, Yongbing, L and Huaqing, H (2007) Singaporean Preschoolers’ Oral Competence in Mandarin. Language Policy 6, 7394. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-006-9044-1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics. (2016) General Household Survey 2015. http://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/ghs/ghs2015.Google Scholar
Soveri, A, Rodriguez-Fornells, A and Laine, M (2011) Is There a Relationship between Language Switching and Executive Functions in Bilingualism? Introducing a within group Analysis Approach. Frontiers in Psychology 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanislaw, H and Todorov, N (1999) Calculation of signal detection theory measures. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers 31, 137149. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207704.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tay, KS and Goh, RBH (2003) Reading the Southeast Asian City in the Context of Rapid Economic Growth. In Theorizing the Southeast Asian City as Text (Vol. 1–0, pp. 1327). World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789812791283_0002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomoschuk, B, Ferreira, VS and Gollan, TH (2019) When a seven is not a seven: Self-ratings of bilingual language proficiency differ between and within language populations. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 22, 516536. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728918000421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treffers-Daller, J (2009) Code-switching and transfer: An exploration of similarities and differences. https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/997903/code-switching-and-transfer-an-exploration-of-similarities-and-differences.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treffers-Daller, J, Ongun, Z, Hofweber, J and Korenar, M (2020) Explaining individual differences in executive functions performance in multilinguals: The impact of code-switching and alternating between multicultural identity styles. Frontiers in Psychology 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.561088.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vaish, V (2007) Bilingualism Without Diglossia: The Indian Community in Singapore. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 10, 171187. https://doi.org/10.2167/beb400.0.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Heuven, WJB, Dijkstra, T and Grainger, J (1998) Orthographic Neighborhood Effects in Bilingual Word Recognition. Journal of Memory and Language 39, 458483. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1998.2584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verreyt, N, Woumans, E, Vandelanotte, D, Szmalec, A and Duyck, W (2016) The influence of language-switching experience on the bilingual executive control advantage. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 19, 181190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, JO (2004) The particles of Singapore English: A semantic and cultural interpretation. Journal of Pragmatics 36, 739793. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(03)00070-5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, JO (ed.) (2014a) English in Singapore. In The Culture of Singapore English (pp. 137). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139519519.001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, JO (ed.) (2014b) Making sense of Singlish. In The Culture of Singapore English (pp. 300312). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139519519.010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, S, Yang, H and Hartanto, A (2019) The effects of script variation, literacy skills, and immersion experience on executive attention: A comparison of matched monoscriptal and biscriptal bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 22(1), 142156. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000633.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yow, WQ and Patrycia, F (2015) Challenging the “linguistic incompetency hypothesis” – Code-switching positively impacts on lexical development in bilingual preschoolers. Supplement Proceedings of the 39th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development.Google Scholar
Yow, WQ, Tan, JSH and Flynn, S (2018) Code-switching as a marker of linguistic competence in bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 21, 10751090. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar