Bilingualism

Question 1

Properties of bilingualism

Answer 1

• Knowing and speaking two languages on a regular basis
• Most people in the world are bilingual
• Two labels for every concept –> name pictures and recognize non-words slower than monolinguals
• Superior executive control, but not better at all cognitive tasks
• Adult second language learning is complicated by the critical/sensitive phase –> loss of plasticity makes it harder to learn

Question 2

Word Association Model

Answer 2

• Words in 1st language are directly associated with words in 2nd language
• Thinking of the sound of word 1 will directly activate word 2 (not related to meaning)

Question 3

Concept Mediation model

Answer 3

• Words in 1st language and 2nd language are associated with a shared concept, but not directly associated with each other
• Access concept first and then link to 2nd language

Question 4

Revised Hierarchical Model

Answer 4

• Conceptual and lexical links between languages
• 1st language concept links are stronger than 2nd language concept links
• 2nd-1st language lexical links are stronger than 1st-2nd lexical links
• Explains why 2nd-1st language translation is faster than 1st-2nd –> semantic interference is greater in 1st-2nd language translation

Question 5

Competition Model

Answer 5

• 2 languages compete simultaneously during comprehension and production
• Cognate advantage: words that sound alike and mean the same thing are produced and comprehended faster
• Interlingual homograph disadvantage: words that sound and look alike but are not are processed slower

Question 6

Serial/Cascade Model of Selection

Answer 6

• Relies on conceptual lemma and phonological information
• Listening activates conceptual representations associated with both 1st and 2nd language words

Question 7

Shared syntactic structure representations

Answer 7

• Bilinguals reuse as much of the syntax of their first language as possible when learning and using a second language
• Syntactic priming occurs when producing syntactic for one sentence makes it more likely you will produce the same syntactic structure for another sentence
• Evidence against: paradoxical switch costs

Question 8

Bilingual Interactive Activation (BIA+)

Answer 8

• Form of TRACE model
• Adds a level of representation that encodes which language is most activated
• Simultaneous activation of candidates and competition between candidates

Question 9

Inhibitory Control

Answer 9

• Language specific skills interact with inhibitory control system to determine response
• Made up of goal-monitoring mechanism and a supervisory attention system (SAS)
• SAS: occurs when voluntarily switching between languages

Question 10

Neural basis of bilingualism

Answer 10

• 1st and 2nd language have same neural basis and activate similar brain regions
• 1st to 2nd language switches have greater neural activity