Proficient Bilinguals Research Articles

Cognitive control ability mediates prediction costs in monolinguals and bilinguals

In this study, we examined the role that cognitive control and language regulation ability play in mediating readers’ susceptibility to prediction error costs when reading in the native language (L1) or a second language (L2). Twenty-four English monolinguals (Experiment 1) and 28 Chinese-English bilinguals (Experiment 2) read sentences in English while their EEG was recorded. The sentences varied in the predictability of an upcoming expected word and in whether that prediction was confirmed. Monolinguals showed sensitivity to sentence contexts in which expectations were not met (i.e., when unexpected words were encountered) in the form of a late, frontally-distributed positivity, but for bilinguals this effect was more complex. For both groups, performance on the prediction task was modulated by individual differences on the AX-CPT, a measure of inhibitory control. However, the bilinguals' reading performance in the L2 was affected not only by inhibitory control, but also by their performance on an L1 verbal fluency task that indexed language regulation and production capability, related to their language dominance and immersion context. Bilinguals with better regulation of the L1 generated a larger frontal positivity in response to unexpected words in the L2, an effect that was attenuated by inhibitory control ability. In contrast, bilinguals with lower regulatory ability generated a larger, late negativity, which was also mediated by control. These findings suggest that the ability to regulate the native language when immersed in a second language environment can influence mechanisms underlying the prediction process when reading in the L2. In addition, cognitive control ability, specifically inhibitory control, appears to mediate the difficulty readers incur when predictions are disconfirmed, not only in the native language, but also for proficient bilinguals reading in the L2. We argue that the mechanisms engaged during prediction in the L1 and L2 are fundamentally the same, and that what differs for bilinguals are the additional demands imposed by their language experience and language use.

The impact of cognateness of word bases and suffixes on morpho-orthographic processing: A masked priming study with intermediate and high-proficiency Portuguese-English bilinguals.

Recent studies have suggested that proficient bilinguals show morphological decomposition in the L2, but the question remains as to whether this process is modulated by the cognateness of the morphemic constituents of L2 words and by L2 proficiency. To answer this question was the main goal of the present research. For that purpose, a masked priming lexical decision task was conducted manipulating for the first time the degree of orthographic overlap of the L2 word as a whole, as well as of their morphemic constituents (bases and suffixes). Thirty-four European Portuguese-English bilinguals (16 intermediate and 18 high-proficient) and 16 English native-speaking controls performed the task in English. Results revealed that both groups of bilinguals decomposed words as the native control group. Importantly, results also showed that morphological priming effects were sensitive not only to cross-language similarities of words as a whole, but also to their morphemic constituents (especially, suffixes).

Types of Indonesian-English code-switching employed in a novel

This study investigated the types of code-switching between Indonesian and English and vice versa in an Indonesian novel. The code-switching employed in the novel entitled Antologi Rasa (literally translated as ‘The Anthology of Taste’) by Ika Natassa was chosen as the data for this study. The method used was qualitative in nature, with the code-switching being identified, noted, and finally analyzed and categorized into the framework developed by Hoffman who proposed four types of code-switching: inter-sentential switching, intra-sentential switching, tag switching, and establishing continuity with the previous speaker. The results showed that the most frequently used code-switching type in the novel was inter-sentential switching (62.3%), followed by intra-sentential switching (20.9%), tag switching (12.4%), and establishing continuity with the previous speaker (4.4%). Inter-sentential was presumed to be used the most because this type of code-switching signals bilingual proficiency and the novel does focus on readers who are adults and live in the metropolitan area. These readers are believed to be fluent speakers of both Indonesian and English. Establishing continuity with the previous speaker was the least frequently used code-switching type in the novel. This type of switching is mostly affected by social distance whereas in the novel, most of the characters had a close relationship with each other, perhaps explaining this low frequency. Finally, further studies on code-switching in written work are suggested, expanding on the current case of a single novel, since the influence of each language is essential to the significance of literary work at large.

Becoming a balanced, proficient bilingual: Predictions from age of acquisition & genetic background.

Genetic variants related to dopamine functioning (e.g., the ANKK1/TaqIa polymorphism within the DRD2 gene and the Val158Met polymorphism within the COMT gene) have previously been shown to predict cognitive flexibility and learning (e.g., Colzato et al., 2010; Stelzel et al., 2010). Additionally, researchers have found that these genetic variants may also predict second language learning (Mamiya et al., 2016), although this relationship may change across the lifespan (Sugiura et al., 2011). The current study examined the role of the ANKK1/TaqIa and Val158Met polymorphisms along with age of second language acquisition (AoA) in order to predict levels of bilingual proficiency in Spanish-English bilinguals. Results indicated a three-way interaction such that the relationship between the genetic variants and bilingual proficiency depended on AoA. At earlier AoAs, having the genetic variant associated with higher levels of subcortical dopamine (A1+) predicted the highest levels of bilingual proficiency. At later AoAs, individuals with the genetic variant associated with cortical dopamine levels that are balanced between stability and flexibility (Val/Met) predicted the highest levels of bilingual proficiency. These results fit with theories about the development of language as a subcortical process early in life and as a cortical process later in life (Hernandez & Li, 2007), as well as the importance of both stability and flexibility in bilingual language development (Green & Abutalebi, 2013). Finally, this study raises questions about the direction of causality between bilingualism and cognitive control, which is central to the debate over the "bilingual advantage."

Why is Lexical Retrieval Slower for Bilinguals? Evidence from Picture Naming.

Proficient bilinguals demonstrate slower lexical retrieval than comparable monolinguals. The present study tested predictions from two main accounts of this effect, the frequency-lag and competition hypotheses. Both make the same prediction for bilinguals but differ for trilinguals and for age differences. 200 younger or older adults who were monolingual, bilingual, or trilingual performed a picture naming task in English that included high and low frequency words. Naming times were faster for high than for low frequency words and, in line with frequency lag, group differences were larger for low than high frequency items. However, on all other measures, bilinguals and trilinguals performed equivalently, and lexical retrieval differences between language groups did not attenuate with age, consistent with the competition view.

Processing of emotional words in bilinguals: Testing the effects of word concreteness, task type and language status

The present study investigates whether the emotional content of words has the same effect in the different languages of bilinguals by testing the effects of word concreteness, the type of task used, and language status. Highly proficient bilinguals of Catalan and Spanish who learned Catalan and Spanish in early childhood in a bilingual immersion context, and who still live in such a context, performed an affective decision task (Experiment 1) and a lexical decision task (Experiment 2) in both Catalan and Spanish. A different set of Catalan–Spanish bilinguals, who were proficient in English and who learned English after early childhood in an instructional setting, performed a lexical decision task in both Spanish and English (Experiment 3). In both tasks administered throughout the experiments, the experimental stimuli were concrete and abstract words that varied in their emotional connotation (i.e. positive, negative and neutral words) and were presented in the two languages involved. In the affective decision task, participants decided if the words had emotional content or not, and in the lexical decision task they decided if the strings of letters were real words or not. The three experiments also included an unexpected free recall task. Results showed that the emotional content of words affected bilinguals’ performance in all three tasks. In particular, there was a disadvantage in processing for negative words in both the affective and lexical decision tasks, and an advantage for positive words in the lexical decision and free recall tasks. Importantly, language only interacted with the other variables in Experiment 3, suggesting that language status is a relevant factor in determining the extent to which emotional processing has the same characteristics in the two languages.

Multilingualism and creativity: a multivariate approach

ABSTRACTThis paper proposes a contribution to the investigation of the relation between multilingualism and creativity. Past evidence of a correlation between multilingualism and creativity is reviewed in a generalist perspective, that is, without focusing on a specific population such as migrants or highly proficient bilinguals. This review is also anchored in contemporary cognitive psychology and specialised research on creativity, allowing for a consideration of different levels and domains of creativity, as well as a distinction between creative potential and manifest creativity. On this basis, we test various hypotheses with a sample of 596 participants, using multiple regressions that incorporate several control variables. Key results show that L2 skills are systematically and positively related to virtually all indicators of creativity. Additional results reveal effects of other linguistic variables, along with effects of control variables related to cultural diversity (travelling and experience of living abroad), as well as interactions between linguistic and control variables. These results are contrasted with earlier findings and then discussed in terms of language policy implications and perspectives for future research.

Diferenças individuais no processamento neural de frases em bilíngues do par linguístico português-inglês: um estudo com fMRI dos efeitos da compreensão leitora na ativação cerebral

Embora um considerável número de estudos comportamentais tem se dedicado a examinar os efeitos de diferenças individuais como proficiência na segunda língua (L2) e capacidade de memória de trabalho (CMT) na compreensão leitora de bilíngues, poucos estudos de neuroimagem comparam os efeitos dessas diferenças individuais nos processos de compreensão leitora no cérebro de bilíngues. Este artigo apresenta um recorte de uma tese cujo estudo, de natureza transversal, quantitativa e exploratória, objetivou investigar cérebros de monolíngues e bilíngues e sua resposta neuroanatômica ao processamento de frases escritas. Para os fins deste artigo, delimitou-se desenvolver o objetivo de explorar em que medida diferenças individuais como proficiência na segunda língua e CMT modulam a ativação cerebral em bilíngues tardios. Doze bilíngues tardios do par linguístico português brasileiro-inglês leram 60 frases nas duas línguas enquanto imagens funcionais do cérebro eram adquiridas em dois dias distintos. Os resultados corroboraram a hipótese de que bilíngues mais proficientes engajariam a rota usual de compreensão (maior ativação na região temporal superior esquerda) enquanto os bilíngues menos proficientes recorreriam a áreas no hemisfério direito. Em relação à CMT, bilíngues com menor CMT, além de recrutar mais áreas do hemisfério direito, estariam recorrendo a processos menos proficientes para compreender as frases que bilíngues com maior CMT. O estudo acrescenta evidência à ideia de que o processamento de frases, as conexões entre as palavras na L2 e as representações semânticas da L1 se fortalecem conforme a proficiência na L2 aumenta.

Cross-language correspondences in the face of change: Phonetic independence versus convergence in two Korean-Mandarin bilingual communities

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: We investigate the robustness of cross-language phonetic correspondences in two bilingual communities over time, focusing on whether corresponding sounds (e.g. Mandarin /s/ and Korean /s’/) remain coupled in the face of language change, or whether the categories diverge over time in younger, more proficient bilinguals. Design/Methodology/Approach: We quantify the extent of assimilation versus independence of categories across languages by comparing bilinguals’ production of place of articulation and laryngeal contrasts in Mandarin and Korean sibilants. Distinct language-internal changes were expected on each dimension. Data and analysis: 107 speakers varying in age (aged 19–83), gender, and dialect participated in the study. Acoustic measurements (center of gravity of frication, voice onset time) and statistical analyses were performed on a total of ~11,000 tokens. Findings/Conclusions: The extent of cross-language independence differed on the two dimensions. Corresponding segments across the two languages remained tightly coupled in terms of place of articulation, even in the face of change; on the other hand, a language-internal change in the Korean laryngeal contrast left corresponding Mandarin segments unaffected, resulting in divergence of originally corresponding categories. We also found unpredicted changes on each dimension, and these changes progressed concurrently in the two languages. Originality: The study of correspondences in the context of independent sound change provides a unique perspective from which to evaluate the robustness of cross-language interaction, and the parallel analysis of two separate dimensions in two communities adds to the generalizability of results. Significance/Implications: Most changes occurred concurrently in the two languages, suggesting that similar phonetic categories across languages can remain tightly coupled, even in highly proficient bilinguals where phonetic independence is expected. However, one of the primary expected changes (voice onset time merger in Korean) did not affect corresponding segments in Mandarin, indicating that the extent of cross-language independence in phonetic correspondences may differ even within the same population. We discuss potential reasons for the different results.

How letter order is encoded in bilingual reading? The role of deviant-letter position in cognate word recognition

ABSTRACTObjective: Previous literature in the monolingual domain has showed that letter position is not encoded in an absolute-position manner. However, with the exception of the unpublished work by Font [(2001). Rôle de la langue dansl’accès au lexique chez les bilingues: Influence de la proximité orthographique et sémantique interlangue surla reconnaissance visuelle de mots (Unpublished Doctoral thesis). Université Paul Valery, Montpellier)], there is no study investigating this issue with bilinguals. According to Font, the recognition of cognate words is affected by the position of the deviant letter. This calls the validity of the input-coding scheme of the most relevant computational model of bilingual word recognition (The Bilingual Interactive Activation Plus Model [BIA+; Dijkstra, T., & vanHeuven, W. J. (2002). The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: From identification to decision. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 5, 175–197. doi:10.1017/S1366728902003012; Dijkstra, T., Miwa, K., Brummelhuis, B., Sappelli, M., & Baayen, H. (2010). How cross-language similarity and task demands affect cognate recognition. Journal of Memory and Language, 62, 284–301. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2009.12.003]) into question, since it holds that letter positions are perfectly encoded. The aim of the present research was to further examine the way letter position is encoded during non-native reading by manipulating the deviant-letter position of European Portuguese (EP)-English (EN) cognate words.Method: To that purpose 288 stimuli (144 Portuguese-English translation words [72 cognates and 72 noncognates] and 144 pseudowords) were selected. Cognates were assigned to two experimental conditions according to deviant-letter position: 1) at end of the word (matriz-MATRIX); and 2) at the beginning of the word (coala-KOALA). A third condition varying both at the beginning and at the end (e.g., escala-SCALE) was also included as a control to test how the degree of cross-language overlap modulates the results. Twenty-eight proficient Portuguese-English bilinguals were asked to perform a masked priming lexical decision task in English.Results: The results revealed faster responses for cognates with greater degree of cross-language overlap (Conditions 1 and 2). More important, priming effects were not modulated by deviant-letter position, i.e., the size of priming was similar across condition 1 and 2.Conclusion: Although a priori, no amendments seems to be needed in the “front-end” of the coding scheme of the BIA+ model when cognate words are considered, future studies should be developed in order to explore if these results are restricted to outer deviant-letters.

From Eyewitness to Academic Contexts: Examining the Effect of Misinformation in First and Second Languages

SummaryThe present study adapts the typical eyewitness misinformation paradigm into an academic context. Unbalanced English–Spanish bilinguals (N = 81) listened to a lecture in English (L1) or Spanish (L2), read notes in L1 or L2, and completed a forced‐choice recognition test in the lecture language. Unlike prior studies with proficient bilinguals, unbalanced English‐dominant participants showed greater recognition memory accuracy for material presented in English only than did material presented in Spanish only. English misinformation had a greater impact on memory for the Spanish lecture than vice versa. Most importantly, the modified misinformation paradigm is an effective tool to investigate academic misinformation effects and could be used in bilingual and monolingual research. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Inhibitory Control in Speech Comprehension among Dai-Han Bilingual Children.

We aimed to investigate differences in inhibitory control ability between proficient and non-proficient Dai–Han bilinguals. Two experiments used a combined stimulus–stimulus and stimulus–response compatibility paradigm for this purpose. Participants were Dai–Han bilingual primary-school students selected from a Dai-speaking town in Yunnan province, China. In Dai language interference condition, participants were asked to complete a picture category task. Results showed that the effect of attentional control for non-proficient bilinguals (NPBs) was significantly greater than that for proficient bilinguals (PBs), while the effect of response inhibition was not. This implied that a difference in inhibitory control between PBs and NPBs appeared at the attention control stage when interference by the Dai lexicon emerged. In Han language interference condition, however, participants were also asked to complete the same task. Results showed that the effect of response inhibition for NPBs was significantly greater than that for PBs, but the effect of attentional control was not. This demonstrated that a difference in inhibitory control emerged at the response inhibition stage when interference by the Han lexicon emerged. This pattern of results is opposite to previous researches, which indicated that the difference between PBs and NPBs occurred at the response inhibition stage under first language condition, whereas at the attentional control stage under second language (L2) condition. Based on these, this study suggests that Dai–Han bilinguals showed a remarkable L2 advantage. In addition, results showed that response times (RTs) of PBs were faster than RTs of NPBs while confounding variables (e.g., intelligence, etc.) were under control. This indicates that the inhibitory control ability of the PBs is superior to that of NPBs in this study.

The Pre-attentive L2 Orthographic Perception Mechanism Utilized by Bilinguals with Different Proficiency Levels.

Language proficiency is predicted to modulate orthographic-semantic association in second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition, in accordance with the assumptions of the Developmental Bilingual Interactive-Activation model (BIA-d) (Grainger et al., 2010). The current study explored this modulation during pre-attentive L2 orthographic perception. ERPs were recorded from Chinese–English bilinguals with different L2 proficiency during their pre-attentive response to deviant and standard stimuli arranged in the oddball paradigm. Two stimulus types were investigated separately: L2 orthography and L1 orthography. In the L2 orthography condition, a MMN-N400 complex (i.e., deviancy effect) was found in the high L2 proficiency bilinguals, but only a marginally significant reduced negativity in an early time window was found in the low L2 proficiency bilinguals. In the L1 orthography condition, the high and low L2 proficiency bilinguals showed similar deviancy effect in the form of MMN-P3a-LPC complex. The current findings suggest that proficiency modulates pre-attentive L2 orthographic perception, such that the high L2 proficiency bilinguals activate the associated semantic representation instantly upon orthographic decoding, while the orthographic-semantic connection is not activated for the low L2 proficiency bilinguals. This is probably due to their difference in the strength of orthographic-semantic association. These findings contribute to the understanding of orthographic processing by bilinguals at the pre-attentive level and provide supporting evidence for the BIA-d model.

Examining Peer Language Use and Investment in a Distinct North American Immersion Context

ABSTRACTPrevious studies have shown that immersion students tend to speak the majority language during peer interactions, regardless of the language of instruction or their dominant language. Researchers have argued that the societal status of the majority language presents an obstacle to providing equitable support for both languages of instruction. To examine the effects of societal language status on students’ language use and identity investment, this study quantified students’ English and French language use in Quebec French immersion classrooms, a context where both languages of instruction hold equitable societal status. A microanalysis of their divergences from the languages of instruction was also undertaken using Norton’s model of investment. This study sheds light on how language status works at the societal, classroom, and individual level to impact learners’ classroom language use. Findings emphasize the importance of using both languages of instruction outside of school for development of learners’ bilingual proficiency and bilingual identity.

Inhibition Efficiency in Highly Proficient Bilinguals and Simultaneous Interpreters: Evidence from Language Switching and Stroop Tasks.

The present behavioral study aimed to examine the impact of language control expertise on two domain-general control processes, i.e. active inhibition of competing representations and overcoming of inhibition. We compared how Simultaneous Interpreters (SI) and Highly Proficient Bilinguals-two groups assumed to differ in language control capacity-performed executive tasks involving specific inhibition processes. In Experiment 1 (language decision task), both active and overcoming of inhibition processes are involved, while in Experiment 2 (bilingual Stroop task) only interference suppression is supposed to be required. The results of Experiment 1 showed a language switching effect only for the highly proficient bilinguals, potentially because overcoming of inhibition requires more cognitive resources than in SI. Nevertheless, both groups performed similarly on the Stroop task in Experiment 2, which suggests that active inhibition may work similarly in both groups. These contrasting results suggest that overcoming of inhibition may be harder to master than active inhibition. Taken together, these data indicate that some executive control processes may be less sensitive to the degree of expertise in bilingual language control than others. Our findings lend support to psycholinguistic models of bilingualism postulating a higher-order mechanism regulating language activation.

The Impact of Mother Tongue Instruction on the Development of Biliteracy: Evidence from Somali–Swedish Bilinguals

This study investigates if participation in mother tongue instruction (henceforth MTI) impacts the biliteracy proficiency of young bilinguals, drawing on examples from Somali–Swedish bilinguals and ...

Mental arithmetic in the bilingual brain: Language matters

How do bilinguals solve arithmetic problems in each of their languages? We investigated this question by exploring the neural substrates of mental arithmetic in bilinguals. Critically, our population was composed of a homogeneous group of adults who were fluent in both of their instruction languages (i.e., German as first instruction language and French as second instruction language). Twenty bilinguals were scanned with fMRI (3T) while performing mental arithmetic. Both simple and complex problems were presented to disentangle memory retrieval occuring in very simple problems from arithmetic computation occuring in more complex problems. In simple additions, the left temporal regions were more activated in German than in French, whereas no brain regions showed additional activity in the reverse constrast. Complex additions revealed the reverse pattern, since the activations of regions for French surpassed the same computations in German and the extra regions were located predominantly in occipital regions. Our results thus highlight that highly proficient bilinguals rely on differential activation patterns to solve simple and complex additions in each of their languages, suggesting different solving procedures. The present study confirms the critical role of language in arithmetic problem solving and provides novel insights into how highly proficient bilinguals solve arithmetic problems.

二言語の能力とコード・スイッチング : 韓国系民族学校の高校生を対象として

二言語の能力とコード・スイッチング : 韓国系民族学校の高校生を対象として

How does first language (L1) influence second language (L2) reading in the brain? Evidence from Korean-English and Chinese-English bilinguals

To examine how L1 influences L2 reading in the brain, two late bilingual groups, Korean-English (KE) and Chinese-English (CE), performed a visual word rhyming judgment task in their L2 (English) and were compared to L1 control groups (i.e., KK and CC). The results indicated that the L2 activation is similar to the L1 activation for both KE and CE language groups. In addition, conjunction analyses revealed that the right inferior frontal gyrus and medial frontal gyrus were more activated in KK and KE than CC and CE, suggesting that these regions are more involved in Korean speakers than Chinese speakers for both L1 and L2. Finally, an ROI analysis at the left middle frontal gyrus revealed greater activation for CE than for KE and a positive correlation with accuracy in CE, but a negative correlation in KE. Taken together, we found evidence that important brain regions for L1 are carried over to L2 reading, maybe more so in highly proficient bilinguals.

Cultural Represetation As Seen In Indonesian Early Bilinguals’ Essays

<p>A thorough observation on the implementation of immersion program at the Laboratory Primary School of Universitas Negeri Malang has recently been conducted particularly to see how English exposures work in non-English classrooms. The research also objectifies the initial mapping of the English proficiency of Early Bilinguals sitting in the 3<sup>rd</sup> Grade of International Class Program who are the main research subjects to whom the language proficiency tests are given. The findings indicate that the students possess good English language competence, comprehensively and productively. In language comprehension, 85% of the students are able to comprehend meanings of various explicit and implicit instructions in the forms of declaratives, interrogatives, and imperatives. In language production, 80% of the students are able produce simple and basic sytactic constructions (SVO order) accurately using almost correct singular-plural and present-past tense. Beyond these significant findings, the reseachers discover a lot more concern on how they construct ideas in their essays as well as how these ideas reflect their daily socio-cultural practices. Given the context of <em>My Last Holiday, </em>the 48-students’ essays have narrated more than only series of event or moments to remember, but a piece of universal concept internalized in their mind as Indonesian natives. This paper specifically outlines not only the most frequent words and phrases in their essays becoming apparent to represent the things the students value more, but also the initial mapping on universal cultural concepts in Asian context. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong><em>early bilinguals; essay writing, universal cultural concept</em><strong></strong></p>