There a Bilingual Advantage in Cognitive Control? Evidence From Metalinguistic Awareness and Executive Functioning Tasks

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Inurritegui ◽  
Gery d'Ydewalle
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Metalinguistic Awareness ◽  
Bilingual Advantage

scholarly journals Is Bilingualism Associated with Enhanced Executive Functioning in Adults? A Meta-Analytic Review_Pre-Print

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minna Lehtonen ◽  
Anna Soveri ◽  
Aini Laine ◽  
Janica Järvenpää ◽  
Angela de Bruin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Extensive Investigation ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Control Functions ◽  
Study Task

Due to enduring experience of managing two languages, bilinguals have been argued to develop superior executive functioning compared to monolinguals. Despite extensive investigation, there is, however, no consensus regarding the existence of such a bilingual advantage. Here we synthesized comparisons of bilinguals’ and monolinguals’ performance in six executive domains using 891 effect sizes from 152 studies on adults. We also included unpublished data, and considered the potential influence of a number of study-, task-, and participant-related variables. Before correcting estimates for observed publication bias, our analyses revealed a very small bilingual advantage for inhibition, shifting, and working memory, but not for monitoring or attention. No evidence for a bilingual advantage remained after correcting for bias. For verbal fluency, our analyses indicated a small bilingual disadvantage, possibly reflecting less exposure for each individual language when using two languages in a balanced manner. Moreover, moderator analyses did not support theoretical presuppositions concerning the bilingual advantage. We conclude that the available evidence does not provide systematic support for the widely held notion that bilingualism is associated with benefits in cognitive control functions in adults.

Tracing bilingual advantage in cognitive control: Conflict processing and categorization switching

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Marzecova ◽  
M. Bukowski ◽  
J. Lupianez ◽  
M. Boros ◽  
Z. Wodniecka
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Conflict Processing

scholarly journals Domains of cognition and their assessment

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-237 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Use Of Assessment ◽  
Assessment Strategies ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Conditions

Cognitive performance is typically conceptualized in terms of domains of functioning. These domains are hierarchical in nature, with the bottom referring to more basic sensory and perceptual processes and the top referring to elements of executive functioning and cognitive control. Domains are not independent of each other and executive functioning exerts control over the utilization of more basic processes. Assessments are typically targeted at subdomains of each ability area and careful combination of tasks can reveal patterns of performance consistent with a variety of different neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions. This review covers the general structures of domains, the patterns of impairments across domains seen in common neuropsychiatric conditions, and use of assessment strategies to differentiate, to the extent possible, between different types of conditions manifesting cognitive impairment.

scholarly journals Are inconsistent bilingual-monolingual cognitive differences the result of population miscategorization?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Kendro
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Psycholinguistic Research ◽  
Cognitive Differences ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Multiple Tasks

Decades of psycholinguistic research have attempted to determine whether a “bilingualadvantage” exists for cognitive abilities (e.g., Bialystok & Craik, 2010; Cummins, 1977; for a metaanalysis,see Grundy & Timmer, 2017). More recent work has shifted away from investigating thebroader matter of cognition and working memory to focus on specific domains within those capacities(e.g., Linck et al., 2014). Despite countless studies, however, the existence of thisphenomenon remains unconfirmed. This paper examines evidence for and against the presence of a“bilingual advantage” in multiple tasks of working memory and cognitive control, reviewing studies thatcompare monolingual and bilingual performance. It further looks at populations that are understudied inrelation to these questions (i.e., L2 learners and heritage speakers). Finally, the topic of L2 attrition isdiscussed, alongside a novel perspective that may explain the inconsistencies in bilingual-monolingualcomparisons of performance on cognitive tasks.

Is There a Cognitive Advantage for Spanish Heritage Bilinguals? A First Look

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-309
Author(s):  
Julio Torres ◽  
Cristina Sanz
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Cognitive Outcomes ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Conflicting Information ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Network Component

We report the findings from an ongoing study on the relationship between bilinguals’ language experience and cognitive control. Previous research suggests that early bilingualism exerts an advantage on executive control, possibly due to the cognitive requirements involved in the daily juggling of two languages (Adesope, Lavin, Thompson, & Ungerleider, 2010). However, other researchers also have argued against a cognitive control advantage in bilinguals (Hilchey & Klein, 2011). It remains unclear whether cognitive benefits hold true for bilinguals across different contexts, given differences in sociolinguistic and socioeducational settings that shape individual bilingualism. In the current study, following Costa, Hernández and Sebastián-Gallés (2008) who tested Catalan-Spanish bilinguals, young adult simultaneous heritage bilinguals and late classroom emerging bilinguals of Spanish in the U.S. completed three blocks of the Attentional Network Task (ANT) (Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz, & Posner, 2002) to gauge executive control abilities. Results for the executive network component of the ANT reveal no significant differences between the two bilingual groups, although the descriptive data trend suggests that HL bilinguals experienced less difficulty in solving conflicting information and demonstrated fewer switching costs between trials. These first findings imply that the bilingual advantage is not replicated across contexts, and that socioeducational practices determine individual patterns of language use, which in turn leads to variation in cognitive outcomes.

Language, Bilingualism, and Executive Functioning in Early Development

2010 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 888-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bruce Morton
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Dimensional Change ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Standard Account ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Dimensional Change Card Sort ◽  
New Evidence

Okanda, et al. (2010) reported new evidence concerning associations between language ability, bilingualism, and executive functioning early in development. The paper adds to a growing body of literature suggesting that bilingualism is associated with advantages in executive functioning generally, and the Dimensional Change Card Sort task in particular. However, as with all findings that hinge on between-group comparisons, there is a need to exercise caution before drawing firm conclusions about the effects of bilingualism on the development of executive control. Several lines of recent evidence are outlined that challenge key assumptions underlying the standard account of the bilingual advantage. Okanda, et al.'s findings are discussed in light of this evidence.

The bilingual advantage: Conflict-monitoring, cognitive control, and syntactic ambiguity resolution

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Teubner-Rhodes ◽  
Alan Mishler ◽  
Ryan Corbett ◽  
Monica Sanz-Torrent ◽  
John C. Trueswell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Ambiguity Resolution ◽  
Syntactic Ambiguity ◽  
Conflict Monitoring ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Syntactic Ambiguity Resolution

On bilinguals’ development of metalinguistic awareness and its transfer to L3 learning: The role of language characteristics

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuan-Jung Huang
Keyword(s):  
Error Detection ◽  
Metalinguistic Awareness ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Nonverbal Intelligence ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Error Detection And Correction ◽  
Southern Min ◽  
Language Characteristics ◽  
The Impact

Aims: With language characteristics shown to be a factor mediating bilinguals’ metalinguistic awareness, the present study attempts to give a clearer picture of the impact of language characteristics, avoiding confounds such as exposure opportunities and language experiences, which previous studies with comparisons made between monolinguals and bilinguals were subject to. Design: Two groups of bilinguals speaking the same first language (L1) but different second languages (L2s) were tested for their performance on a morphosyntactic awareness task. Other confounds (L1 proficiency and nonverbal intelligence) were statistically controlled. Data and Analysis: After five outliers were deleted, data from 22 Chinese–English bilinguals and 20 Chinese–Southern Min bilinguals were analyzed, by mainly using analyses of covariance. Findings: The results showed that, with nonverbal intelligence and Chinese proficiency controlled for, Chinese–English bilinguals scored significantly higher than their counterparts only on the past tense suffix task, one tested feature in which Chinese and English differ but which both Chinese and Southern Min lack. They did not, however, differ on the other contrasting feature, present suffix, probably due to its inconsistent presence in English. The two groups showed no difference on subject–object–verb and inflectional negation features that both their L1s and L2s lack. Originality: Unlike the metalinguistic awareness measure (grammatical error detection and correction) commonly used in previous studies, our task was adapted into a version using an unlearned third language (L3) (Japanese), which could reflect children’s cross-language transfer of metalinguistic knowledge. Besides, our metamorphological awareness measure was focused on inflectional morphology, whose influence on the bilingual advantage should be important but has yet received scant attention in the earlier literature. Significance: The overall results cross-validated the important role of language characteristics in bilinguals’ development of metalinguistic awareness and suggested that the metamorphological awareness is likely to facilitate bilinguals’ learning of an L3.

The Inhibitory Advantage in Bilingual Children Revisited

2014 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Andoni Duñabeitia ◽  
Juan Andrés Hernández ◽  
Eneko Antón ◽  
Pedro Macizo ◽  
Adelina Estévez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Specific Advantage ◽  
Size Congruency

In recent decades several authors have suggested that bilinguals exhibit enhanced cognitive control as compared to monolinguals and some proposals suggest that this main difference between monolinguals and bilinguals is related to bilinguals’ enhanced capacity of inhibiting irrelevant information. This has led to the proposal of the so-called bilingual advantage in inhibitory skills. However, recent studies have cast some doubt on the locus and generality of the alleged bilingual advantage in inhibitory skills. In the current study we investigated inhibitory skills in a large sample of 252 monolingual and 252 bilingual children who were carefully matched on a large number of indices. We tested their performance in a verbal Stroop task and in a nonverbal version of the same task (the number size-congruency task). Results were unequivocal and showed that bilingual and monolingual participants performed equally in these two tasks across all the indices or markers of inhibitory skills explored. Furthermore, the lack of differences between monolingual and bilingual children extended to all the age ranges tested and was not modulated by any of the independent factors investigated. In light of these results, we conclude that bilingual children do not exhibit any specific advantage in simple inhibitory tasks as compared to monolinguals.

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