A Review of Research on the Processing Mechanism of Bilingual Code-switching During Language Production: From Behavioral Research to Neurocognitive Research
Abstract:Abstract: Processing mechanism of bilingual code-switching has been one of thehot topicsofcognitive research. Researchers have adopted different research paradigms to examine the cognitive mechanism of bilingual language switching during the language production process. The behavioral and cognitive neuroscience research on language switching yielded significant results, and meaningful conclusions were drawn from these studies. The present paper presents the theoretical models and hypotheses, the research paradigm, as well as the behavioral and neural mechanism studies concerning bilingual code-switching processing. We further analyze the unsolved problems in this field and expound the controversies over the results of extant studies. Moreover, issues that should be considered in future research are discussed and some suggestions are made. It is hoped that the paper can broaden the research topics concerning code-switching of the language production process both at home and abroad, and offer valuable insight into thorough and in-depth research in this field.