Voluntary Language Switching in the Context of Bilingual Aphasia
Date
2020Author
Grunden, Nicholas
Piazza, Giorgio
García-Sánchez, Carmen
Calabria, Marco
Metadata
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Grunden, N.; Piazza, G.; García-Sánchez, C.; Calabria, M. Voluntary Language Switching in the Context of Bilingual Aphasia. Behav. Sci. 2020, 10, 141.
Abstract
As studies of bilingual language control (BLC) seek to explore the underpinnings of
bilinguals’ abilities to juggle two languages, di erent types of language switching tasks have been
used to uncover switching and mixing e ects and thereby reveal what proactive and reactive control
mechanisms are involved in language switching. Voluntary language switching tasks, where a
bilingual participant can switch freely between their languages while naming, are being utilized more
often due to their greater ecological validity compared to cued switching paradigms. Because this
type of task had not yet been applied to language switching in bilingual patients, our study sought
to explore voluntary switching in bilinguals with aphasia (BWAs) as well as in healthy bilinguals.
In Experiment 1, we replicated previously reported results of switch costs and mixing benefits within
our own bilingual population of Catalan-Spanish bilinguals. With Experiment 2, we compared both
the performances of BWAs as a group and as individuals against control group performance. Results
illustrated a complex picture of language control abilities, indicating varying degrees of association
and dissociation between factors of BLC. Given the diversity of impairments in BWAs’ language
control mechanisms, we highlight the need to examine BLC at the individual level and through the
lens of theoretical cognitive control frameworks in order to further parse out how bilinguals regulate
their language switching.