Global Language Control in Bilingual Language Processing

Abstract

The majority of research on language processes has been conducted using monolingual English speakers, although more than fifty percent of current world population is bilingual. As a consequence, our understanding of language is limited, particularly with respect to the types of processes that are unique to bilinguals. Bilingual language processing differs from monolingual language processing in that it requires global language control to resolve a conflict arising from simultaneous activation of two languages. My doctoral dissertation will summarize the results of four studies aimed at understanding the neurocognitive bases of the processes by which bilinguals execute such global language control.