Language switching in bilingual speech production

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Schwieter ◽  
Gretchen Sunderman
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Verbal Fluency Task ◽  
Lexical Representations ◽  
English Dominant ◽  
Fluency Task ◽  
Selective Mechanism ◽  
Inhibitory Control Mechanisms

Recent research on language production suggests that bilinguals shift from using inhibitory control mechanisms to a language-specific selective mechanism during development (Costa, Santesteban, & Ivanova, 2006). Costa et al. argue that the robustness of the L2 lexical representations may be critical to the functionality of a language-specific selective mechanism. Accordingly, in the present study we measured the lexical robustness of a group of 54 English dominant learners of Spanish using a verbal fluency task and investigated its effect on their performance in a picture-naming task with language switches. The results suggest that L2 lexical robustness predicts the shift to a language-specific selective mechanism during speech production. Moreover, we demonstrate a specific threshold of lexical robustness necessary to engage the mechanism.

scholarly journals Transient perturbation of the left temporal cortex evokes plasticity-related reconfiguration of the lexical network

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Klaus ◽  
Dennis J.L.G. Schutter ◽  
Vitória Piai
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Semantic Network ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Control Mechanisms

Language impairment is common after left-hemisphere damage. However, the involvement of perilesional and homologous contralateral regions in compensating for left-sided lesions remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine acute organizational changes in brain activity related to conceptual and lexical retrieval in unimpaired language production following transient disruption of the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG). In a randomized singleblind within-subject experiment, we recorded the electroencephalogram from sixteen healthy participants during a context-driven picture-naming task. Prior to the task, the left MTG was perturbed with real neuronavigated continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) or sham stimulation. During the task, participants read lead-in sentences that created a constraining (e.g. “The farmer milks the”) or non-constraining context (e.g. “The farmer buys the”). The last word was shown as a picture that participants had to name (e.g. “cow”). Replicating behavioral studies, participants were overall faster in naming pictures following a constraining relative to a non-constraining context, but this effect did not differ between real and sham cTBS. Real cTBS, however, increased overall error rates compared to sham cTBS. In line with previous studies, we observed a decrease in alpha-beta (8-24 Hz) oscillatory power for constraining relative to non-constraining contexts over left temporal-parietal cortex after participants received sham cTBS. However, following real cTBS, this decrease extended towards left prefrontal regions associated with both domain-general and domain-specific control mechanisms. Our findings provide evidence that immediately after the disruption of the left MTG, the lexical-semantic network is able to quickly reconfigure, also recruiting domain-general regions.

scholarly journals Inner versus Overt Speech Production: Does This Make a Difference in the Developing Brain?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 939
Author(s):  
Franziska Stephan ◽  
Henrik Saalbach ◽  
Sonja Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Inner Speech ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Preparation Phase ◽  
Overt Speech

Studies in adults showed differential neural processing between overt and inner speech. So far, it is unclear whether inner and overt speech are processed differentially in children. The present study examines the pre-activation of the speech network in order to disentangle domain-general executive control from linguistic control of inner and overt speech production in 6- to 7-year-olds by simultaneously applying electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Children underwent a picture-naming task in which the pure preparation of a subsequent speech production and the actual execution of speech can be differentiated. The preparation phase does not represent speech per se but it resembles the setting up of the language production network. Only the fNIRS revealed a larger activation for overt, compared to inner, speech over bilateral prefrontal to parietal regions during the preparation phase. Findings suggest that the children’s brain can prepare the subsequent speech production. The preparation for overt and inner speech requires different domain-general executive control. In contrast to adults, the children’s brain did not show differences between inner and overt speech when a concrete linguistic content occurs and a concrete execution is required. This might indicate that domain-specific executive control processes are still under development.

scholarly journals Illusory vowels in Spanish–English sequential bilinguals: Evidence that accurate L2 perception is neither necessary nor sufficient for accurate L2 production

2019 ◽  
pp. 026765831988662
Author(s):  
Esther de Leeuw ◽  
Linnaea Stockall ◽  
Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga ◽  
Celia Gorba Masip
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Grammatical Knowledge ◽  
Verbal Fluency Task ◽  
L2 Production ◽  
L2 Perception ◽  
Fluency Task

Spanish native speakers are known to pronounce onset /sC/ clusters in English with a prothetic vowel, as in esport for sport, due to their native language phonotactic constraints. We assessed whether accurate production of e.g. spi instead of espi was related to accurate perceptual discrimination of this contrast in second language (L2) speech of Spanish–English sequential bilinguals. A same–different discrimination task in stimulus pairs such as spi–espi assessed speech perception and a phonemic verbal fluency task elicited speech production. Logistic mixed model regressions revealed significant differences in accuracy between the bilinguals and the English monolinguals, although some bilinguals performed within the monolingual range. For the production task, but not for the perception task, bilinguals with more exposure to English and greater grammatical knowledge of English performed significantly more accurately than those with less exposure and lower grammatical knowledge. There was no significant correlation between production accuracy and perception accuracy. Through examining phonotactic constraints, these results expand a growing body of research into single sounds which suggests dissociations between L2 perception and production. In contrast to predictions made by L2 speech models, the findings indicate that accurate L2 perception is neither necessary nor sufficient for accurate L2 production, and instead are interpreted to indicate that the two capacities recruit different executive control mechanisms and are acquired – at least to a certain extent – independently in L2 acquisition.

scholarly journals Cortical Dynamics of Semantic Priming and Interference during Word Production: An Intracerebral Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 978-1001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Royce Anders ◽  
Anaïs Llorens ◽  
Anne-Sophie Dubarry ◽  
Agnès Trébuchon ◽  
Catherine Liégeois-Chauvel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Temporal Window ◽  
Lexical Representations ◽  
Intracerebral Eeg ◽  
Ventral Pathway ◽  
History Of ◽  
Evoked Activity

Language production requires that semantic representations are mapped to lexical representations on the basis of the ongoing context to select the appropriate words. This mapping is thought to generate two opposing phenomena, “semantic priming,” where multiple word candidates are activated, and “interference,” where these word activities are differentiated to make a goal-relevant selection. In previous neuroimaging and neurophysiological research, priming and interference have been associated to activity in regions of a left frontotemporal network. Most of such studies relied on recordings that either have high temporal or high spatial resolution, but not both. Here, we employed intracerebral EEG techniques to explore with both high resolutions, the neural activity associated with these phenomena. The data came from nine epileptic patients who were stereotactically implanted for presurgical diagnostics. They performed a cyclic picture-naming task contrasting semantically homogeneous and heterogeneous contexts. Of the 84 brain regions sampled, 39 showed task-evoked activity that was significant and consistent across two patients or more. In nine of these regions, activity was significantly modulated by the semantic manipulation. It was reduced for semantically homogeneous contexts (i.e., priming) in eight of these regions, located in the temporal ventral pathway as well as frontal areas. Conversely, it was increased only in the pre-SMA, notably at an early poststimulus temporal window (200–300 msec) and a preresponse temporal window (700–800 msec). These temporal effects respectively suggest the pre-SMA's role in initial conflict detection (e.g., increased response caution) and in preresponse control. Such roles of the pre-SMA are traditional from a history of neural evidence in simple perceptual tasks, yet are also consistent with recent cognitive lexicosemantic theories that highlight top–down processes in language production. Finally, although no significant semantic modulation was found in the ACC, future intracerebral EEG work should continue to inspect ACC with the pre-SMA.

scholarly journals EXPRESS: Attention in Post-Lexical Processes of Utterance Production: Dual-Task Cost in Younger and Older Adults

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110341
Author(s):  
Maryll Fournet ◽  
Michaela Pernon ◽  
Sabina Catalano Chiuvé ◽  
Ursula Lopez ◽  
Marina Laganaro
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Verbal Task ◽  
Lexical Selection ◽  
Speech Task ◽  
Verbal Fluency Task ◽  
Dual Task Cost ◽  
Lexical Processes ◽  
Fluency Task

There is a general agreement that speaking requires attention at least for conceptual and lexical processes of utterance production. However, conflicting results have been obtained with dual-task paradigms using either repetition tasks or more generally tasks involving limited loading of lexical selection. This study aimed to investigate whether post-lexical processes recruit attentional resources. We used a new dual-task paradigm in a set of experiments where a continuous verbal production task involved either high or low demand on lexical selection processes. Experiment 1 evaluates lexical and post-lexical processes with a semantic verbal fluency task, whereas experiments 2 and 3 focus on post-lexical processes with a non-propositional speech task. In each experiment, two types of non-verbal secondary tasks were used: processing speed (simple manual reaction times) or inhibition (Go/No-go). In Experiment 1, a dual-task cost was observed on the semantic verbal fluency task and each non-verbal task. In Experiment 2, a dual-task cost appeared on the non-verbal tasks but not on the speech task. The same paradigm was used with older adults (Experiment 3), as increased effort in post-lexical processes has been associated with ageing. For older adults, a dual-task cost was also observed on the non-propositional verbal task when speech was produced with the inhibition non-verbal task. The results suggest an attentional cost on post-lexical processes and strategic effects in the resolution of the dual-task.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document