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Updated: Jun 12, 2025

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task
Published on: February 26, 2020
Word concreteness modulates bilingual language control during reading comprehension
Junjie Wu1, Hongyu Zhao1, Xinye Wu1
1Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University.
Abstract:
Controversies persist in the literature regarding the existence of bilingual language control during comprehension, which may be attributed to overlooking the modulating effect of word concreteness. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an experiment using abstract and concrete words, thereby manipulating the activation level of the nontarget language. Sixty Chinese-English bilinguals were instructed to switch between two languages in word reading tasks. We found that abstract words (e.g., [correct], wrong) did not show switching costs, indicating no additional time for switching between languages compared to repeating the same language. In contrast, concrete words (e.g., [sunny], rainy) elicited significant larger switching costs. These findings might suggest greater language control demands on the nontarget language when reading more concrete words. This study offers insights into the modulating effect of word concreteness in language processing on bilingual language control during reading comprehension. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
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