Central auditory processing and phonological processing in Brazilian Portuguese-English bilingual subjects

Abstract

Purpose: to compare temporal auditory processing (temporal ordering) and phonological processing skills in bilingual and monolingual subjects. Methods: 100 undergraduate and postgraduate university students divided into a bilingual group (BG; n = 50) and a monolingual group (MG; n = 50). The study assessed the two groups’ phonological processing skills (phonological awareness, working memory - phonological loop, and rapid lexicon access) and temporal auditory processing skills (Frequency Pattern and Duration Pattern Tests). The Mann-Whitney test (p = 0.05) was used for statistical analysis. Results: BG performed better than MG in phonological awareness and phonological working memory tasks - nonword repetition and rapid naming tasks, except for color naming, and the two auditory processing tests. Conclusion: Bilinguals performed better on phonological and auditory tests. These skills help them identify and discriminate variations in the phonology of both languages, influencing their performance.