How everyday fluctuations in language environment shape shortterm language control and long-term language adaptation
Bilingual individuals – defined in the broadest sense as people who regularly speak at least two languages – are able to switch flexibly between the use of different languages. Bilingual flexibility enables these individuals to adapt their language use to the linguistic and social demands of specific tasks and situations. Previous research has primarily examined this language control process through experimental laboratory studies, which provide a better understanding of language control in controlled environments. However, it remains unclear to what extent the processes identified in the laboratory can be generalized to the everyday experiences of bilingual individuals. This project investigates the extent to which current situational demands in the everyday lives of bilingual individuals (short- and long-term changes in the linguistic environment) modulate their ability to switch languages. In this project, a test battery will first be developed that captures both the current language environment and current language proficiency. This test battery will then be used to investigate the relationships between these two constructs in the daily lives of German-English bilinguals. Using ambulatory assessments, the dynamic intra-individual relationship between language environment and language proficiency in natural contexts will be examined. Furthermore, the effects of long-term changes in the linguistic environment on bilingual flexibility will be examined. Specifically, within the scope of this research, a longitudinal measurement burst design will be used to investigate changes in the levels and relationships between linguistic environment and language proficiency in a sample of university students from before to during a study abroad program. By combining ambulatory assessments and longitudinal measurement burst designs with established experimental paradigms for studying language switching, this project will shed light on how changes in the linguistic environment of bilingual individuals are related to bilingual flexibility across different time scales – from moment-to-moment fluctuations to changes over several months