Bilingualism Flashcards
Traditional story in psycholinguistics
Bilinguals should be “functionally monolingual” in two languages
True or false : Even highly successful late L2 learners speak with an accent and appear to fail to acquire subtle aspects of the L2 grammar.
True
A new attitude about bilingualism
There is greater plasticity than previously understood.
- Language learning occurs at all ages and language processes are dynamic.
- Bilingualism alters the structure and function of the mind.
- bilinguals are not two monolinguals in one
Billingualism continuum
People can be low proficiency bilingual to balanced bilingual
What % of the world is bilingual ?
According to Francois Grosjean, around 60% people speak more than one language
Canada : 18%
Quebec : 46%
Montreal : 70%
Language coactivation
2 languages are active in the brain, and interacting
Picture decision task for bilinguals
- Name each picture out loud in English
- Measure of latency
Unique words vs share/cognate words
Unique words are completely different in two languages (e.g. dog vs chien)
Shared/cognate words have common form and meaning (e.g. piano)
Coactivation and unique vs shared words
If your performance is the same for both unique and shared words, there is no coactivation
Need better performance for shared words for evidence of coactivation
Language coactivation test :
Spanish English bilinguals and Japanese-English bilinguals
Asked to name cognate (shared) vs unique words
Both groups are faster naming words in shared (cognate) condition compared to unique word: receiving coactivation for English words and L1 words
Interlingual homograph
Words that have similar spellings but different meanings across languages
E.g. coin in English (piece de monnaie in French) vs coin in French (corner in English)
Parallel activation during reading
Eye tracking
Initial stages of comprehension
- First fixation duration: length of the 1st time eye fixates on the target – LEXICAL ACCESS
Later stages of comprehension
Total fixation duration: length of all eye fixations on target – SEMANTIC INTEGRATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
- Longer fixation durations linked to greater comprehension difficulty in both stages
In latest stages : cognates are fast to comprehend in comparison to homographs
Due to interference effect : coactivation
Facilitation and interference effect are generally larger in ___L1/L2
L2
There is a smaller or no effect in L1
- speakers can control language co-activation when speaking their L1, but not when speaking their (weaker) L2
Language coactivation is stronger in __L1/L2
L2
Processing in __L1/L2 is more independen
L1
L2: weaker conceptual links : processing is mediated by L1
L1: stronger conceptual links : processing is more independent
Is the native language INTACT? Bice & Kroll (2015)
Examined cognate effects in monolinguals and L2 LEARNERS OF SPANISH.
Lexical decision task in L1
Manipulation of cognates/non cognates
Result : no behavioral difference between cognate and control words
- No coactivation in the dominant language : the Native language is intact
Event-related potentials (ERP)
Event-related potentials: voltage fluctuations that are time-locked to an event (e.g. lexical retrieval)
ERP when processing cognates
Less negativity in the non-cognate : facility to process the cognate compared to no cognate
Will brain activity show an effect of L2 on L1? lexical decision task in ENGLISH (L1)
- The native language is affected by the learning of a second language.
- ERPs have been shown to provide evidence of changes in the bilingual system preceding observable behavioral measures
True or false : there is no evidence of language coactivation when reading
True
Accuracy in dominant and non-dominant languages
Inhibition
- 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.
The Inhibitory Control Model
Are words semantically related ?
Trial 1 Pie (meaning foot in Spanish) vs toe
Trial 2 : Foot vs hand
Interference effect :
- Participants were slower to respond to homographs presented along with words related to the Spanish meaning of the homograph (interlingual interference effect)
Longer time to say if inhibited concept is semantically related to another concept :
- Bilinguals inhibited the irrelevant homograph meaning (i.e., pie-foot in the trial 1) requiring now more time to reactivate
Asymmetrical switching cost
- Switching from L2 (French) to L1 (English)
- L1 is more activated : trying to speak L2 means inhibiting L1
- When going back to L1 English : more time to name objects because less activated
Domain specific language control
Switching
Domain general cognitive control
- Stroop task : name ink color
- Flanker task : Indicate the direction in which a central arrow points
- Simon task : Press the left button to a blue circle and a right button to a green circle
Lifelong management of two languages shows improvements in…
Language control and domain cognitive general control
Bilingual advantage
Session effects of the Flanker task.
- The conflict effect was significantly reduced only for bilinguals during the second session
Spanish-English-speaking bilinguals exhibited greater bilateral frontal …. volume GMV compared with English-speaking monolinguals
Gray matter
Grey matter regions show high activation during …
Bilingual language switching (BRAIN AREAS)
higher white matter integrity in bilinguals means stronger…
Connectivity between areas
Bilingualism as a cognitive reserve in aging
- Aging is associated with an increased reliance on the frontal regions
- In bilinguals, the aging brain shows preservation of the posterior regions, and the connectivity (e.g. simon task)
- Bilinguals experienced dementia onset symptoms and were diagnosed approximately 3 – 4 years
later than the monolinguals
Adaptive inhibition hypothesis
Language control processes
- May be PARTICULARLY DEMANDING
- general cognitive control
Impact of environment : Interactional context
- Switching depending on people
Bilingualism is not a ______ variable
Categorical
Entropy as a measure of language diversity
Reflects the linguistic composition, or overall balance of language use, across multiple communicative contexts
HIGH ENTROPY scores (i.e., near one) are indicative of high diversity
50% of each language is complete entropy, integrated use of multiple languages in a balanced fashion within a context
LOW ENTROPY scores are indicative of low diversity, compartmentalized use of a single language in a context
People with high language entropy exhibit greater …
Functional connectivity in the brain network associated with language and executive control, and showed higher scores on cognitive control
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)
Neuropsychological test that assesses a person’s ability to shift between different ways of thinking
Menopause and entropy
Workplace but not home language diversity modulated age-and menopause-related declines in cognitive control, suggesting that females may compensate for decline by adapting to the externally imposed demands of the language environment
