Do bilinguals think differently from monolinguals? Evidence from non-linguistic cognitive categorisation of objects in Japanese-English bilinguals*

Abstract

Recent advances in the investigation of the relationship between language and cognition have demonstrated that speakers of English categorise objects based on their common shape, while speakers of Yucatec and Japanese categorise objects based on their common material (Lucy & Gaskins 2003; Imai & Mazuka 2003). The current study extends that investigation to the domain of bilingualism. Results from a cognitive categorisation task show that intermediate Japanese L2 English speakers behaved similarly to Japanese monolinguals, while advanced Japanese L2 English speakers behaved similarly to English monolinguals. The implications of these findings for bilingualism and second language acquisition are discussed.