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Updated: May 11, 2026
05:31
Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
Published on: February 26, 2020
Whole-language and item-specific control in bilingual language production
Eva Van Assche1, Wouter Duyck, Tamar H Gollan
1Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University.
Summary
Bilinguals show multiple levels of language control. Lexical control affects word recall within categories, while whole-language control may inhibit entire languages, developing in some bilinguals.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Bilingual language control involves managing multiple languages.
- Distinction between whole-language and lexical-level control is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the scope of bilingual language control.
- Differentiate between whole-language and lexical-level control mechanisms.
Main Methods:
- Verbal fluency task with Dutch-English and Chinese-English bilinguals.
- Tested production of same/different categories across languages.
- Picture naming task for Chinese-English bilinguals.
Main Results:
- Reduced dominant language fluency after same-category non-dominant production.
- Testing order effects observed for same and different categories in Chinese-English bilinguals.
- Interference effects suggest multiple inhibitory control levels.
Conclusions:
- Bilingual language production involves multiple inhibitory control levels.
- Verbal fluency task reveals lexical control locus.
- Whole-language control process implied, potentially developing in specific bilinguals.
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