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Lookup NU author(s): Professor David Howard
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Does it take bilinguals longer to process mixed-language information? This study explores, in two reaction time experiments, the hypothesis that there is only a cost to language switching when the switch is unexpected in the context. Prior to the experiments, ail on-line language test and a linguistic background questionnaire were employed to select the bilingual participants. In experiment 1, the subjects, who were Mandarin Chinese-Taiwanese bilinguals, were led to think that Mandarin Chinese was the contextually appropriate language, and were slower to respond on a language switch trial. In experiment 2, the participants were led to think that both languages were contextually appropriate, and were not slower to respond on a language switch trial. The data support Grosjean's language mode hypothesis on the mixed-language processing cost, and show that the cost is a result of context rather than ail inevitable consequence of a switch.
Author(s): Cheng YL, Howard D
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: International Journal of Bilingualism
Year: 2008
Volume: 12
Issue: 3
Pages: 209-222
ISSN (print): 1367-0069
ISSN (electronic): 1756-6878
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1367006908098568
DOI: 10.1177/1367006908098568
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