Predicting executive functions in bilinguals using ecologically valid measures of code-switching behavior

Hofweber, J., Marinis, T. and Treffers-Daller, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6575-6736 (2018) Predicting executive functions in bilinguals using ecologically valid measures of code-switching behavior. In: Miller, D., Rothman, J., Serratrice, L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5141-6186, Miller, D., Bayram, F., Rothman, J. and Serratrice, L. (eds.) Bilingual Cognition and Language. The State of the Science Across its Subfields:. Studies in Bilingualism. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, pp. 181-205. ISBN 9789027264541 doi: 10.1075/sibil.54

Abstract/Summary

One of the factors claimed to impact on executive functions in bilinguals is code-switching. New insights into how exactly code-switching affects executive functions can be obtained if attention is paid to the kind of code-switching bilinguals engage in, and not just the frequency of code-switching. This raises the question how code-switching habits can be assessed in experimental research. This study presents two ecologically valid, yet efficient, methods of assessing code-switching habits: a frequency judgement task based on authentic stimuli, and a bilingual email production task. The two tasks converged in revealing differences in Dense code-switching in two groups of German-English bilinguals. Moreover, the frequency judgement task predicted code-switching frequency in the ecologically more valid email production task. Importantly, both tasks revealed code-switching patterns that explained group differences observed in executive performance. The bilinguals engaging in frequent Dense code-switching excelled at the aspect of executive functions (conflict-monitoring) predicted to be related to code-switching based on existing processing models. Hence, both methods are recommended for use as code-switching measurements in bilingualism research.

Item Type	Book or Report Section
URI	https://reading-pure-test.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/81305
Identification Number/DOI	10.1075/sibil.54
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Central Services Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Clinical Language Sciences Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Literature and Languages > English Language and Applied Linguistics
Publisher	John Benjamins
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