Hindi-English Bilinguals Research Articles

The Effect of Difference in Word Order on Semantic Processing in Hindi-English Bilinguals.

The typology of word order in Hindi (Subject-Object-Verb, SOV) differs from that of English (Subject-Verb-Object, SVO). Bilinguals whose two languages have conflicting word order provide a unique opportunity to understand how word order affects language processing. Earlier behavioural and event-related brain potential (ERP) studies with Spanish-Basque bilinguals showed longer reading times and more errors in the comprehension of OSV sentences than SOV sentences in Basque language, indicating that non-canonical word orders (OSV) were difficult to process than canonical word order (SOV). This study was designed to explore how the difference in word order in Hindi and English languages affects N400 parameters in proficient Hindi-English bilinguals, using semantic congruity paradigm. Twenty-five proficient Hindi-English bilingual subjects were asked to silently read the congruent and incongruent sentences presented in one word at a time in both the languages. ERPs were recorded from midline frontal, central and parietal sites. The mean amplitude of the N400 effect at the parietal sites in Hindi-English proficient bilinguals was larger for English than for Hindi but there was no significant difference in the N400 latencies. Hindi-English bilingual subjects processed SOV and SVO sentences with equal ease as evidenced by the N400 latencies. Higher amplitude of the N400 effect with English sentences indicate that placing 'Object' as the final word makes sentences more predictable than verb as the final word. Understanding the word order difference might help to unravel the neurophysiological mechanisms of language comprehension and may offer some insights in terms of functional advantage of a particular word order in bilinguals.

Understanding the role of cross-language transfer of phonological awareness in emergent Hindi–English biliteracy acquisition

This study examined within and cross-language relations, and specifically, the role of phonological awareness (PA) skills in reading among young Hindi-speaking children (L1) who were learning to read English (L2) in Delhi, India. Data was collected from 143 children in Grades 1 and 2 using measures validated for this population. The analyses examined the associations between L1 and L2 PA and decoding, both within and across the two languages. The results showed that PA skills within each language significantly predicted decoding in that language. Furthermore, there was evidence of cross-language transfer with Hindi PA significantly predicting English word reading even after controlling for English PA. English PA also significantly predicted Hindi decoding, however, these effects decreased once Hindi PA was added to the model. These findings emphasize the important role that both L1 and L2 PA plays in reading among emergent Hindi–English bilinguals. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings on literacy instruction in India are discussed.

Perception of American English consonants /v/ and /w/ by Hindi speakers of English

Abstract This study examined perception of the American English (AE) /v/-/w/ consonant contrast by Hindi speakers of English as a second language (L2). A second aim was to determine whether residence in the US modulated perception of this difficult contrast for proficient bilingual Hindi-English listeners. Two groups of Hindi-English bilinguals (the first resided in the US for more than five years, the second lived in India) and a group of AE-speaking listeners participated in the study. Listeners’ identification and discrimination of nonsense words (e.g., “vagag” vs. “wagag”) were examined. Hindi listeners performed significantly less accurately than AE controls. Accuracy by Hindi listeners was near chance for identification and higher-than-chance for discrimination. Exposure to AE in the US did not improve performance. These results are consistent with previous studies of late L2 learners and extend findings to a population that was proficient in an L2 before arriving in the L2 environment.

Spinning a yarn across languages: Adapting MAIN for India


 
 
 The Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (LITMUS-MAIN) was developed to assess the narrative abilities of bi- and multilingual children in the various languages that they speak. This paper presents the details of the adaptation of MAIN to three Indian languages, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam. We describe some typological features of these languages and discuss the challenges faced during the process of adaptation. Finally, we give an overview of results for narrative comprehension and production from Kannada-English and Hindi-English bilinguals aged 7 to 9.
 
 

Language proficiency, sociolinguistic factors and inhibitory control among bilinguals

Bilingualism interacts with cognitive control mechanisms, particularly inhibitory control. It is believed that language proficiency as a measure of the degree of bilingualism may influence inhibitory control. However, this interaction is modulated by sociolinguistic factors associated with bilingual experience. We examined the relationship between language proficiency and inhibitory control and the influence of sociolinguistic factors by comparing high and low proficient Hindi–English bilinguals, and by using a correlational design. A standard go/no-go task with varying proportions of go and no-go trials was used. Study-1 showed that age of acquisition, language use in formal/informal setting, and bilingual switching influenced the interaction between L2 proficiency and inhibitory control. In general, high proficient bilinguals were better at regulating inhibitory control when the demand on inhibition was high compared to that of low proficient bilinguals. Study-2 showed that contextual switching and setting-based use of L2 predicted inhibitory control in a high monitoring condition while use of L1 predicted inhibitory control irrespective of inhibitory demands. However, contextual switching strengthened the interaction between L2 proficiency and inhibitory control whereas use of L1 moderated the relationship between L1 proficiency and inhibitory control. We did not find a significant effect of non-language variables such as fluid intelligence, socioeconomic status, and participation in skilled activities on the relationship between language proficiency and inhibitory control. We emphasize on the role of both L1 and L2 proficiency and the use of a correlational design to investigate the relationship between bilingualism and inhibitory control.

Concurrent verbal working memory load constrains cross-linguistic translation activation: A visual world eye-tracking study on Hindi–English bilinguals

AbstractDoes a concurrent verbal working memory (WM) load constrain cross-linguistic activation? In a visual world study, participants listened to Hindi (L1) or English (L2) spoken words and viewed a display containing the phonological cohort of the translation equivalent (TE cohort) of the spoken word and 3 distractors. Experiment 1 was administered without a load. Participants then maintained two or four letters (Experiment 2) or two, six or eight letters (Experiment 3) in WM and were tested on backward sequence recognition after the visual world display. Greater looks towards TE cohorts were observed in both the language directions in Experiment 1. With a load, TE cohort activation was inhibited in the L2 – L1 direction and observed only in the early stages after word onset in the L1 – L2 direction suggesting a critical role of language direction. These results indicate that cross-linguistic activation as seen through eye movements depends on cognitive resources such as WM.

The Bubble Noise Technique for Speech Perception Research

PurposeThe “bubble noise” technique has recently been introduced as a method to identify the regions in time–frequency maps (i.e., spectrograms) of speech that are especially important for listeners in speech recognition. This technique identifies regions of “importance” that are specific to the speech stimulus and the listener, thus permitting these regions to be compared across different listener groups. For example, in cross-linguistic and second-language (L2) speech perception, this method identifies differences in regions of importance in accomplishing decisions of phoneme category membership. This research note describes the application of bubble noise to the study of language learning for 3 different language pairs: Hindi English bilinguals' perception of the /v/–/w/ contrast in American English, native English speakers' perception of the tense/lax contrast for Korean fricatives and affricates, and native English speakers' perception of Mandarin lexical tone.ConclusionWe demonstrate that this technique provides insight on what information in the speech signal is important for native/first-language listeners compared to nonnative/L2 listeners. Furthermore, the method can be used to examine whether L2 speech perception training is effective in bringing the listener's attention to the important cues.

The role of culture and language in moral decision-making

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of cultural and language factors in moral decision-making in Hindi–English bilinguals in comparison with English monolinguals living in Australia. The study included 166 Hindi–English bilingual participants who completed the survey in either their first or second language, and a comparison group of 127 English monolingual participants. Participants were presented with six hypothetical moral dilemmas (original trolley/footbridge), Waterpark (impersonal/personal), Family Game Show (impersonal/personal) requiring them to either save the lives or winnings of five people by sacrificing the lives or winnings of one person or not and to make moral judgments about these decisions. A cultural effect was found in moral decision-making as individuals from a Western background were more likely to engage in utilitarian decision-making, and rate it as more appropriate, than those from an Indian background to the monetary-loss Waterpark and Family Game Show dilemmas. In addition, similarities were found in decision-making choices to the trolley and footbridge dilemmas in the two cultural groups. Overall, no significant foreign language effect was found in the Hindi–English bilinguals. The foreign language effect may not extend to more proficient second language learners or acculturated bilingual speakers.

Performance Differences in Hindi and English Speaking Bilinguals on Stroop Task.

Previous studies have found that bilinguals differ in their response times on the bilingual version of Stroop Task. Automaticity and control and Language proficiency have emerged as important factors that lead to differences in the response time. This study aimed to understand Stroop Effect in Hindi-English bilinguals on the computerized version of Hindi and English language Stroop task. The study was conducted on 42 Hindi-English bilinguals. All were more proficient in the Hindi language as compared to the English Language. Results of the study revealed greater Stroop Effect in the English language as compared to the Hindi language.

Visual working memory load constrains language non-selective activation under task-demands

Abstract Visual world studies with bilinguals have demonstrated spontaneous cross-linguistic activations. In two experiments, we examined whether concurrent visual working memory (VWM) load constrains bilingual parallel activation during spoken word comprehension. Hindi-English bilinguals heard a spoken word in Hindi (L1) or English (L2) and saw a display containing the spoken word-referent, a phonological cohort of the spoken word’s translation and two unrelated objects. Participants completed a concurrent WM task of remembering an array of five coloured squares and judging its similarity with a test array. Participants were asked to click on the spoken word-referent in Experiment 1 but not in Experiment 2. Reduced parallel activation and enhanced target activation was observed under the load for L2 spoken words in Experiment 1 (where the task-demands were high). The findings suggest that a VWM load can constrain the spontaneous activation of an irrelevant lexicon, under certain conditions.

Language proficiency in bilinguals enhances action preparedness and control

We examined if bilinguals with superior L2 proficiency perform better on tasks that call for motor preparedness and anticipatory monitoring. While many have studied conflict resolution in isolation, few have explored how control related to action preparation and conflict interaction in the case of bilinguals. We compared high and low proficient Hindi–English bilinguals on a saccadic Stroop task where participants had to program saccades towards visual targets while execution time was manipulated. The results showed that high proficient bilinguals incurred lesser cost when incongruent and congruent trials of the Stroop task were mixed. High proficient bilinguals also committed fewer errors. However, there was no group difference with regard to overall speed of response. This result indicates superior conflict adaptation when monitoring demands are high which suggests that higher practice of bilingualism may influence the action control system including the monitoring system. We discuss the data with regard to bilingualism and its eventual impact on the perceptual and cognitive systems.

Case Marking in Hindi as the Weaker Language.

Does language dominance modulate knowledge of case marking in Hindi-speaking bilinguals? Hindi is a split ergative language with a rich morphological case system. Subjects of transitive perfective predicates are marked with ergative case (-ne). Human specific direct objects, indirect objects, and dative subjects are marked with the particle -ko. We compared knowledge of case marking in Hindi–English bilinguals with different dominance patterns: 23 balanced bilinguals and two groups of bilinguals with Hindi as their weaker language: 24 L2 learners of Hindi with age of acquisition (AoA) of Hindi in adulthood and 26 Hindi heritage speakers with AoA of Hindi since birth in oral production and acceptability judgments. The balanced bilinguals outperformed the English-dominant bilinguals; the L2 learners and the heritage speakers, who showed similar lower command of the Hindi case marking system, with the exception of -ko marking as a function of specificity with direct objects. We consider how dominant language transfer, AoA of Hindi, and input factors may explain the acquisition and knowledge of morphology in Hindi as the weaker language.

Predictors of lexical retrieval in Hindi–English bilingual speakers

AbstractWhen bilinguals name pictures while in ‘monolingual mode’, we expect that under conditions of language-constraint and no cognate facilitation, factors influencing lexical retrieval in monolinguals ought to exert similar effects on bilinguals. To this end, we carried out a L1-only naming task on early Hindi–English bilinguals. Results of linear mixed effects analysis reveal AoA, Familiarity, Image Agreement and Codability (availability of alternate names) to be the most significant predictors of lexical retrieval speed for early bilinguals, confirming our expectations. However, we report, for the first time, a by-subject variation in Codability for bilinguals. Implications of the results are discussed in the context of current theories of bilingual lexical access and competition. In preparation for this study, Hindi norms from bilinguals for items in the Snodgrass and Vanderwart set have been established, which will be of use for stimuli selection in experimental studies involving bilinguals.

Novel-word learning, executive control and working memory: A bilingual advantage

Studies of the effects of bilingualism on cognition have given results that do not consistently replicate, reflecting at least in part wide differences in criteria for bilingualism and heterogeneity of language combinations within studied samples. We examined the bilingual advantage in attention, working memory and novel-word learning in early sequential Hindi–English bilinguals. We sought to clarify the aspects of cognition that benefit from bilingualism by using multiple measures and a sample sufficiently well-defined to permit independent replication. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on response inhibition, novel-word learning and almost all working memory tasks. In contrast, both groups performed comparably on selective attention. Analyses of individual differences showed that bilingual novel-word learning was related to their verbal working memory and ability to inhibit an ongoing action, whereas this was not the case for monolinguals. Results indicate a specific bilingual advantage that is confined to some but not all aspects of cognition.

Script differences and masked translation priming: Evidence from Hindi-English bilinguals.

This study reports on two experiments investigating the effects of script differences on masked translation priming in highly proficient early Hindi-English bilinguals. In Experiment 1 (the cross-script experiment), L1 Hindi was presented in the standard Devanagari script, while L2 English was presented in the Roman alphabet. In Experiment 2 (the same-script experiment), both L1 Hindi and L2 English were presented in the Roman alphabet. Both experiments revealed translation priming in the L1-L2 direction. However, L2-L1 priming was obtained in the same-script experiment, but not in the cross-script experiment. These findings are discussed in relation to the orthographic cue hypothesis as well as hypotheses that hold that script differences influence the distance between the L1 and L2 in lexical space and/or cross-language lateral inhibition. We also provide alternative accounts for these results in terms of how orthographic cues provided by L1 targets might lead to the discontinuation or disruption of processing for L2 primes.

Changes in Code-Switching Patterns among Hindi-English Bilinguals in Northern India

This study investigates changes in code-switching (CS) patterns among Hindi-English bilinguals in Northern India. There is a dearth of studies of naturalistic Hindi-English CS, which this study attempts to address. By recording a group of three older speakers and one of three younger speakers, the study identifies generational differences in CS behaviour. Echoing Si’s (2010) results, it finds younger speakers using more English overall, preferring to alternate between fully English or fully Hindi clauses, while older speakers insert English items into Hindi clauses more often. Finally, the paper investigates how CS reflects and aids speakers’ (linguistic) identity construction in modern India.

Effect of bilingualism on anticipatory oculomotor control

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: In this study we examined whether highly proficient bilinguals with superior proficiency in L2 have higher anticipatory control in the oculomotor domain compared to low proficiency bilinguals. Design/methodology/approach: We examined this in a task that had no conflict and did not require inhibitory control for target discrimination. Participants were instructed to programme a saccade towards a target only when the colour of the starting circle changed from one colour to another. Therefore to be fast, as well as accurate, participants should have prepared saccades in anticipation of this task. The task was simple enough to extract anticipatory behaviour in the oculomotor domain. Data and analysis: Thirty high proficiency and thirty low proficiency Hindi–English bilinguals participated in this study. We calculated saccade latency and also the number of anticipatory saccades in an eye-tracking study. Apart from this we did regression analysis to examine if language proficiency predicted anticipatory control. Findings/conclusions: Highly proficient bilinguals were overall faster compared to the less proficient bilinguals. Additionally, highly proficient bilinguals also made a greater number of anticipatory saccades than the low proficiency group. L2 proficiency also significantly correlated with saccade latency as well as with the number of anticipatory saccades. These results thus demonstrate that higher proficiency in language use leads to better anticipatory control in the oculomotor domain. Originality: This is the first study that shows the effect of language proficiency on anticipatory control in the oculomotor domain. Significance/implications: The results have significance for theories related to bilingualism and its effects on action control.

The influence of second language proficiency on bilingual parallel language activation in Hindi–English bilinguals

ABSTRACTWe investigated the spontaneous activation of phonologically related words in high and low proficient Hindi–English bilinguals during spoken word processing in an eye-tracking study. Participants listened to spoken words in L1/L2 and looked at a display (consisting of line drawings of phonological cohort of the translation equivalent of the spoken word and unrelated distractors). Both the groups were quick in orienting their attention towards the competitor with the onset of the spoken word. Furthermore, high proficient bilinguals showed higher and earlier activation of the competitor compared to low proficient bilinguals. Cross-language activations were higher in the L2–L1 direction for both the groups. The results strongly suggest language non-selective access of translation in Hindi–English bilinguals in both language directions. We discuss the results with regard to the predictions of the bilingual language processing models and the effect of language proficiency on conceptual access during listening in bilinguals.

Differences between monolinguals and bilinguals in mean diffusivity

Event Abstract Back to Event Differences between monolinguals and bilinguals in mean diffusivity Nandini C. Singh1, Matteo Canini2, Pasquale Della Rosa2, Brendan Weekes3* and Jubin Abutalebi2 1 National Brain Research Centre, India 2 Centre of Cognitive Neuroscience, University Vita Salute San Raffaele,, Italy 3 Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China Recent hypotheses about the effect of second language experience on neuroplasticity have suggested possible differences in white matter microstructure between bilinguals and monolinguals. In this context, mean diffusivity (MD) has emerged as a sensitive measure of neural plasticity. Given that neural plasticity is an important consequence of bilingualism (Green & Abutalebi, 2013), the primary objective of this study was to use MD and associated components axial and radial diffusivity to compare white matter microstructure of bilinguals with monolinguals based on a prediction that exposure to a second language leads to neuroplasticity connecting specific brain regions. Eighteen Hindi-English bilinguals (mean age & SD: 23.94±1.5years) and 18 Italian monolinguals (mean age & SD: 23.45±2.1 years) closely matched for age, levels of education, literacy and SES (Socio Economic Status) were examined. Language proficiency assessments revealed that bilingual subjects were equally proficient in Hindi and English. Diffusion weighted images were acquired using a transverse multi-slice, single-shot, spin echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence with 35 gradient directions at b-value = 1000 s/mm2 and one b = 0 reference image. After preprocessing, diffusion tensor was fitted onto the corrected images using FMRIB’s FDT toolbox (http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/fsl/) which generated diffusion image maps (eigen values (λ1, λ2, and λ3)), fractional anisotropy (FA) and MD, AD λ|| = λ1, RD (λ┴ = (λ2 +λ3)/2)). Voxel-wise statistics were carried out at major tract centres common to all participants using Tract Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS),(Smith et al., 2006).In order to generate additional preliminary insights into the geometry of the underlying white matter structure in bilingual speakers, distributions for mean diffusivity values for bilinguals and monolinguals were also estimated. Higher mean diffusivity (MD) for bilinguals in white matter tracts such as forceps minor and bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (p=0.05) were observed. There was a high degree of concordance with the tracts seen in MD and RD indicating that the increased mean diffusivity was due to a higher rate of diffusion along the perpendicular as compared to the parallel direction.MD and RD distributions of bilateral SLF in monolinguals and bilinguals showed similar trends as the FA distribution comparison. Our results demonstrate for the first time changes in mean and radial diffusivity, specifically in the right superior longitudinal fasciculus and the forceps minor in bilinguals as compared to monolinguals. We attribute these results to structural neuroplasticity in the bilingual brain as a consequence of consistent and daily use of cognitive systems involved in language control. We speculate that the structural differences found in the SLF reflect to the effects of richer articulatory repertoire required by bilinguals. Keywords: bilingualism, DTI analyses, structural plasticity, Mean diffusivity (MD), Aphasia Conference: 54th Annual Academy of Aphasia Meeting, Llandudno, United Kingdom, 16 Oct - 18 Oct, 2016. Presentation Type: Platform Sessions Topic: Academy of Aphasia Citation: Singh NC, Canini M, Della Rosa P, Weekes B and Abutalebi J (2016). Differences between monolinguals and bilinguals in mean diffusivity. Front. Psychol. Conference Abstract: 54th Annual Academy of Aphasia Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.fpsyg.2016.68.00131 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 01 May 2016; Published Online: 15 Aug 2016. * Correspondence: Prof. Brendan Weekes, Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China, brendanweekes@icloud.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Nandini C Singh Matteo Canini Pasquale Della Rosa Brendan Weekes Jubin Abutalebi Google Nandini C Singh Matteo Canini Pasquale Della Rosa Brendan Weekes Jubin Abutalebi Google Scholar Nandini C Singh Matteo Canini Pasquale Della Rosa Brendan Weekes Jubin Abutalebi PubMed Nandini C Singh Matteo Canini Pasquale Della Rosa Brendan Weekes Jubin Abutalebi Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

The modulatory role of second language proficiency on performance monitoring: evidence from a saccadic countermanding task in high and low proficient bilinguals.

We compared Hindi-English bilinguals differing in their L2 proficiency on a saccadic countermanding task which taps inhibitory control as well as monitoring. We particularly explored whether response inhibition and performance monitoring within the oculomotor domain are affected by language proficiency in bilinguals. There were two different oculomotor redirect tasks: Visually Guided Redirect (VGR) task (Experiment1) and Memory Guided Redirect (MGR) task (Experiment 2). In the redirect task, typically a target is presented and the subject is required to make a saccade (no-step trials), unless a new target appears on a different location after some delay from the first target onset (step trials). On such trials participants are required to inhibit and cancel the saccade to the first target and programme a saccade to the new target. Using trial switch reaction time (TSRT), the time taken to inhibit the initiated saccade to the first target as a measure of response inhibition and post-step slowing as a measure of performance monitoring. The results showed the high proficient bilinguals displayed more post-step slowing on the no-step trials as compared to the low proficient bilinguals for both VGR and MGR versions of the task. Secondly, both the high and low proficient bilinguals exhibited comparable TSRT in both VGR and MGR task, showing no modulatory effects of language proficiency on the response inhibition. These results suggest that language proficiency may have an effect on performance monitoring, but not the inhibitory control per se. Thus, we infer that higher proficiency may lead to superior cognitive flexibility and an ability to adjust behavior that facilitates the attainment of the cognitive goal. These findings are in consonance with other current studies that suggest a top-down effect of bilingualism on action control systems.