Music–L2 transfer through executive functions: a narrative review with a focus on inhibitory control
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58423/2786-6726/2026-2-131-147Keywords:
musical training, second language learning, inhibitory control, executive functions, neurochemical mechanisms, language control, music–language transferAbstract
Extant literature suggests that musical training may enhance second-language (L2) acquisition and instructed L2 learning, with musically trained individuals often outperforming their peers in tasks requiring inhibitory control (IC). This observed cognitive advantage is frequently attributed to a shared, domain-general resource. Drawing on literature on IC in relation to musical training (D’Souza et al., 2018; Cores-Bilbao et al., 2019), we theorised that the cognitive overlap between music and instructed language learning might arise from inhibitory control developed through instrumental musical training and that this could serve as a catalyst for L2 learning. The main aim of this discussion is to clarify whether enhanced IC acquired during instructed instrumental musical training can be considered responsible for advantages in L2 learning.
The neural mechanisms of inhibitory control are essential for the continuous suppression of non-target lexical competitors in bilingualism (Abutalebi–Green, 2007; Zendel–Alain, 2009; Schön–Tillmann, 2015; Patel–Morgan, 2016). Inhibitory control also supports the management of motor inhibition required in instrumental musical performance. However, these two processes differ in important ways. As part of a broader investigation, this paper examines why the neurochemical foundations of IC may not provide a direct bridge between music and L2 learning, with particular attention to why IC developed through practical instrumental musical training may not function as a major amplifier of L2 success. While language production and musical performance are governed by partly distinct neurocognitive mechanisms — associative inhibitory control and high-level motor control, respectively — this paper argues that music may nevertheless function as a powerful cognitive scaffold for linguistic development.
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