Bilingualism Flashcards
1
Q
What is the traditional story in psycholinguistics?
A
- On this view, bilinguals have been considered a special group of language users, much like brain damaged patients, children with language disorders
- Learning two languages would be confusing
- Bilinguals should be “functionally monolingual” in two languages
- “equally fluent” “ambilingual” “equilingualism” “balanced bilingual”
2
Q
What are late bilinguals?
A
- learning the second language later than childhood
- “full native L1” “funky L2”
- Even highly successful late L2 learners speak with an accent and appear to fail to acquire subtle aspects of the L2 grammar
- after 7 years old
3
Q
What is the new attitude about bilingualism?
A
- There is greater plasticity than previously understood
- Language learning occurs at all ages and language processes are dynamic
- Bilingualism provides a lens for examining neurocognitive processes
- Bilingualism alters the structure and function of the mind
- Is convergence on the idea that bilingualism is a consequential life experience
- bilinguals are not two monolinguals in one
- “continuum” “daily lives with different proficiency levels” “coexistence of two languages”
4
Q
What percent of the world is bilingual?
A
- we don’t know
- Francois Grosjean says 50-70% so 60%
5
Q
What percent of people in Canada are bilingual?
A
- 18%
6
Q
What percent of people in Quebec are bilingual?
A
46.4%
7
Q
What percent of people in Montreal are bilingual?
A
69.8%
8
Q
What are three discoveries about bilingualism?
A
- language coactivation
- beyond language processing
- individual differences
9
Q
What is language coactivation?
A
- Both languages are active and competing
- Joint activation of two language systems
- Both languages are active and interacting
- L1 effects L2 more, stronger than L2
10
Q
What are the experimental tasks to study language coactivation?
A
- lexical decision task
- picture naming task
11
Q
What are cognates?
A
- words in both languages that are the same
- facilitation
- faster doing task
12
Q
What are interlingual homographs?
A
- same words but different meanings
- interference
- greater comprehension difficulty
13
Q
Would the newly acquired L2 affect the L1?
A
- Examined cognate effects in monolinguals and L2 LEARNERS OF SPANISH
- behaviourally, no cognate effect
- but spanish beginning to influence english, changes in brain
14
Q
What is beyond language processing?
A
- Cognitive control
- the inhibitory control model
15
Q
What is inhibition?
A
- is triggered in the presence of competition
- is proportional to the level of coactivation
- the higher the level of activation of the non-target language, the more inhibition is required to reduce competition
- prevents intrusions from the non-used languages
- interference recognized by supervisory attentional system
- inhibitory system inhibits language you don’t want to use
16
Q
What is the asymmetrical switching cost?
A
- when switching from L1 to L2, faster reaction time
- harder to switch from L2 to L1
- more activation of L1 in brain
- L1 to L2 need more inhibition
- L2 to L1 need less inhibition
17
Q
What is domain specific language control?
A
- switching
18
Q
What is domain general cognitive control?
A
- stroop task
- flanker task
- simon task
19
Q
Bilingual advantage?
A
- Lifelong management of two languages –> Enhancements in LANGUAGE CONTROL –> Enhancements in DOMAIN-GENERAL CONTROL –> CHANGES IN THE BRAIN –> COGNITIVE RESERVE
- The conflict effect was significantly reduced only for bilinguals during the second session of the flanker task
- Spanish-English-speaking bilinguals exhibited greater bilateral frontal GMV compared with English-speaking monolinguals
- parts of the brain more active in bilinguals
- In bilinguals, the aging brain shows preservation of the posterior regions, and the connectivity
- reaction time for simon task does not get as much longer as monolinguals
- Bilinguals experienced onset symptoms and were diagnosed approximately 3 – 4 years later than the monolinguals
20
Q
What are individual differences?
A
- Not all bilinguals are the same
- Meta-analyses and systematic reviews found a bilingual/multilingual advantage
- Studies and meta-analyses have emerged questioning the differences
- Bilingual/multilingual advantage is modulated by the TASKS employed to assess executive functions
- Characteristics of the multilingual SPEAKERS and the CONTEXT
21
Q
What is the adaptive inhibition hypothesis?
A
— interactional context — cognitive processing <—> language processing — language experience —
22
Q
What is context?
A
- DUAL LANGUAGE CONTEXTS may be
PARTICULARLY DEMANDING - language control processes
- general cognitive control
- interactional cost (difference between competition and cooperation)
- in US need to monitor who speaks english vs spanish but in other places, don’t need to monitor
23
Q
What is language experience?
A
- MULTILINGUAL LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE AS A CONTINUUM
- L1/L2 age of acquisition — L1/L2proficiency —- social diversity of language use
- Language diversity across social contexts is central for regulating how languages are represented, accessed, and controlled, over and above basic measures such as L2 age of language acquisition, and self-reported ability in each language
24
Q
Summary
A
- Bilinguals are not two monolinguals in one. Both languages are active and competing. The two languages are not separate.
- The bilingual’s language system is permeable in both directions. Critically, the L1 changes in the response to learning. Bilingualism has consequences for both languages.
- There are effects on cognitive control. Brain and cognition are plastic.
- Not all bilinguals are the same. Language experiences are multifaceted. Bilinguals differ by virtue of the demands of the context and the experience.
