Concreteness effects in bilingual and monolingual word learning

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that bilingualism can facilitate novel-word learning. However, the mechanisms behind this bilingual advantage remain unknown. Here, we examined whether bilinguals may be more sensitive to semantic information associated with the novel words. To that end, we manipulated the concreteness of the referent in the word-learning paradigm, since concrete words have been shown to activate the semantic system more robustly than abstract words do. The results revealed that the bilingual advantage was stronger for novel words learned in association with concrete rather than abstract referents. These findings suggest that bilingual advantages for word learning may be rooted, at least in part, in bilinguals' greater sensitivity to semantic information during learning.