Predictors of Verbal Fluency Performance in Monolingual and Bilingual Children: The Interactive Role of English Receptive Vocabulary and Fluid Intelligence

2021 ◽  
pp. 106074
Author(s):  
Deanna C. Friesen ◽  
Kayla Edwards ◽  
Chastine Lamoureux
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Bilingual Children

The role of existing language knowledge in bilingual and multilingual toddlers’ repetition of cross-linguistic and language-specific nonwords

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josje Verhagen ◽  
Sible Andringa
Keyword(s):  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Linear Mixed Effect ◽  
Language Knowledge

Abstract Previous studies have shown that bilingual children typically score more poorly on nonword repetition (NWR) tasks than monolingual peers, which has been attributed to bilinguals’ lower proficiency in the language that the NWR task is based on. To enable fairer assessments of bilingual children, Cross-Linguistic NWR tasks (CL-NWR tasks) have been developed that are based on the linguistic properties of many languages. The aim of this study is to investigate whether young children’s performance on a CL-NWR is less dependent on existing knowledge of a specific language than performance on a Language-Specific (Dutch-based) NWR (LS-NWR). Bilingual and multilingual two- and three-year-olds (N = 216) completed a CL-NWR and LS-NWR, as well as a Dutch receptive vocabulary task. Parents reported the number of languages children spoke other than Dutch. Results of linear mixed-effect regressions showed that Dutch vocabulary scores related to performance on the CL-NWR task less strongly than to performance on the LS-NWR task. The number of non-Dutch languages spoken did not differentially relate to performance on the two tasks. These findings indicate that CL-NWR tasks – at least as used here – allow for more language-neutral NWR assessments within linguistically diverse samples, already at toddler age.

The role of language ability in verbal fluency of individuals with multiple sclerosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 102846
Author(s):  
Amy L. Lebkuecher ◽  
Nancy D. Chiaravalloti ◽  
Lauren B. Strober
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Language Ability

scholarly journals EXPRESS: Trajectories of verbal fluency and executive functions in multilingual and monolingual children and adults: A cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110267
Author(s):  
Roberto Filippi ◽  
Andrea Ceccolini ◽  
Peter Bright
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Cross Sectional

The development of verbal fluency is associated with the maturation of executive function skills, such as the ability to inhibit irrelevant information, shift between tasks and hold information in working memory. Some evidence suggests that multilinguistic upbringing may underpin disadvantages in verbal fluency and lexical retrieval, but can also afford executive function advantages beyond the language system including possible beneficial effects in older age. This study examined the relationship between verbal fluency and executive function in 324 individuals across the lifespan by assessing the developmental trajectories of English monolingual and multilingual children aged 7 to 15 years (N=154) and adults from 18 to 80 years old (N=170). The childhood data indicated patterns of improvement in verbal fluency and executive function skills as a function of age. Multilingual and monolingual children had comparable developmental trajectories in all linguistic and non-linguistic measures used in the study with the exception of planning, for which monolingual children showed a steeper improvement over the studied age range relative to multilingual children. For adults, monolinguals and multilingual participants had comparable performance on all measures with the exception of non-verbal inhibitory control and response times on the Tower of London task: monolinguals showed a steeper decline associated with age. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that verbal fluency was associated with working memory and fluid intelligence in monolingual participants but not in multilinguals. These findings raise the possibility that early acquisition of an additional language may impact on the development of the functional architecture serving high-level human cognition.

Concrete and Formal Operational thought Processes in Young Adulthood and Old Age

1976 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Clayton ◽  
Willis F. Overton
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Crystallized Intelligence ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Concrete Operational ◽  
Fluid And Crystallized Intelligence

A study was conducted to examine the role of concrete and formal operations in a young and old population. In addition, the present study explored the relation between operational thought and Cattell's concept of fluid and crystallized intelligence, as well as the role of differential living arrangements in maintaining operational thought. Eighty females from three age groups (18–20 years, 60–70 years and 70–80 years of age) were tested on a series of Piagetian tasks and indices of fluid and crystallized intelligence. The findings supported the notion that age-related performance differences occur in the area of formal operational thought prior to the time they occur in concrete operational thought. Except for the young sample, the operational tasks were found to be unrelated to fluid intelligence at the age levels represented in this study. Living independently as opposed to living in an old age home did not appear to be a significant factor in maintaining operational thought. Discussion focused on the necessity of identifying those factors which influence the developmental course of formal operational thought across the life span.

Do bilingual and monolingual preschoolers acquire false belief understanding similarly? The role of executive functioning and language

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Diaz ◽  
M. Jeffrey Farrar
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Short Term ◽  
False Belief Understanding

Bilingual children often show advanced executive functioning (EF) and false belief (FB) understanding compared to monolinguals. The latter has been attributed to their enhanced inhibitory control EF, although this has only been examined in a single study which did not confirm this hypothesis. The current study examined the relation of EF and language proficiency on FB reasoning in bilingual and monolingual preschoolers to answer two questions: (1) Are there differences in bilinguals’ and monolinguals’ FB, language proficiency, and EF? If so, (2) is there a differential role for language proficiency and EF in predicting FB reasoning in these two groups? Thirty-two Spanish–English bilinguals and 33 English monolinguals (three to five years old) were compared. While monolinguals outperformed bilinguals on language proficiency, after controlling for this, bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on FB reasoning, and marginally on EF. General language ability was related to FB performance in both groups, while short-term memory and inhibitory control predicted FB only for monolinguals.

Phonological awareness in young second language learners

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie Bruck ◽  
Fred Genesee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Phoneme Awareness ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Bilingual Group ◽  
English Speaking

ABSTRACTEnglish-speaking children (N = 91) who were attending French schools (bilingual group) were given a battery of phonological awareness tests in kindergarten and in grade 1. At the time of kindergarten testing the mean age of the children was 5:9. Their performance was compared to age-matched English-speaking children (N = 72) attending English schools (monolingual group). The bilingual children showed heightened levels of phonological awareness skills in kindergarten in the area of onset-rime awareness. By grade 1, the pattern of group differences was more complex. The monolingual and bilingual children performed similarly on onset-rime segmentation tasks. The monolingual children had higher phoneme awareness scores than their French-schooled peers; this result is interpreted to reflect the role of literacy instruction on phoneme awareness development. In comparison, the bilingual children had higher syllable segmentation scores than their monolingual peers. This result is interpreted to reflect the role of second language input on phonological awareness.

scholarly journals Factors of success and failure in the acquisition of grammatical gender in Dutch

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonie Cornips ◽  
Aafke Hulk
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Structural Similarity ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Gender System

The goal of this article is to examine the factors that are proposed in the literature to explain the success—failure in the child L2 (second language) acquisition of grammatical gender in Dutch definite determiners. Focusing on four different groups of bilingual children, we discuss four external success factors put forward in the literature: (1) early age of onset, (2) lengthy and intensive input, (3) the quality of the input and (4) the role of the other language. We argue that the first two factors may indeed contribute to explaining the differences in success between the less and more successful bilingual children. However, the influence of the quality of the input in (standard) Dutch appears to be inconclusive, whereas the (structural) similarity of the gender systems in the two languages may reinforce the children's awareness of the grammatical gender category. Moreover, it appears that individual bilingualism vs. societal bilingualism, that is the sociolinguistic context in which Dutch is acquired, is not a factor for failure or success with respect to the acquisition of grammatical gender. In the final part of this article, we hypothesize that the important role of the input is related to a language internal factor, which distinguishes the Dutch gender system of the definite determiner from that of other languages, resulting in different acquisition paths.

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