Latent variable evidence on the interplay between language switching frequency and executive control in Spanish-Catalan bilinguals

• Autores: Víctor Alejandro Sánchez Azanza, Raül López Penadés, Eva María Aguilar Mediavilla, Daniel Adrover Roig
• Localización: International Journal of Bilingualism: interdisciplinary studies of multilingual behaviour, ISSN 1367-0069, Vol. 24, Nº. 5-6, 2020, págs. 912-930
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1177/1367006920902525
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions:

    We characterized the impact of several bilingualism-related factors on the executive control of Spanish-Catalan bilinguals.

    Design/methodology/approach:

    Participants self-reported information regarding their age of acquisition, second language proficiency and frequency of natural language switching, and performed non-linguistic tasks tapping into specific executive control subcomponents, including inhibition, switching and updating.

    Data and analysis:

    Data were analyzed by means of a structural equation model (SEM) approach.

    Findings/conclusions:

    Results revealed that the frequency of natural language switching positively modulated the executive control performance of Spanish-Catalan bilinguals, while neither age of acquisition nor second language proficiency had an effect. Moreover, we found that the impact of natural language switching exerted general-processing influences, affecting all subcomponents of executive control. Findings are discussed in relation to context-specific effects on the cognitive system of a particular bilingual population.

    Originality:

    The current study applied an SEM approach to provide new evidence on the previously ambiguous relation between bilingualism-related factors and executive control.

    Significance/implications:

    Our findings suggest that the frequency of natural language switching does globally influence the executive control of Spanish-Catalan bilinguals.