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Language switching in bilingual speech production
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2008
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Second Language LearningMultilingualismLanguage InterferencePsycholinguisticsBilingual Language DevelopmentLanguage SwitchesCross-language PerspectiveLanguage LearningPhonologyL2 Lexical RobustnessCode-switchingSecond Language AcquisitionLexical RobustnessSpanish Second Language AcquisitionLanguage AcquisitionBilingualismLanguage StudiesCognitive ScienceBilingual EducationBilingual Speech ProductionLanguage ShiftLanguage ScienceForeign Language AcquisitionLinguistics
Recent research on language production suggests that bilinguals shift from using inhibitory control mechanisms to a language-specific selective mechanism during development (Costa, Santesteban, & Ivanova, 2006). Costa et al. argue that the robustness of the L2 lexical representations may be critical to the functionality of a language-specific selective mechanism. Accordingly, in the present study we measured the lexical robustness of a group of 54 English dominant learners of Spanish using a verbal fluency task and investigated its effect on their performance in a picture-naming task with language switches. The results suggest that L2 lexical robustness predicts the shift to a language-specific selective mechanism during speech production. Moreover, we demonstrate a specific threshold of lexical robustness necessary to engage the mechanism.