Second-Language Proficiency, Language Use, and Mental Set Shifting in Cognitive Control Among Unbalanced Chinese–English Bilinguals:

SAGE Open

Zhilong Xie¹ 

关键词: L2 proficiency;    mental set shifting;    cognitive control;    L2 use;    language switching;   

DOI  :  10.1177/2158244014563040

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Sage Journals

【 摘 要 】

By comparing two unbalanced Chinese–English bilingual groups, this study explored whether differences in second-language (L2) proficiency and language use influenced mental set shifting in cognitive control, through language switch (which tested participants’ language control) and task switch (which tested participants’ mental set shifting in cognitive control). The ANOVA results showed that the higher L2 proficiency group and the lower L2 proficiency group did not differ in language switch, and the two groups did not differ either in the task switch. Further correlation and regression analyses showed that L2 proficiency did not contribute to task-switching performance; however, language-switching frequency and L2 use significantly contributed to the performance of task switch. These results suggest a weak relation between L2 proficiency and mental set shifting, and indicate that language-switching frequency and L2 use may be important factors influencing mental set shifting and should therefore be included as crucial variables in future studies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY