Language selectivity is the exception, not the rule: arguments against a fixed locus of language selection in bilingual speech
Abstract
Bilingual speech requires that the language of utterances be selected prior to articulation. Past research has debated whether the language of speaking can be determined in advance of speech planning and, if not, the level at which it is eventually selected. We argue that the reason that it has been difficult to come to an agreement about language selection is that there is not a single locus of selection. Rather, language selection depends on a set of factors that vary according to the experience of the bilinguals, the demands of the production task, and the degree of activity of the nontarget language. We demonstrate that it is possible to identify some conditions that restrict speech planning to one language alone and others that open the process to cross-language influences. We conclude that the presence of language nonselectivity at all levels of planning spoken utterances renders the system itself fundamentally nonselective.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Cites
A theory of lexical access in speech production [target paper]
Levelt, W. J. M., Roelofs, A., & Meyer, A. S. (1999) · Radboud Repository (Radboud University) · doi:10.1017/s0140525x99001776 · Cited by 5,173 · see citing works
Speaking: from intention to articulation
(1989) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.27-1947 · Cited by 5,016 · see citing works
A spreading-activation theory of retrieval in sentence production.
Dell, G. S. (1986) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037//0033-295x.93.3.283 · Cited by 3,236 · see citing works
Costs of a predictible switch between simple cognitive tasks.
Rogers, R. D., & Monsell, S. (1995) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.124.2.207 · Cited by 3,170 · see citing works
Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system
GREEN, D. W. (1998) · Bilingualism Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728998000133 · Cited by 2,807 · see citing works
Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1006/jmla.1994.1008 · Cited by 2,656 · cited 7× · see citing works
“An exception to this general pattern comes from research on translation performance (e.g. Kroll and Stewart, 1994; Potter, So, Von Eckhardt and Feldman, 1984; Sholl, Sankaranarayanan and Kroll, 1995; De Groot and Poot, 1997; Kroll et al., 2002).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationHandbook of bilingualism : psycholinguistic approaches
Kroll, J. F., & de Groot, A. M. B. (2005) · Cited by 2,097 · see citing works
Self-citationThe architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: From identification to decision
Dijkstra, T., & van Heuven, W. J. B. (2002) · Bilingualism: Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728902003012 · Cited by 1,730 · see citing works
Bilingualism, Aging, and Cognitive Control: Evidence From the Simon Task.
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Klein, R., & Viswanathan, M. (2004) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/0882-7974.19.2.290 · Cited by 1,618 · see citing works
Bilingual Language Switching in Naming: Asymmetrical Costs of Language Selection
Meuter, R. F. I., & Allport, A. (1999) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1006/jmla.1998.2602 · Cited by 1,306 · see citing works
Schriefers, H. J., Meyer, A. S., & Levelt, W. J. M. (1990) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/0749-596x(90)90011-n · Cited by 1,047 · see citing works
Costa, A., & Santesteban, M. (2004) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/j.jml.2004.02.002 · Cited by 1,027 · see citing works
The cognate facilitation effect: implications for models of lexical access.
Costa, A., Caramazza, A., & Sebastián-Gallés, N. (2000) · Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037//0278-7393.26.5.1283 · Cited by 801 · see citing works
Lexical and conceptual representation in beginning and proficient bilinguals
Potter, M. C., So, K., Eckardt, B. V., & Feldman, L. B. (1984) · Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior · doi:10.1016/s0022-5371(84)90489-4 · Cited by 684 · see citing works
Foreign language knowledge can influence native language performance in exclusively native contexts
van Hell, J. G., & Dijkstra, T. (2002) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/bf03196335 · Cited by 651 · see citing works
Lexical Selection in Bilinguals: Do Words in the Bilingual's Two Lexicons Compete for Selection?
Costa, A., Miozzo, M., & Caramazza, A. (1999) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1006/jmla.1999.2651 · Cited by 607 · see citing works
Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad Context
(1995) · Studies in bilingualism · doi:10.1075/sibil.9 · Cited by 595 · see citing works
Producing words in a foreign language: Can speakers prevent interference from their first language?
Hermans, D., Bongaerts, T., de Bot, K., & Schreuder, R. (1998) · Bilingualism Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728998000364 · Cited by 568 · see citing works
Contact Linguistics: Bilingual Encounters and Grammatical Outcomes
Myers‐Scotton, C. (1994) · Cited by 567 · see citing works
The bilingual's language modes 1
Grosjean, F. (2020) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781003060406-39 · Cited by 501 · see citing works
First Language Use in Second Language Production
Poulisse, N., & Bongaerts, T. (1994) · Applied Linguistics · doi:10.1093/applin/15.1.36 · Cited by 496 · see citing works
Determinants of word translation.
de Groot, A. M. B. (1992) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037/0278-7393.18.5.1001 · Cited by 483 · see citing works
Forward and Backward Word Translation by Bilinguals
Degroot, A. M. B., Dannenburg, L., & Vanhell, J. G. (1994) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1006/jmla.1994.1029 · Cited by 428 · see citing works
Jared, D., & Kroll, J. F. (2001) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1006/jmla.2000.2747 · Cited by 421 · see citing works
Self-citationCognate effects in picture naming: Does cross-language activation survive a change of script?
Hoshino, N., & Kroll, J. F. (2007) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2007.02.001 · Cited by 419 · see citing works
Self-citationLexical Activation in Bilinguals' Speech Production: Language-Specific or Language-Independent?
Colomé, À. (2001) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1006/jmla.2001.2793 · Cited by 412 · see citing works
Gollan, T. H., & Acenas, L.-A. R. (2004) · Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037/0278-7393.30.1.246 · Cited by 407 · see citing works
Peterson, R. R., & Savoy, P. (1998) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037/0278-7393.24.3.539 · Cited by 362 · see citing works
Costa, A., & Caramazza, A. (1999) · Bilingualism: Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728999000334 · Cited by 342 · see citing works
The development of lexical fluency in a second language
Kroll, J., Michael, E. B., Tokowicz, N., & Dufour, R. (2002) · Second language Research · doi:10.1191/0267658302sr201oa · Cited by 327 · see citing works
Self-citationAssessing constraints on second-language segmental production and perception
Flege, J. E. (2003) · Mouton eBooks · doi:10.1515/9783110895094.319 · Cited by 320 · see citing works
The role of polysemy in masked semantic and translation priming
Finkbeiner, M., Forster, K., Nicol, J. L., & Nakamura, K. (2004) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/j.jml.2004.01.004 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
Bilingual Visual Word Recognition and Lexical Access
Dijkstra, T. (2009) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195151770.003.0011 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
SYNTACTIC AMBIGUITY RESOLUTION IN L2 LEARNERS
Dussias, P. E. (2003) · Studies in Second Language Acquisition · doi:10.1017/s0272263103000238 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Bloem, I., & la Heij, W. (2003) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/s0749-596x(02)00503-x · Cited by 254 · see citing works
An fMRI Study of Bilingual Sentence Comprehension and Workload
Hasegawa, M., Carpenter, P. A., & Just, M. A. (2002) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1006/nimg.2001.1001 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Lexical Access in Bilingual Production
Costa, A. (2009) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195151770.003.0018 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Consequences of Bilingualism for Cognitive Development
Bialystok, E. (2009) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195151770.003.0024 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
Transfer Between Picture Naming and Translation: A Test of Asymmetries in Bilingual Memory
Sholl, A., Sankaranarayanan, A., & Kroll, J. (1995) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1995.tb00303.x · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Self-citationLexical access in bilingual speakers: What's the (hard) problem?
Finkbeiner, M., Gollan, T. H., & Caramazza, A. (2006) · Bilingualism: Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728906002501 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Test differences in accessing bilingual memory
Durgunoğlu, A. Y., & Roediger, H. L., III (1987) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/0749-596x(87)90097-0 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Tip-of-the-tongue states in Hebrew–English bilinguals
Gollan, T. H., & Silverberg, N. B. (2001) · Bilingualism Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s136672890100013x · Cited by 180 · see citing works
de Groot, A. M. B., & Poot, R. (1997) · Language Learning · doi:10.1111/0023-8333.71997007 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Selection Processes in Monolingual and Bilingual Lexical Access
Heij, W. L. (2009) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195151770.003.0017 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Word Production and the Bilingual Lexicon
de Bot, K., & Schreuder, R. (1993) · Studies in bilingualism · doi:10.1075/sibil.6.10bot · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Perseverant responding in speeded naming of pictures: It's in the links.
Vitkovitch, M., & Humphreys, G. W. (1991) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037/0278-7393.17.4.664 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Jescheniak, J. D., & Schriefers, H. J. (1998) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037/0278-7393.24.5.1256 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
TOKOWICZ, N., MICHAEL, E. B., & KROLL, J. F. (2004) · Bilingualism Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728904001634 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Self-citationReading for repetition and reading for translation: do they involve the same processes?
Macizo, P., & Bajo, M. (2006) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2004.09.012 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Linguistic diversity and object naming by non-native speakers of English
Malt, B., & Sloman, S. (2003) · Bilingualism: Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728903001020 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Effects of orthography on speech production in a form-preparation paradigm
Damian, M. F., & Bowers, J. S. (2003) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/s0749-596x(03)00008-1 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Bloem, I., van den Boogaard, S., & Heij, W. L. (2004) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/j.jml.2004.05.001 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Bilingual Semantic and Conceptual Representation
Francis, W. S. (2009) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195151770.003.0014 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
More on interlingual homograph recognition: language intermixing versus explicitness of instruction
Dijkstra, T., de Bruijn, E., Schriefers, H. J., & Brinke, S. T. (2000) · Bilingualism Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728900000146 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Being and Becoming Bilingual: Individual Differences and Consequences for Language Production
Michael, E. B., & Gollan, T. H. (2009) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195151770.003.0022 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Introduction: Convergence as an emergent property in bilingual speech
Bullock, B. E., & Toribio, A. J. (2004) · Bilingualism Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728904001506 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Costa, A., Colomé, À., GÓMEZ, O., & Sebastián‐Gallés, N. (2003) · Bilingualism Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728903001111 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Dechert, H. W., Möhle, D., & Raupach, M. (1984) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Simultaneous Interpreting: A Cognitive Perspective
Christoffels, I. K., & de Groot, A. M. B. (2009) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195151770.003.0026 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Articulatory duration in single-word speech production.
Damian, M. (2003) · Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037/0278-7393.29.3.416 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Language Production in Bilinguals
Poulisse, W. M., Kroll, J. F., & de Groot, A. (1997) · UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) · doi:10.4324/9781315806051-15 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Self-citationKello, C. T., Plaut, D. C., & MacWhinney, B. (2000) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.129.3.340 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Age of acquisition effects in word recognition and production in first and second languages
Izura, C., & ELLIS, A. W. (2002) · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Lee, M.-W., & Williams, J. N. (2001) · Bilingualism Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s1366728901000426 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Disentangling Context Availability and Concreteness in Lexical Decision and Word Translation
van Hell, J. V., & de Groot, A. D. (1998) · The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A · doi:10.1080/713755752 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Stroop effects in bilingual translation
Miller, N., & Kroll, J. (2002) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/bf03194963 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Self-citationBilingual Memory and Hierarchical Models
Heredia, R. (1997) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-8721.ep11512617 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Heij, W. L., de Bruyn, E. H., Elens, E., Hartsuiker, R. J., Helaha, D., & van Schelven, L. (1990) · Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie · doi:10.1037/h0084236 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Word production in a Foreign Language
Hermans, D. (2000) · Radboud Repository (Radboud University) · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Determinants of word translation
Groot, A. M. B. D. (1991) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e665402011-578 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Bilingualism: consequences for mind and brain
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., & Luk, G. (2012) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001 · Cited by 1,386 · see citing works
Bilingual language production: The neurocognition of language representation and control
Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. (2007) · Journal of Neurolinguistics · doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2006.10.003 · Cited by 1,302 · see citing works
The Revised Hierarchical Model: A critical review and assessment
KROLL, J. F., VAN HELL, J. G., TOKOWICZ, N., & GREEN, D. W. (2010) · Bilingualism: Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s136672891000009x · Cited by 637 · see citing works
Self-citationLanguage selection in bilingual speech: evidence for inhibitory processes
Kroll, J. F., Bobb, S. C., Misra, M., & Guo, T. (2008) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.02.001 · Cited by 535 · see citing works
Control mechanisms in bilingual language production: Neural evidence from language switching studies
Abutalebi, J., & Green∗, D. W. (2008) · Language and Cognitive Processes · doi:10.1080/01690960801920602 · Cited by 518 · see citing works
Language control and lexical competition in bilinguals: an event-related fMRI study
Abutalebi, J., Annoni, J.-M., Zimine, I., Pegna, A. J., Seghier, M. L., Lee-Jahnke, H., Lazeyras, F., Cappa, S. F., & Khateb, A. (2008) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm182 · Cited by 381 · see citing works
When deaf signers read English: do written words activate their sign translations?
Morford, J. P., Wilkinson, E., Villwock, A., Piñar, P., & Kroll, J. F. (2011) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2010.11.006 · Cited by 326 · see citing works
Guo, T., Liu, H., Misra, M., & Kroll, J. F. (2011) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.03.049 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
Self-citationBilingualism modulates dual mechanisms of cognitive control: evidence from ERPs.
Morales, J., Yudes, C., Gómez-Ariza, C. J., & Bajo, M. T. (2015) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.11.014 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Executive control in bilingual aphasia: a systematic review
Mooijman, S., Schoonen, R., Roelofs, A., & Ruiter, M. B. (2022) · Bilingualism: Language and Cognition · doi:10.1017/s136672892100047x · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Understanding the nature of bilingual aphasia: Diagnosis, assessment and rehabilitation
Kiran, S., & Gray, T. (2018) · Studies in Bilingualism · doi:10.1075/sibil.54.17kir · Cited by 7 · see citing works
What is the interference in ‘verbal interference’?
Gerwien, J., von Stutterheim, C., & Rummel, J. (2022) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103774 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
- Authors
- KROLL, J. F., BOBB, S. C., & WODNIECKA, Z.
- Affiliations
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- Jagiellonian University (PL)
- Venue
- Bilingualism Language and Cognition
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2006-06-22
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 119-135
- ISSN
- 1366-7289 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-1841
- OpenAlex
- W1980184136
- Cited by
- 764
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 66 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 55 · 2019: 90 · 2018: 71 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 71 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 46
- FWCI
- 6.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Bilingualism Language and Cognition (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Phonetics and Phonology Research
- Keywords
- language choice, bilingual speech, speech preparation, bilingualism
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
