Recognizing the Effects of Language Mode on the Cognitive Advantages of Bilingualism

Ziying Yu; John W Schwieter

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00366

Recognizing the Effects of Language Mode on the Cognitive Advantages of Bilingualism

Front Psychol. 2018 Mar 20:9:366. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00366. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Ziying Yu^{1

2}, John W Schwieter^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of English Language and Literature, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Linguistics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States.
³ Language Acquisition, Multilingualism, and Cognition Laboratory, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
⁴ Bilingualism, Translation, and Cognition Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States.

Abstract

For bilinguals, it is argued that a cognitive advantage can be linked to the constant management and need for conflict resolution that occurs when the two languages are co-activated (Bialystok, 2015). Language mode (Grosjean, 1998, 2001) is a significant variable that defines and shapes the language experiences of bilinguals and consequently, the cognitive advantages of bilingualism. Previous work, however, has not sufficiently tested the effects of language mode on the bilingual experience. In this brief conceptual analysis, we discuss the significance of language mode in bilingual work on speech perception, production, and reading. We offer possible explanations for conflicting findings and ways in which future work should control for its modulating effects.

Keywords: cognitive benefits of bilingualism; language activation; language control; language mode; multilingualism.