Bilingualism Language and Cognition · 2006 · 173 citations · 0 references
Language StudiesLinguisticsTranslation StudiesLanguage AcquisitionPsycholinguisticsTranslation TheoryCross-linguistic TransferMultilingualismSimultaneous InterpretingBilingual CognitionBilingual Executive FunctionBilingual ProcessingCognitive Control In BilingualsCognitive Control In LanguageCross-linguistic ActivationExecutive Control In BilingualsSimultaneous Interpreting Assessment
Bilinguals in monolingual settings rarely switch languages, indicating they can control which language they produce. The article examines how bilinguals exert control in monolingual tasks and in translation, especially simultaneous interpreting, and proposes integrating translation studies into bilingual control research. Control is conceptualized as global, affecting whole language systems, or local, targeting specific memory representations. Studies indicate that bilingual control is a specific instance of general action control.
The typical speech of (fluent) bilinguals in monolingual settings contains few switches into the non-target language. Apparently, bilinguals can control what language they output. This article discusses views on how bilinguals exert control over their two languages in monolingual tasks, where participants only have to implicate one of their languages in performing the task, and in translation and, especially, simultaneous interpreting, tasks that can only be performed if both languages are addressed. A distinction is made between “global” control, where control involves the activation and/or inhibition of complete language systems, and “local” control, where control impacts on a restricted set of memory representations. A number of studies suggest that bilingual control is a special case of the control of action in general. This insight suggests an opportunity to incorporate relevant work in the field of translation studies in the study of bilingual control, embedding it in the same theoretical framework.