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The sensitivity to context modulates executive control: Evidence from Malayalam–English bilinguals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2020

Riya Rafeekh Open the ORCID record for Riya Rafeekh [Opens in a new window]  and
Ramesh Kumar Mishra
Riya Rafeekh
Affiliation:
Centre for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Hyderabad,
Ramesh Kumar Mishra*
Affiliation:
Centre for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Hyderabad,
*
Address for correspondence: Prof. Ramesh Kumar Mishra, E-mail: rkmishra@uohyd.ac.in
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Abstract

In two experiments, we examined the hypothesis that bilingual speakers modulate their cognitive control settings dynamically in the presence of different interlocutors, and this can be captured through performance on a non-linguistic attention task. We introduced Malayalam–English bilinguals to interlocutors with varying L2 dominance through a pre-experiment familiarisation and interaction phase. Later, participants did the Flanker task while the interlocutors appeared before each trial. While in experiment one participants did the Flanker task with equal distribution of trials, in experiment two we manipulated the monitoring demands by changing the frequency of trials. Results showed that high-L2 proficient bilinguals had lower conflict effect on the Flanker task in the presence of balanced interlocutors in both the experiments. The results provide strong evidence of dynamic adaptation of control settings in bilinguals with regard to different passively present interlocutors. The results further extend the predictions of the adaptive control hypothesis with novel manipulation.

Keywords

bilingualisminteractional contextadaptive controlL2 dominanceL2 proficiencyexecutive controlFlanker task
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , March 2021 , pp. 358 - 373
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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