| 1. |
- Bak, Thomas H, et al.
(författare)
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Never too late? An advantage on tests of auditory attention extends to late bilinguals.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent studies, using predominantly visual tasks, indicate that early bilinguals tend to outperform monolinguals on attention tests. It remains less clear whether such advantages extend to those bilinguals who have acquired their second language later in life. We examined this question in 38 monolingual and 60 bilingual university students. The bilingual group was further subdivided into early childhood (ECB), late childhood (LCB), and early adulthood bilinguals (EAB). The assessment consisted of five subtests from the clinically validated Test of Everyday Attention (TEA). Overall, bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on auditory attention tests, but not on visual search tasks. The latter observation suggests that the differences between bilinguals and monolinguals are specific and not due to a generally higher cognitive performance in bilinguals. Within the bilingual group, ECB showed a larger advantage on attention switching, LCB/EAB on selective attention. We conclude that the effects of bilingualism extend into the auditory domain and are not confined to childhood bilinguals, although their scope might be slightly different in early and late bilinguals.
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| 2. |
- Long, Madeleine R., et al.
(författare)
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Understudied factors contributing to variability in cognitive performance related to language learning
- 2020
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Ingår i: Bilingualism. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1366-7289 .- 1469-1841. ; 23:4, s. 801-811
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While much of the literature on bilingualism and cognition focuses on group comparisons (monolinguals vs bilinguals or language learners vs controls), here we examine the potential differential effects of intensive language learning on subjects with distinct language experiences and demographic profiles. Using an individual differences approach, we assessed attentional performance from 105 university-educated Gaelic learners aged 21-85. Participants were tested before and after beginner, elementary, and intermediate courses using tasks measuring i.) sustained attention, ii.) inhibition, and iii.) attention switching. We examined the relationship between attentional performance and Gaelic level, previous language experience, gender, and age. Gaelic level predicted attention switching performance: those in higher levels initially outperformed lower levels, however lower levels improved the most. Age also predicted performance: as age increased attention switching decreased. Nevertheless, age did not interact with session for any attentional measure, thus the impact of language learning on cognition was detectable across the lifespan.
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| 3. |
- Romano, Francesco, Universitetslektor, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Conclusion and future directions
- 2023
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Ingår i: Studies in Italian as a heritage language. - Berlin : De Gruyter Mouton. - 9783110759587 - 9783110759518 ; , s. 321-324
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 4. |
- Xia, Lihua, et al.
(författare)
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A longitudinal investigation of the effects of language instruction versus immersion on cognitive functions in young adult Chinese speakers learning English
- 2023
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Ingår i: Studies in Second Language Acquisition. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0272-2631 .- 1470-1545. ; 45:1, s. 189-211
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The current study examined cognitive effects of two pathways of second language (L2) acquisition longitudinally in Chinese speakers learning English in an L2-dominant environment. Thirty-nine participants who attended an intensive 10-week English course (L2-instruction group) were compared to 38 participants who attended regular university courses taught in English (L2-immersion group). Four repeated assessments were conducted over 10 weeks: precourse (baseline) and postcourse assessments, and two interim assessments every 3 weeks. Both groups matched on background variables (e.g., intelligence) and showed comparable cognitive performance in all measures at the baseline. The longitudinal results showed a similar improvement in both groups for most cognitive measures, such as visual and auditory inhibition. The only significant group difference was observed in the auditory inhibition test, where the L2-instruction group outperformed the L2-immersion group. Taken together, our results suggest a specific effect of language experience and an overall effect of linguistic context on cognitive functions.
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| 5. |
- Xia, Lihua, et al.
(författare)
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Interference suppression in bilingualism : Stimulus-Stimulus vs. Stimulus-Response conflict
- 2022
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Ingår i: Bilingualism. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1366-7289 .- 1469-1841. ; 25:2, s. 256-268
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies examining the potential effects of bilingualism on interference suppression show inconsistent results. Our study approaches this topic by distinguishing two potential subcomponents within interference suppression (i.e., Stimulus-Stimulus and Stimulus-Response conflict). We investigated the two subcomponents through their operationalisation in different tasks and examined the role of language proficiency in modulating it. A sample of 111 young adult participants performed four non-linguistic cognitive tasks measuring both visual and auditory domains of cognitive control. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals in tasks involving Stimulus-Stimulus conflict, but showed comparable performance in tasks involving Stimulus-Response conflict. Specific effects of language proficiency on cognitive control were observed: group differences in auditory inhibition and visual orienting were only observed between high-proficient bilinguals and monolinguals. Taken together, types of conflicts involved in interference tasks and language proficiency could differentially affect performance in monolinguals and bilinguals.
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