Effect Of Cognitive Style On Language Control

Individuals who can speak two or more languages have the remarkable ability to switch swiftly and accurately between them(e.g.,Kleinman & Gollan,2016;Poulisse & Bongaerts,1994;Prior & Gollan,2011).When language switching is determined by external constraints,this process is thought to be mediated by the so-called language control.Accumulating evidence suggests that language control overlaps with cognitive control in brain areas responsible for conflict monitoring,response selection and response inhibition,such as dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex(Abutalebi et al.,2008;Blanco-Elorrieta,Emmorey,& Pylkk?nen,2018;Branzi et al.,2015).The field dependent/independent(FDI),which can influence individuals' cognitive control process due to different perception and processing mode of environmental information(Guisande et al.,2007).Futhermore,these cognitive processes are also closely related to language control(Abutalebi et al.,2013;Festman,Rodriguezfornells,& Munte,2010).In the current study,EEG and fMRI techniques were used to investigate how FD/FI cognitive styles modulate bilingual language control during a joint language switching task.In experiment 1,the paticipants' cognitive style were measured by the Group Embedded Figures Test(GEFT),the EEG data were continuously recorded during the whole joint language switching task.In this task,two particpants take turns to name pictures in Chinese(L1)or English(L2)according to the cue.Results showed that in the cue-lockedstage,the FI group eliciting a more negative-going N2 in the cross-person condition than in the within-person condition,while the FD group inducing a more positive-going late positive component(LPC).In the stimulus-locked stage,only the FD group eliciting a larger LPC amplitudes for L2 switch trials than L1 switch trials in the within-person condition.In experiment 2,to investigate the language control mechanism of FD/FI bilinguals in the process of language production and comprehension from a spatial perspective,fMRI technology was used to record the participants' brain activation during the joint language switching task.Our results showed that in the within-person condition of language production,comparing to switching to L1,switching to L2 activited more brain regions of language control naetwork,e.g.,left inferior frontal gyrus,cingulate gyrus and inferior parietal lobe.In addition,during language comprehension,the FD group not only activated the brain r egions responsible for inhibitory control,but also brain regions specific to language processing,such as the middle temporal gyrus and the lingual gyrus.The main conclusions of the current study as follows:1.Field cognitive style modulates language control mechanism through different information processing methods.2.FD bilinguals need more cognitive resources to inhibit L1 when they switch to L2,while FI bilinguals can effectively resolve language conflicts with less cognitive resources and brain areas.3.Language production and language comprehension recruited different brain networks.