SLA Changes/Trends in Key

Topics Identified by the

Keyword Analysis
TOPIC : COGNITIVE CONTROL IN SLA

- Cognitive control allows your mind to override your impulses and helps
you make decisions based on your goals, rather than your habits or
reactions. In this lesson, we'll discuss how cognitive control works,
including the neurobiological processes involved.
 The relationship between cognitive control and second language proficiency

Author/s: AliciaLuque and Kara Morgan-Short

Publication Date: February 2021
Publisher: Elsevier
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2020.100956

Description of the Study

Over the last two decades, the science of bilingualism has made significant efforts to
better understand the set of cognitive mechanisms that allow bilinguals to manage and use their
languages functionally. Cognitive control has been proposed as one of the mechanisms
necessary for proficient bilingual language processing and use, among the other mechanisms
that have been identified. The association between cognitive control and adult L2
development/developing bilingualism is still unclear, however, with some studies indicating such
a relationship and other studies finding the reverse pattern. In order to better comprehend the
function that cognitive control plays during the process of becoming bilingual, it is important to
look into these contradicting findings.

Purpose
This study aimed to address this open question by examining the role of cognitive
control among adult L2 learners of Spanish at the intermediate level using multiple behavioral
measures as a way to provide a multidimensional perspective on the role of cognitive control in
developing bilingualism.

Research Gap
The role of cognitive control in developing bilingualism, among adult learners learning a
second language (L2), is still unclear, with some studies indicating a relationship between
cognitive control and adult L2 development/developing bilingualism and other studies finding the
opposite pattern.

Methods
The study's methodology is the flanker task. By giving people either accurate or
inaccurate information about the flank on which the target stimulus will occur, the flanker task
enables the measurement of both voluntary and nonvoluntary attention. By measuring the RT
difference between incongruent and congruent trials, the Flanker effect was used to evaluate
general cognitive control abilities.

Results
The findings show a substantial correlation between total L2 proficiency and cognitive
control skills, particularly reactive control. Additionally, a strong correlation was discovered
between processing speed and total L2 proficiency. The findings of this study add to the body of
information regarding cognitive aspects involved in bilingual development and offer important
new insights into the underlying cognitive mechanisms that may help adult L2 learners become
bilingual.
 The Influence of Second Language (L2) Proficiency on Cognitive Control
Among Young Adult Unbalanced Chinese-English Bilinguals

Author/s: Zhilong Xie

Publication Date: March 27, 2018
Publisher: Frontiers
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00412

Description of the Study

The current study investigates the influence of L2 proficiency on cognitive control among
three matched groups of unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals. Language proficiency is one of
the core aspects of bilingualism. Thus it is a key variable for investigating bilingual advantage
(Mishra, 2014). Without a sufficient level of language proficiency (especially for L2, usually the
non-dominant language), which is usually defined as having ability to communicate in both
languages, bilingual advantage does not emerge.

Purpose
The current study aimed to investigate whether L2 proficiency has a significant influence
on cognitive control differences among young adult Chinese-English bilinguals by administering
the Flanker task and the WCST, while other relevant variables such as age, SES, education, IQ,
and L2 learning history were carefully matched.

Research Gap
There are contradictions and disagreements surrounding the bilingual advantage,
though. According to Paap and his colleagues, there isn't any convincing proof of the bilingual
benefit, so it either doesn't exist or only applies in extremely specific situations. language
proficiency is not static but dynamic in nature. When language proficiency improves, will
cognitive control change too?

Methods
Demographic questionnaire, Tests, and cognitive control Tasks were administered for all the
participants in the current research. ANOVA analyses of the Flanker results showed no
differences in inhibition across all groups and no interaction between group and condition.

Results
The Flanker results revealed that the highest L2 proficiency group performed faster than
the lowest L2 proficiency group in all conditions (incongruent, neutral, and congruent), indicating
better conflict monitoring ability. Finally, ANOVA analysis of WCST results revealed no
differences between groups. These findings indicate that L2 proficiency has a significant
influence on cognitive control, but only in conflict monitoring, not inhibition or mental set shifting.
The nature of first and second language processing: The role of cognitive control
and L2 proficiency during text-level comprehension

Author/s: ANA PÉREZ, LAURA HANSEN and TERESA BAJO

Publication Date: July 19,2018
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728918000846

Description of the Study

Text comprehension depends on high-level cognitive processes, as is the ability to
revise an incorrect inference. Recent models of language processing hold that native language
processing is proactive (highly predictive), whereas second language processing appears to be
weaker. However, if a prediction fails due to unexpected information, reactive processing is
required to revise the previous information. Twenty-four highly proficient late bilinguals were
given narratives in L1-English and L2-Spanish. Each text required the revision of an initial
predictive inference. Reading times and N400 amplitudes indicate that inferential revision is less
efficient in the L2 than in the L1.

Purpose
The current study had two objectives. The vast majority of previous research into native
vs. non-native semantic processing has been conducted at the single word or sentence level,
putting ecological validity under strain. As a result, our initial goal was to investigate high-level
text comprehension processes in late bilinguals' L1 and L2. Second, we looked into how
individual differences in cognitive control and L2 proficiency affected language status
differences.

Research Gap
Although previous research has not investigated the effect of cognitive control on high-
level comprehension processes in terms of proactive/reactive control, we hypothesize that
efficient inferential revision processes may be supported by a good balance of proactive and
reactive control (necessary for predictions) as well as reactive control (required for revision) in
both the L1 and L2.

Methods
There are various methods used to analyze the data in this study. Some of those
methods are the AX-Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT) as described by Morales and
colleagues (2013), which was used to measure cognitive control. and a t-test comparing the
data that highlights the solution and outcome of the study.

Results
Overall, the results of the situation model revision task suggest that the efficacy of
predictive inference making and especially inferential revision-integration is reduced in late
bilinguals’ L2, relative to their L1.
References
 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bilingualism-language-and-
cognition/article/abs/nature-of-first-and-second-language-processing-the-role-of-cognitive-
control-and-l2-proficiency-during-textlevel-
comprehension/4CE913FA60153473097251B3245A17DE
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0911604420301160
 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00412/full