What Cognates Reveal about Default Language Selection in Bilingual Sentence Production.

ABSTRACT: When producing connected speech, bilinguals often select a default-language as the primary force driving the utterance. The present study investigated the cognitive mechanisms underlying default language selection. In three experiments, Spanish-English bilinguals named pictures out of context, or read aloud sentences with a single word replaced by a picture with a cognate (e.g., lemon-limón) or noncognate name (e.g., table-mesa). Cognates speeded naming and significantly reduced switching costs. Critically, cognate effects were not modulated by sentence context. However, switch costs were larger in sentence context, which also exhibited significant language dominance effects, asymmetrical switch costs, and asymmetrical cognate facilitation effects, which were absent or

SUBMITTER: Li C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7810202 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature