Language control adapts to the immediate but not to the overall language environment during language switching in production and comprehension

Journal article

In dual-language contexts, bilinguals often switch between their languages. How they do this, and how they control their languages during switching, can depend on the nature of the interactional context and the task (comprehension or production). Here, we examined the influence of the immediate and overall language context on language control. First, we examined how language control differs between producing language switches in response to cues, producing switches voluntarily, and comprehending switches. Second, we examined whether language control changes after a change in a bilingual’s daily-life overall environment. To do this, we conducted a longitudinal study with Mandarin–English bilinguals who moved from China (L1-dominant environment) to the United Kingdom (bilingual/L2-dominant environment) and with a control group staying in China. Participants completed three tasks twice (7 months apart): cued picture naming (cues indicating language choice), voluntary picture naming (free language choice), and comprehension of spoken words. Language control differed between the three tasks. Participants showed greater language-switching costs in cued production than during voluntary production and comprehension. Furthermore, only cued production showed that using two languages was more costly than using one (mixing costs). However, we found no evidence that a change in the language environment resulted in changes in language control. This suggests a bilingual’s language control mechanisms adapt to the immediate context they are communicating in but are perhaps not shaped as strongly by the overall language environment they live in.

Authors: Coumel, M; Liu, C; Trenkic, D; de Bruin, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Psychological Association
• Journal: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
• Place of publication: United States
• Publication date: 2026-03-23
• Acceptance date: 2025-12-24
• DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001591
• EISSN: 1939-1285
• ISSN: 0278-7393
• Pmid: 41870363
• Language: English
• Keywords: clinical research