scholarly journals The Quest for Signals in Noise: Leveraging Experiential Variation to Identify Bilingual Phenotypes

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Anne L. Beatty-Martínez ◽  
Debra A. Titone
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Cognitive Outcomes ◽  
Systematic Variation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Multidimensional Construct ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Performance Patterns

Increasing evidence suggests that bilingualism does not, in itself, result in a particular pattern of response, revealing instead a complex and multidimensional construct that is shaped by evolutionary and ecological sources of variability. Despite growing recognition of the need for a richer characterization of bilingual speakers and of the different contexts of language use, we understand relatively little about the boundary conditions of putative “bilingualism” effects. Here, we review recent findings that demonstrate how variability in the language experiences of bilingual speakers, and also in the ability of bilingual speakers to adapt to the distinct demands of different interactional contexts, impact interactions between language use, language processing, and cognitive control processes generally. Given these findings, our position is that systematic variation in bilingual language experience gives rise to a variety of phenotypes that have different patterns of associations across language processing and cognitive outcomes. The goal of this paper is thus to illustrate how focusing on systematic variation through the identification of bilingual phenotypes can provide crucial insights into a variety of performance patterns, in a manner that has implications for previous and future research.

scholarly journals Language Use Across International Contexts: Shaping the Minds of L2 Speakers

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 60-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith F. Kroll ◽  
Paola E. Dussias ◽  
María Teresa Bajo
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Language Usage ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Context Of Learning

ABSTRACTBilingualism is a complex life experience. Second language (L2) learning and bilingualism take place in many different contexts. To develop a comprehensive account of dual-language experience requires research that examines individuals who are learning and using two languages in both the first language (L1) and second language (L2) environments. In this article, we review studies that exploit the presence of an international research network on bilingualism to investigate the role of the environment and some the unique characteristics of L2 learning and bilingual language usage in different locations. We ask how the context of learning affects the acquisition of the L2 and the ability to control the use of each language, how language processing is changed by the patterns of language usage in different places (e.g., whether bilinguals have been immersed in the L2 environment for an extended period of time or whether they code-switch), and how the bilingualism of the community itself influences learning and language use.

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.

scholarly journals The Influence of Second Language Experience in the Pattern of Language Processing of the Bilingual Lexicon

MANUSYA ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-95
Author(s):  
P. Sudasna ◽  
S. Luksaneeyanawin ◽  
D. Burnham
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
High Group ◽  
Bilingual Lexicon ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Thai English

The present experimental research studies whether Thai-English bilinguals’ language experience in their non-native language influences the pattern of language processing of the bilingual lexicon. Two groups of 100 native Thai bilingual speakers with high or low English language experience were asked to perform Stroop Interference Tasks, with the processing of word forms being either Thai or English and the processing in colour naming also being either Thai or English. The results showed that when the processing of word forms was in Thai, there was more intra- than interlingual interference, and that the degree of interference was equivalent between the two English experience groups. When the processing of word forms was in English, the high and the low groups showed more intra- than interlingual interference; however, the high group showed more interference than the low group did. The results provide evidence that the maximal interference occurs in the processing of the first language and the interference in the processing of the second language is proportional to L2 language experience. The results suggest that there is a relationship between language experience and language processing of the bilingual lexicon.

scholarly journals Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging to examine brain structural plasticity and language experience

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gigi Luk ◽  
Christos Pliatsikas
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Brain Structure ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Brain Plasticity ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Brain Correlates ◽  
The Brain

Recent advances in neuroimaging methods have led to a renewed interest in the brain correlates of language processing. Most intriguing is how experiences of language use relates to variation in brain structure and how brain structure predicts language acquisition. These two lines of inquiry have important implications on considering language use as an experience-dependent mechanism that induces brain plasticity. This paper focuses on the structural connectivity of the brain, as delivered by white matter, i.e. the collections of the axons of the brain neurons that provide connectivity between brain regions. Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS), a method commonly used in the field, will be presented in detail. Readers will be introduced to procedures for the extraction of indices of variation in WM structure such as fractional anisotropy. Furthermore, the role of individual differences in WM and changes in WM pertaining to bilingual experience and language processing will be used as examples to illustrate the applicability of this method.

scholarly journals Dual language experience enhances neural activation variability during an fMRI reading and language task

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey G. Malins ◽  
Hailey D'Silva ◽  
Gigi Luk ◽  
Arturo E. Hernandez ◽  
Stephen J. Frost ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
The Right ◽  
Neural Variability ◽  
The Impact

Previous work has shown that experience speaking more than one language in childhood is associated with decreased intra-individual neural variability in electrophysiological responses during a low-level speech perception task. However, no study has yet evaluated the impact of dual language experience on variability in fMRI responses during a higher-level spoken and written language processing task. In the current study, we calculated trial-by-trial variability in neural activation during an fMRI task that involved deciding whether spoken or printed English words matched pictures of items. We compared trial-by-trial neural activation variability between two groups of 8-15 year-old children: a group of dual language learners (N = 24; 11 female) who were Spanish-dominant and acquiring English, and a group of monolingual learners who were English-dominant (N = 17; 9 female). We found that when controlling for a variety of language, general cognitive, and demographic measures, neural activation variability for printed words was greater in the dual language learners compared to the monolingual learners in the right middle frontal gyrus, a brain region previously associated with attentional control. This finding highlights how neural variability offers a window of opportunity to examine experience-dependent mechanisms during human development, and motivates future research on bilingual language processing.

Relative language exposure, processing efficiency and vocabulary in Spanish–English bilingual toddlers

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
NEREYDA HURTADO ◽  
THERES GRÜTER ◽  
VIRGINIA A. MARCHMAN ◽  
ANNE FERNALD
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Cognitive Outcomes ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
English Bilingual

Research with monolingual children has shown that early efficiency in real-time word recognition predicts later language and cognitive outcomes. In parallel research with young bilingual children, processing ability and vocabulary size are closely related within each language, although not across the two languages. For children in dual-language environments, one source of variation in patterns of language learning is differences in the degree to which they are exposed to each of their languages. In a longitudinal study of Spanish/English bilingual children observed at 30 and 36 months, we asked whether the relative amount of exposure to Spanish vs. English in daily interactions predicts children's relative efficiency in real-time language processing in each language. Moreover, to what extent does early exposure and speed of lexical comprehension predict later expressive and receptive vocabulary outcomes in Spanish vs. English? Results suggest that processing skill and language experience each promote vocabulary development, but also that experience with a particular language provides opportunities for practice in real-time comprehension in that language, sharpening processing skills that are critical for learning.

Lexical Challenges in the Intersection of Applied Linguistics and ANLP

2012 ◽  
pp. 50-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Jarvis
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Language Knowledge

The investigation of natural language processing in the field of Applied Linguistics is pursued with both theoretical and practical aims, such as arriving at a clearer understanding of the nature of language knowledge, the rules that govern its use, how it is acquired, how unique it is to individual speakers, and how it can best be taught to learners. The purpose of this chapter is to draw attention to some of the prominent areas of overlap between Applied Linguistics and ANLP, highlighting the problems they face in relation to the characterization of lexical deployment, and focusing particularly on challenges related to the measurement of lexical diversity and the representation of the unique lexical signatures of individual samples of natural language use. The bulk of the chapter is devoted to describing preliminary solutions to these challenges.

Learning and Using Morphology and Morphosyntax in a Second Language

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Beth Feldman ◽  
Judith F. Kroll
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Early Time ◽  
Morphological Processing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Categories ◽  
Parallel Activation ◽  
High Degree

We summarize findings from across a range of methods, including behavioral measures of overall processing speed and accuracy, electrophysiological indices that tap into the early time course of language processing, and neural measures using structural and functional imaging. We argue that traditional claims about rigid constraints on the ability of late bilinguals to exploit the meaning and form of the morphology and morphosyntax in a second language should be revised so as to move away from all or none command of structures motivated from strict dichotomies among linguistic categories of morphology. We describe how the dynamics of morphological processing in neither monolingual or bilingual speakers is easily characterized in terms of the potential to decompose words into their constituent morphemes and that morphosyntactic processing is not easily characterized in terms of categories of structures that are learnable and those that are unlearnable by bilingual and nonnative speakers. Instead, we emphasize the high degree of variability across individuals and plasticity within individuals in their ability to successfully learn and use even subtle aspects of a second language. Further, both of the bilingual’s two languages become active when even one language is engaged, and parallel activation has consequences that shape both languages, thus their influence is not in the unidirectional manner that was traditionally assumed. We briefly discuss the nature of possible constraints and directions for future research.

scholarly journals Bilingual language experience as a multidimensional spectrum: Associations with objective and subjective language proficiency

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Jason W. Gullifer ◽  
Shanna Kousaie ◽  
Annie C. Gilbert ◽  
Angela Grant ◽  
Nathalie Giroud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Brain Organization ◽  
Homogeneous Groups ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Native Language Proficiency

Abstract Despite the multifactorial space of language experience in which people continuously vary, bilinguals are often dichotomized into ostensibly homogeneous groups. The timing of language exposure (age of acquisition) to a second language (L2) is one well-studied construct that is known to impact language processing, cognitive processing, and brain organization, but recent work shows that current language exposure is also a crucial determinant in these domains. Critically, many indices of bilingual experience are inherently subjective and based on self-report questionnaires. Such measures have been criticized in favor of objective measures of language ability (e.g., naming ability or verbal fluency). Here, we estimate the bilingual experience jointly as a function of multiple continuous aspects of experience, including the timing of language exposure, the amount of L2 exposure across communicative contexts, and language entropy (a flexible measure of language balance) across communicative contexts. The results suggest that current language exposure exhibits distinct but interrelated patterns depending on the socio-experiential context of language usage. They also suggest that, counterintuitively, our sample more accurately self-assesses L2 proficiency than native language proficiency. A precise quantification of the multidimensional nature of bilingualism will enhance the ability of future research to assess language processing, acquisition, and control.

scholarly journals Bilingual language experience as a multidimensional spectrum: Associations with objective and subjective language proficiency

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason William Gullifer ◽  
Shanna Kousaie ◽  
Annie C. Gilbert ◽  
Angela Marie Grant ◽  
Nathalie Giroud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Brain Organization ◽  
Homogeneous Groups ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Native Language Proficiency

Despite the multifactorial space of language experience in which people continuously vary, bilinguals are often dichotomized into ostensibly homogeneous groups. The timing of language exposure (age of acquisition; AoA) to a second language (L2) is one well-studied construct that is known to impact language processing, cognitive processing, and brain organization, but recent work shows that current language exposure is also a crucial determinant in these domains. Critically, many indices of bilingual experience are inherently subjective and based on self-report questionnaires. Such measures have been criticized in favor of objective measures of language ability (e.g., naming ability or verbal fluency). Here, we estimate the bilingual experience jointly as a function of multiple continuous aspects of experience, including the timing of language exposure, the amount of L2 exposure across communicative contexts, and language entropy (a flexible measure of language balance) across communicative contexts. The results suggest that current language exposure exhibits distinct but interrelated patterns depending on the socio-experiential context of language usage. They also suggest that, counterintuitively, our sample more accurately self-assesses L2 proficiency than native language proficiency. A precise quantification of the multidimensional nature of bilingualism will enhance the ability of future research to assess language processing, acquisition, and control.

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