Does switching languages change bilinguals' self-control on the fly?
German-dominant bilinguals living in the UK did slightly better on an attention-control task after reading English-only sentences than after reading sentences that mixed German and English.
Source
Experimentally Induced Language Modes and Regular Code-Switching Habits Boost Bilinguals' Executive Performance: Evidence From a Within-Subject Paradigm
Study at a glance
- Design
- Human experiment — Flanker task blocks interleaved with single-language English sentences or one of four code-switching types (within-subject, partially counterbalanced), plus a bilingual-vs-monolingual comparison on the single-language block and exploratory stepwise regressions on code-switching habits and dominance
- N
- N=58 · 29 German-English bilinguals completed all five conditions; 29 matched English monolinguals completed only the single-language block, in a different task order
- Population
- Adult first-generation German immigrants to the UK who were L1-German dominant, and matched functionally monolingual English speakers
- Outcome
- Flanker reaction times, accuracy and the conflict effect (incongruent minus congruent) in each language-mode block; self-rated frequency of four code-switching types
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What they did
Twenty-nine German-English bilinguals did an arrow flanker task in five blocks; before each flanker trial they read a sentence that was either all English or contained one type of code-switching (alternation, English words inserted into German, German words inserted into English, or dense mixing). They also rated how often they use each code-switching type and completed dominance, proficiency, memory and IQ measures. Twenty-nine matched English monolinguals did only the English-sentence block, and stepwise regressions explored which personal factors predicted performance in each block.
What they found
Bilinguals responded faster in the English-only block than in the mixed-language blocks on average, and their accuracy on conflict trials was higher there, so the English-only context seemed to boost control, as predicted from having to suppress dominant German. In that block, bilinguals showed almost no accuracy conflict effect while monolinguals showed a normal one, though reaction times did not differ between groups. Differences among the four code-switching blocks were only marginal. In exploratory regressions, more balanced bilinguals did better at inhibition across the mixed blocks, and frequent dense code-switchers did worse in the English-only and alternation blocks.
The limits
What it doesn't show
The samples were small, and the authors themselves urge caution. Accuracy was near ceiling, so the key bilingual-monolingual accuracy difference rests on very small effects, and some regression results were driven by a handful of participants. Monolinguals took the verbal flanker block fourth, after three other flanker tasks, so the group comparison is confounded by task order. Many stepwise regressions were run on small groups, raising the risk of chance findings, and code-switching habits were self-rated; the study also had no dual-language (between-sentence switching) condition, so it cannot test all model predictions.
Key terms
- Code-switching
- Mixing two languages within a conversation or a single sentence.
- Flanker task
- A task where you respond to the direction of a central arrow while ignoring surrounding arrows that may point the other way.
- Conflict effect
- The drop in speed or accuracy on incongruent flanker trials compared with congruent ones, used as a measure of inhibitory control.
- Language dominance
- The degree to which one of a bilingual's languages is stronger or used more than the other.
- Reactive vs. proactive control
- Reactive control suppresses interference when it arises; proactive control keeps competing options active and monitors them in advance.
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Quiz yourself
In which block did bilinguals show the best inhibitory accuracy?
Common questions
Why would reading sentences change performance on an arrow task?
The idea is that the control mode needed to process the sentences, such as suppressing German while reading English, carries over briefly to the non-verbal task.
Does this show bilinguals have better executive function than monolinguals?
Only weakly. The difference appeared in near-ceiling accuracy, not in reaction times, and the groups did the task in a different order, so it is not strong evidence of a general bilingual advantage.
Why do earlier studies find the opposite pattern?
Previous studies often tested balanced bilinguals or used different mixing designs; these participants were strongly German-dominant, so suppressing German during English-only reading may be especially demanding.
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