Do accent and input modality modulate processing of language switches in bilingual language comprehension?

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Bilingualism Research

Background:

• Bilingual language switching costs are documented, potentially varying between language production and comprehension.
• Language coactivation and control demands in comprehension may be influenced by factors like speaker accent and input modality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate language switching costs in Mandarin-English bilinguals during language comprehension.
• To examine the influence of speaker accent and input modality on these switching costs.

Main Methods:

• Three experiments were conducted with unbalanced Mandarin-English bilinguals between 2021-2022.
• Participants processed language switches in comprehension tasks.
• Speaker accent (L1 vs. L2) and input modality (spoken vs. written) were manipulated.

Main Results:

• Significant language switching costs were observed across conditions.
• An asymmetry in switching costs was noted, with higher costs for switching to the first language (L1-Mandarin) than the second language (L2-English) in some cases.
• Manipulating speaker accent and input modality did not significantly affect language switching costs.

Conclusions:

• Bilinguals incur language switching costs during comprehension, even when not actively producing language.
• Language control mechanisms are engaged during comprehension, potentially showing asymmetry based on language dominance.
• Speaker accent and input modality, under the tested conditions, did not sufficiently modulate language coactivation to alter language control demands.