The impact of bilingualism on the executive functioning constructs of inhibition, shifting, and updating remains unclear, with prior findings yielding inconsistent results. Several explanations for the lack of congruency have been suggested, including the dependence on observed variables, the impact of test modality on performance, and the need to…

Bilinguals are able to compose expressions across their languages with seeming ease. This phenomenon, commonly referred to as "code-switching," has challenged both theoretical models in linguistics as well as neurobiological models of language processing. And yet, our models of the bilingual brain and the language processing mechanism…

Previous research suggests that the bilingual experience controlling two languages may transfer to non-linguistic control tasks, resulting in a "bilingual advantage." If this is the case, there should be a neural basis for this transfer (i.e., a region of the brain involved in both types of control). The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex…

A key index of top-down control in task switching--preparation for a switch--is underexplored in language switching. The well-documented EEG "signature" of preparation for a task switch--a protracted positive-polarity modulation over the posterior scalp--has thus far not been reported in language switching, and the interpretation of…

Certain functions are neurologically indicated to be lateralized to different brain hemispheres. Among numerous studies on impacts of communication strategy use and brain dominance on second language learning, only a small number of them, specifically in the Thai context, comprehensively explore possible relationships between learners'…

Bilinguals sometimes outperform age-matched monolinguals on non-language tasks involving cognitive control. But the bilingual advantage is not consistently found in every experiment and may reflect specific attributes of the bilinguals tested. The goal of this dissertation was to determine if the way in which bilinguals use language, specifically…