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Abstract

How do bilinguals control which language they use when they speak? D. Green’s inhibitory control (IC) model (1998a; 1998b) is the most studied account of bilingual language management, and proposes that though both a bilingual’s languages are active when speaking, one of them becomes inhibited. In this chapter, I provide an overview of a selection of empirical studies designed to investigate this claim, focussing particularly on evidence relating to competition for selection between languages, asymmetrical language switching, and bilingual advantages in non-linguistic inhibition. I conclude that although inhibition alone has been found unlikely to account for all aspects of bilingual language control (E. Runnqvist, K. Strijkers & A. Costa 2014), recent constraints applied to the model which posit that bilinguals interacting in different socio-linguistic contexts may vary in their experience with inhibition (D. Green & J. Abutalebi 2013) should lead to an enhanced understanding of what role, if any, inhibition may play

Publication Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	This chapter has been published in Bilingual Landscape of the Contemporary World by Peter Lang Verlag.
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Psychology

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