BILINGUAL COGNITIVE ADVANTAGE HYPOTHESIS: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY WITH KOMI-PERMYAK-RUSSIAN NATIVE BILINGUAL SPEAKERS

Abstract

The bilingual cognitive advantage hypothesis assumes that native speakers of two languages have better-developed cognitive abilities than native speakers of only one language. In particular, bilinguals are considered to be characterized by enhanced executive functions (attention, cognitive flexibility, resistance to interference). The bilingual cognitive advantage effect is most frequently revealed for elderly bilingual speakers, while experiments with young adults yield inconsistent results. The authors hypothesize that the presence/absence of the cognitive advantage effect at a young adult age can be determined by bilingualism type: bilingualism formed in a dense code-switching context boosts the development of executive functions. The hypothesis is tested in the experimental study with two groups of young adults: 1) the bilingual group (native speakers of the Komi-Permyak and Russian languages) and 2) the monolingual group (native speakers of the Russian language). Experimental techniques that measure the level of attention concentration, attention shifting and resistance to interference (the Schulte test, the Burdon test, the Stroop test) were applied. While analyzing the experimental results, mean and individual values of the speed and accuracy of the task performance for each group of participants were evaluated; then the results of bilingual and monolingual groups were compared. The research results demonstrate that young adult native speakers of the Komi-Permyak and Russian languages consistently outstrip their monolingual peers in adaptability of certain executive functions (namely, in their ability to flexibly coordinate attention concentration and shifting while performing various cognitive tasks).