scholarly journals Effect of socio-economic status on cognitive control in non-literate bilingual speakers

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 999-1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
VISHNU KK NAIR ◽  
BRITTA BIEDERMANN ◽  
LYNDSEY NICKELS
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Attentional Network ◽  
Global Advantage

Previous research has suggested that the advantages for cognitive control abilities in bilinguals are attenuated when socio-economic status (SES) is controlled (e.g., Morton & Harper, 2007). This study examined the effect of SES on cognitive control in illiterate monolingual and bilingual individuals who lived in adverse social conditions. We tested monolinguals and bilinguals using Simon and Attentional Network task while controlling for two potential confounding factors: SES and literacy. Bilinguals were faster for both trials with and without conflict demonstrating overall faster response times (global advantage) compared to monolinguals on both tasks. However, no bilingual advantage was found for conflict resolution on the Simon task and attentional networks on the Attentional Network task. The overall bilingual effects provide evidence for a bilingual advantage even among individuals without literacy skills and of very low SES. This indicates a strong link between bilingualism and cognitive control over and above effects of SES.

scholarly journals Bilingual speakers' enhanced monitoring can slow them down

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roksana Markiewicz ◽  
Ali Mazaheri ◽  
Andrea Krott
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Evoked Potentials ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Response Distribution ◽  
Conflict Task ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Response Time Distributions

Performance differences between bilingual and monolingual participants on conflict tasks can be affected by the balance of various sub-processes such as monitoring and stimulus categorisation. Here we investigated the effect of bilingualism on these sub-processes during a conflict task with medium monitoring demand. We examined the behavioural and evoked potentials from a group of bilingual and monolingual speakers during a flanker task with 25% incongruent trials. We analysed behavioural differences by means of averaged response times and ex-Gaussian analyses of response time distributions. For the evoked potentials we focused on the N2 (implicated to be involved in monitoring) and P300 (implicated to be involved in categorisation) responses. We found that bilinguals had significantly longer response distribution tails compared to monolinguals. Additionally, bilinguals exhibited a more pronounced N2 and smaller P3 components compared to their monolingual counterparts, independent of experimental condition, suggesting enhanced monitoring processes and reduced categorisation effort. Importantly, N2 amplitudes were positively and P3 amplitudes were negatively related to the length of response distribution tails. We postulate that these results reflect an overactive monitoring system in bilinguals in a task of medium monitoring demand. This enhanced monitoring leads to less effortful categorisation, but also occasionally to slow responses. These results suggest that changes of the cognitive control system due to bilingual experience changes the balance of processes during conflict tasks, potentially leading to a small behavioural disadvantage.

Teachers' knowledge about language constructs related to literacy skills and student achievement in low socio‐economic status schools

Dyslexia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramona T. Pittman ◽  
Shuai Zhang ◽  
Emily Binks‐Cantrell ◽  
Alida Hudson ◽  
R. Malatesha Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
Language Constructs

scholarly journals Is there a bilingual advantage? the effects of non-English language skills on occupational attainment among immigrants and natives

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Josep Ubalde ◽  
Josiah Heyman
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Occupational Attainment ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Language Fluency ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
English Language Fluency

Abstract There is a considerable number of studies that analyze the benefits of language(s) in the labor market. It is a sensitive topic because of its relevance for language maintenance, and therefore, for the selective acculturation of immigrants in host societies. In this paper, the effect of non-English language fluency on the occupational attainment of immigrants and natives is analyzed, both in terms of occupational wages and socio-economic status. Results indicate that there is no advantage associated with non-English language fluency, either for natives or immigrants. Rather, a penalty for the specific case of Spanish fluency among immigrants was found. Three explanations from previous literature regarding the benefits of bilingualism in the labor market – human capital, devaluation and discrimination— are discussed in relation to the obtained results. The paper concludes with some recommendations about the recognition of language diversity in the labor market and policies aimed at the integrative acculturation of immigrants.

Development of precursors to speech in infants exposed to two languages

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. KIMBROUGH OLLER ◽  
REBECCA E. EILERS ◽  
RICHARD URBANO ◽  
ALAN B. COBO-LEWIS
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Vocal Performance ◽  
Vocal Development ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
First Year Of Life

The study of bilingualism has often focused on two contradictory possibilities: that the learning of two languages may produce deficits of performance in each language by comparison with performance of monolingual individuals, or on the contrary, that the learning of two languages may produce linguistic or cognitive advantages with regard to the monolingual learning experience. The work reported here addressed the possibility that the very early bilingual experience of infancy may affect the unfolding of vocal precursors to speech. The results of longitudinal research with 73 infants aged 0;4 to 1;6 in monolingual and bilingual environments provided no support for either a bilingual deficit hypothesis nor for its opposite, a bilingual advantage hypothesis. Infants reared in bilingual and monolingual environments manifested similar ages of onset for canonical babbling (production of well-formed syllables), an event known to be fundamentally related to speech development. Further, quantitative measures of vocal performance (proportion of usage of well-formed syllables and vowel-like sounds) showed additional similarities between monolingual and bilingual infants. The similarities applied to infants of middle and low socio-economic status and to infants that were born at term or prematurely. The results suggest that vocal development in the first year of life is robust with respect to conditions of rearing. The biological foundations of speech appear to be such as to resist modifications in the natural schedule of vocal development.

scholarly journals Home Literacy and Numeracy Interact and Mediate the Relationship Between Socio-Economic Status and Early Linguistic and Numeracy Skills in Preschoolers

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Bonifacci ◽  
Diego Compiani ◽  
Alexandra Affranti ◽  
Benedetta Peri
Keyword(s):  
Early Literacy ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Home Literacy ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
Numeracy Skills ◽  
Language Measures

This longitudinal study aimed at evaluating the relationships between socio-economic status (SES) and early literacy and numeracy skills, testing home literacy and home numeracy as mediators. It also investigated the interaction of home literacy and numeracy on early literacy and numeracy skills. The study involved 310 preschool children attending the second and the third year. Parents completed questionnaires on SES and home literacy and numeracy. In the first session, children were administered language measures and non-symbolic numeracy skills and, in the second wave, tasks of early literacy and symbolic numeracy skills. Structural equation models (SEMs) showed that SES was predictive of early language and literacy skills and non-symbolic numeracy skills. In addition, home literacy and home numeracy significantly mediated the relationships between SES and children’s skills. Finally, home literacy and home numeracy showed a significant negative interaction on symbolic numeracy skills. Implications for research and educational settings are discussed.

scholarly journals Bilingualism enhances attentional control in non-verbal conflict tasks – evidence from ex-Gaussian analyses

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
BEINAN ZHOU ◽  
ANDREA KROTT
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Control ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Incongruent Condition ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Verbal Conflict ◽  
Response Time Distributions ◽  
Response Congruency

Bilinguals have been found to possess cognitive advantages. But the nature of this advantage is unclear. While some evidence suggests that bilinguals have developed enhanced inhibitory control abilities, other evidence suggests that they possess enhanced attentional control abilities. In the current study, English monolingual and English–Chinese bilingual young adults were tested in three non-verbal conflict tasks (Flanker task, Spatial Stroop task and Simon task). Ex-Gaussian analyses were utilized to inspect response time distributions. The two participant groups showed comparable effects of stimulus-response congruency on the Gaussian part of response distributions (μ), but different effects on the distribution tails (τ), with reduced tails for bilingual speakers particularly in the more demanding incongruent condition. These results suggest that bilingual advantage emerges from better sustained attention and attentional monitoring rather than inhibition. We also discuss the usefulness of ex-Gaussian analyses.

scholarly journals The influence of language-switching experience on the bilingual executive control advantage

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
NELE VERREYT ◽  
EVY WOUMANS ◽  
DAVY VANDELANOTTE ◽  
ARNAUD SZMALEC ◽  
WOUTER DUYCK
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Control Performance ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Second Language Proficiency ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Bilingual Advantage

In an ongoing debate, bilingual research currently discusses whether bilingualism enhances non-linguistic executive control. The goal of this study was to investigate the influence of language-switching experience, rather than language proficiency, on this bilingual executive control advantage. We compared the performance of unbalanced bilinguals, balanced non-switching, and balanced switching bilinguals on two executive control tasks, i.e. a flanker and a Simon task. We found that the balanced switching bilinguals outperformed both other groups in terms of executive control performance, whereas the unbalanced and balanced non-switching bilinguals did not differ. These findings indicate that language-switching experience, rather than high second-language proficiency, is the key determinant of the bilingual advantage in cognitive control processes related to interference resolution.

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