Language control in the interplay of cross-linguistic transfer and language prediction in morphosyntactic processing for adults and children
Bilingual flexibility requires rapid adaptation to changing linguistic contexts, drawing on both situational language control and long-term linguistic experience. In this project, we investigate how multilingual adults and elementary school-aged children (6 to 10 years old) process morphosyntactic cues – particularly grammatical gender – in predictive language comprehension. We are conducting two studies: one with adults to examine the interplay of language switching and morphosyntactic features in competent bilingual language use, and another with multiple age groups of children to track the development of bilingual language control across childhood. Using a Visual-World Eye-Tracking paradigm, we systematically compare block-based (proactive) and trial-based (reactive) language switching to investigate how the presence or absence of grammatical gender (German/French vs. English) influences predictive language comprehension. Our focus is on interlingual transfer, specifically the question of how morphosyntactic cues from one language shape comprehension when switching to another language. In Study 2, we also combine standardized questionnaires with an ambulatory data collection method that captures the frequency and contexts of real-world language switching. This allows us to link daily language behavior with eye-tracking data. By measuring performance in both adults and children, we can demonstrate how bilingual language control develops from the early school years through adulthood. In line with the research group’s overarching goal, our findings will demonstrate how morphosyntactic structures shape predictive language comprehension under proactive and reactive conditions, and how these short-term situational processes are linked to the long-term developmental aspects of bilingual flexibility.